Feb 10 2008
Childcare Experts Do Battle
The touch paper was lit after Ford complained to the NSPCC that Verity’s hardline approach to childcare as demonstrated in her Channel 4 series Bringing Up Baby is tantamount to abuse. Verity’s response? To challenge her opponent to a public competition to gauge whose method is the most effective.
Both women recommend the use of routines in childrearing but Verity’s approach is strictly old-school, insisting that her babies are left to ‘air’ in the garden for several hours and not cuddled for more than ten minutes per day. So controversial is her advice that she’s been asked to stay away from The Baby Show in Earl’s Court yet this is the woman who earns fees of up to £1,000 per day for her services.
It’s her advice that a baby shouldn’t be fed more than four hourly that has made Ford see red. ‘The advice given… not to feed a tiny crying baby - could endanger a baby’s life, particularly if it is being breastfed’.
Yet Ms Ford is no stranger to controversy herself. Her bestselling book
Perhaps unsurprisingly the show’s producer Daisy Goodwin is urging the two to ‘bring it on’. Which begs the question, is this a PR stunt to hype the fortunes of two celebrity nannies? Or is there a case for genuine concern over rigid and potentially outdated childrearing techniques?
Either way, when egos as large as these collide it certainly makes for compelling viewing.
Danny Concannon writes for Baby Says Hello a birth announcement website. They pride themselves on helping you to create high quality personalised baby cards.
Tags: babies, Baby, childcare, experts, parenting, raising
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