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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is tea for newborns madness?

92 replies

Situp · 30/01/2018 08:37

Cards on the table, I am living in Austria and have already had some differences of opinion with my midwife about some of her recommendations.

A lot of them turned out to be irrelevant as I ended up having an emergency c-section last week because my old c-section scar was at risk of rupture and the baby was in distress. She was quite a bit smaller than either of my other 2 babies.

Anyway, she is now 6 days old, EBF and has not quite regained her birth weight. Midwife came on Saturday and Monday and weighed her, she had gained 100g in 2 days.

The midwife told me that she is gaining weight too fast and that I should be replacing a feed with fruit tea.

Does anyone else do this or has anyone heard of this?

I will be honest that I have no intention of actually doing it so not really AIBU but am interested to know if this is actually a thing?

My next DC is nearly 5 so wanted to check that I haven't missed some seismic shift in breastfeeding ethos Confused

OP posts:
thUnderdog · 30/01/2018 08:39

That sounds completely mental. Don't do it.

HardRockHallelujah · 30/01/2018 08:40

Pretty sure your midwife is barking. Babies need breast milk and nothing else not even water if they are ebf. Congratulations on your new addition.

thUnderdog · 30/01/2018 08:40

(I know you said you won't anyway, but in case anyone else is considering it)

Drizz · 30/01/2018 08:40

Bull shit. Nothing but milk for the first six months. Gaining weight too fast is nonsense, particularly if she's EBF. You're doing fab. Look at the WHO charts if you're worried about gain etc, kellymom is a good resource for all concerns BF related.

NoUseNumber31 · 30/01/2018 08:40

100% don't do that. Newborns can't eat too much, especially breast fed ones.

Gatehouse77 · 30/01/2018 08:41

What a load of nonsense. Stick with EBF as no doubt the weight will plateau at some point.

Singingtherapy · 30/01/2018 08:41

Holy shit, putting a 6 day old baby on a diet. God yes you can definitely ignore that. Stick to ebf in response to her hunger and relax.

Nanny0gg · 30/01/2018 08:41

Madness! Your baby doesn't even need water let alone fruit tea!

And I can't believe she's putting on weight too fast!

St 6 days you're still establishing feeding. Carry on doing what you're doing.

Congratulations!

Hippydippydoo · 30/01/2018 08:42

Ignore ignore ignore... your midwife is out of her mind!

ChristianGreysAnatomy · 30/01/2018 08:42

Austria or no, I would report her! She's surely crackers.

Original poster
Situp · 30/01/2018 08:42

Thanks all, I was pretty sure it was crazy but the reassurance is greatly appreciated.

Luckily I only have 4 more appointments with her and then we move on to our pediatrician who is lovely and normal!

OP posts:
HuskyMcClusky · 30/01/2018 08:42
Shock
Merryoldgoat · 30/01/2018 08:43

Just ignore. That's absolutely absurd.

StripyDeckchair · 30/01/2018 08:43

This is both mad and dangerous. Breastfed babies should not have anything to drink but breastmilk until 6 months. I would report the MW to her supervisors. Replacing breastfeeds at such a young age with anything (except formula) could have a serious effect on a baby's health.

restingbemusedface · 30/01/2018 08:45

What the actual??

ethelfleda · 30/01/2018 08:47

What a load of rubbish! She definitely needs reporting!

Babdoc · 30/01/2018 08:49

100 to 200 grams per week is a normal weight gain for a newborn. They should double their birth weight in the first six months. Underweight babies often play catch-up in the early weeks and gain a little more rapidly. At least that’s what I was taught - I’m a retired doctor. I know fashions in feeding change, but human physiology stays the same!

MrTrebus · 30/01/2018 08:49

Hmm obviously no don't do that

MrsCrabbyTree · 30/01/2018 08:50

My family and friends know that when I use the 'f' word it means something is wrong, very very wrong.

So .... FFS - don't do it - follow your instincts.

mrsnec · 30/01/2018 08:54

Does she mean fruit tea? I'm not in the UK and both my babies were given baby tea from birth in hospital. The herbal milupa one which I think is a german product and is fennel and/or camomile. It's not ideal and I was told that it calms them, helps the digestion and spaces out feeds. My dc are 2 and 3 now and had it for the first few months and it didn't do them any harm. Just sharing my experience.

boatyardblues · 30/01/2018 08:54

My son spent a week in the NICU for a week, so we received enhanced follow-up at home from MW and HVs from the unit for 3 months. They fussed and pontificated endlessly about him gaining weight too quickly. To be fair, he did gain half a pound in a single week at one point. It started to make us feel quite anxious, so we raised it with the paediatrician at his 3 month review/discharge appointment. She laughed (a lot) and then told us not to give it a second thought.

Camomila · 30/01/2018 08:56

That's bonkers

Tea for babies is a thing but its more a case of camomile to help with teething or fennel/peppermint for an upset stomach...but I've only ever heard people do it from weaning age onwards.

Biglettuce · 30/01/2018 08:58

No! Totally mad.

Spam88 · 30/01/2018 09:00

This might be the most bizarre HV advice I've read about on here. Not only weird but it's also dangerous to give a breast fed baby extra fluids. She'll get everything she needs from you and you can't overfeed breast fed babies so don't worry about her gaining rapidly, she'll settle on a centile.

tiggytape · 30/01/2018 09:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.