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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hospital food

166 replies

Afternooncatnap · 02/11/2017 17:07

So my 9 month old is in hospital with bronchiolitis. I have to stay in here with him.

the hospital don't provide his milk and won't let me make up formula. So I'm buying really expensive ready made milk. They also don't provide baby food and don't want me bringing home made. So I'm also buying jars of food for him.

They don't feed me and there is only sandwich places at the hospital so I have been buying expensive microwave meals for me.

So including parking it's costing a small fortune to be here.

I just found out that if I was breastfeeding (somthing I was unable to do) they would feed me.

I now just feel a but hacked off that it's costing me so much to be here when there are other parents that are in the same position getting either themselves or there baby fed by the hospital.

AIBU to think that as a children's hospital they should provide baby food, and to feel that they should feed all mums. We all need energy to look after our babies, breastfeeding or not. It's not like I can just not eat because my son is on formula.

OP posts:
kaytee87 · 02/11/2017 20:16

Op babyfood is just normal food mashed or puréed. Could you even take a blender in to make it smoother than a fork would?

NapQueen · 02/11/2017 20:20

So what is Smash and custard if not soft pureed food?

PurpleMinionMummy · 02/11/2017 20:22

Perhaps you should take it up with the hospital then Hmm

kaytee87 · 02/11/2017 20:23

Tbf @NapQueen I wouldn’t call smash and custard food GrinWink but if I was desperate then it would do. It’s well known that hospital food is crap.

Vonklump · 02/11/2017 20:25

I've been in hospital with exclusively breastfed newborns, and have received a cup of tea by a kind nurse who thought that was easier than looking after DC whilst I went to get a drink.

That was all I drank (or ate) for twenty hours. DC was admitted with breathing difficulties, and was agitated if I didn't hold her, but I couldn't take her off the ward to where the parents room was. Sad

arethereanyleftatall · 02/11/2017 20:25

Your op is totally misleading then.
It should be 'aibu to be upset that the hospital who have saved my baby's life aren't providing exactly the right brand of milk my baby prefers. I can't possibly mash his food up or cut it up. And shouldn't they be paying for my dinner too.' Argh!! I can't stand this attitude. Yabu.

kaytee87 · 02/11/2017 20:27

I think the reason hospitals feed bf mothers is because they are not providing milk for those children so are feeding their milk source iyswim? They are providing formula for ff babies, even if it’s not a brand you use.

arethereanyleftatall · 02/11/2017 20:31

Also, where are yo getting th jars and microwave meals from? Either you're going yourself to a shop, in which case buy something cheaper/better. Or someone else is bringing them in, in which case buy something cheaper/better.

Sirzy · 02/11/2017 20:32

Also when it comes to having baby food it comes back down to the “well they will only have x brand” side of things. Baby foods have a limited shelf life and I would imagine there is actually not that much call for it given that for so many little one appetite is one of the first things to go when they are ill so the focus is on getting milk and fluids in when that happens so food actually takes a back seat for a lot.

There is only so much catering to individuals that can be done sadly.

MyDcAreMarvel · 02/11/2017 20:35

Op there is nothing magical about hoop, you baby can have another brand.
The hospital will blend a meal, just ask.
They feed breastfeeding mothers purely because it's indirectly feeding the baby with milk. It has nothing to do with mothers leaving the ward to buy food.
You sound very entitled.

TitsalinaBumSqoosh · 02/11/2017 20:35

Believe me, it’s no better when their older either!
I have spent weeks in a hospital with my son, several hours from home, emergency admission so I had no money and they don’t feed parents even if they’re sat by an ICU bed day and night.
At that time I had no one that could have helped even if they were close enough!
They’d feed the patients everyday and then wheel the still mostly full trolley away, the dinner staff said the food wouldn’t be used elsewhere once it’s been on a ward.
I was so unwell by the time I left, hunger isn’t a nice thing to feel.
There used to be a parents room with bread and toast but that got closed when some parents started taking the piss.

I’m in a better position now but still have to regularly do these stints, the cost of hospital canteen food, plus the other costs of having a child in hospital care something no one ever thinks about.
An unexpected 5 weeks recently will make us struggle for the rest of the year now but at least I didn’t get unwell from hunger this time.

BernardBlacksHangover · 02/11/2017 20:35

Op babyfood is just normal food mashed or puréed. Could you even take a blender in to make it smoother than a fork would?

Yes, I was going to say this^^.

Re the hospital; they're providing food and formula, but just not the food and formula you would like. Adult food when I was in hospital was very far from what I would have liked too, so I can sympathise! It sounds like a tough situation for you, but I don't actually think the hospital has done anything 'wrong' with the food they're offering.

MyDcAreMarvel · 02/11/2017 20:35

*hipp not hoop.

Sooooooooooooooooooooo · 02/11/2017 20:43

It’s a disciplinary offence if we get caught feeding parents or siblings off the trolley.

BarbarianMum · 02/11/2017 20:44

Ok so they do in fact provide baby milk and food but not the right sorts. Yes YABU.

SunnySkiesSleepsintheMorning · 02/11/2017 20:53

YABU but your baby is ill and you’re stressed, so I understand why. I wish him well. Flowers Second the suggestion of a small hand blender but obviously this is only helpful if you have someone to get this for you.

2014newme · 02/11/2017 20:54

Good news that actually they are providing food and milk fir babies.

Kpo58 · 02/11/2017 20:56

I don't know why OP is being given such a hard time about the baby food. Not all babies will eat finger food or lumps or are so advanced with eating.

It took until nearly 9 months before mine would eat more than a spoonful of yogurt (and only if it was mango flavour) and about 14 months before she would eat lumps (so fork mashed food wouldn't have worked). Only at about 17 months did she actually put a piece of food in her mouth.

Original poster
Afternooncatnap · 02/11/2017 21:06

I did think about getting hold of a blender. I think that would be a good idea if we have to stay much longer.

I don't really feel I am being entitled. I have said several times that I never really expected them to feed me. I was I suppose a bit hurt to hear that if I was Bf they would feed me. It made me feel a bit like I don't deserve to be fed.

I also appreciate that they can't provide all brands of formula. I'm more annoyed that they won't let me use his normal formula and I have to buy expensive ready made.

I know hipp isn't magic but as said cow and gate makes him constipated. So I'm not just being fussy.

The thing I am really annoyed about is that they don't provide baby food. Is it really that bad that I expected a children's hospital to provide baby food. And yes I know baby food is just food mashed up but I would like to see someone make chicken nuggets and chips into puree with a fork.

Although i take the point that most babies will probably just be fed liquid when ill so maybe it's not that easy for them to provide it.

FYI - they didn't save his life. He has bronchiolitis. He would have been fine at home they are just being over cautious.

OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 02/11/2017 21:08

But kpo if the OP's child is largely milk fed then its a bit strange that she's lambasting the hospital for not providing suitable solids when they do provide milk.

Original poster
Afternooncatnap · 02/11/2017 21:09

Thank you Kpo58. I think sometimes people with perfect babies don't appreciate that not all babies are the same and some have difficulties.

OP posts:
Original poster
Afternooncatnap · 02/11/2017 21:12

He's not largely milk fed. He has baby food and a bit of milk to drink. They keep having milk until 12 months.

I don't know why people find it so strange that my baby eats baby food.

OP posts:
arethereanyleftatall · 02/11/2017 21:15

Op, you'll probably be able to go home soon anyway.
My dc have been in hospital 3 times between them with bronchiolitus. All times with oxygen being fed in to them up their nose, and food through a tube in their foot.
Once they were off oxygen and eating normally (as in through their mouth), we only had to wait 24 hours before we were 'released.'

Floralnomad · 02/11/2017 21:19

I don’t think anyone finds it that strange that you have a baby that eats baby food , the strange thing is that you started a thread saying that the hospital don’t provide food or milk for a baby when they clearly do but it’s just not the food and milk that you want for your specific baby . It’s a bit like me starting a thread saying when I was in hospital they didn’t provide me with food when they obviously did it just wasn’t anything I could eat .

EB123 · 02/11/2017 21:22

Under one, his nutrition should still mainly come from formula. Will he pickup the nuggets/pasta/whatever and try to eat it? I would just do that, with mine I just took off the breadcrumb outer to made it a bit easier.

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