To think Health Visitor’s need to keep up to date with the advice they are dishing out?

[Scottishshopaholic]

First of all I just want to state that I myself have had a brilliant health visitor, but I seem to be in the minority compared to the experience of my friends, people on mumsnet and facebook groups.

What has prompted this post is a recent post on a baby wearing group I am on where a concerned new mum had been told by her HV that you can’t wear babies in a sling/ carrier for more than 30 minutes at a time.

A friend’s HV was completely unaware of the safe sleep 7 and that guidance had changed on co sleeping.

At a health visitor event I attended on weaning the health visitor said that baby led weaning was a waste of time for the until 8/9 months and the baby will be barely eating anything and that between 6 and 12 months the race is on to move babies diet from completely milk to completely solids. This completely puts the principle of food before 1 for fun out the window. It really put the fear into me as my DC wouldn’t take anything off a spoon and was a nightmare with food until about 18 months.

Not to mention the complete lack of consistency on breastfeeding advice given out to friends. One was told that because she had introduced a bottle of formula at night she would have to move onto completely formula feeding (apparently combi feeding is not a thing). Another was told that breastfeeding past the age of 1 didn’t have any benefits.

I get that guidance changes, it changes constantly in my workplace, but if I was constantly working off outdated information i would be spoken to. The misleading advice that is often dished out has a huge impact on families lives, not everyone has the confidence to challenge them or seek out information for themselves.

Honestly, this is just what it's like.

We had a revolving door of HVs and every one told us something different. I remember how frustrating this was as first time parents who were so unsure about everything especially feeding.

We thought the HV bit of the system was less rigid than the prenatal and hospital care, more of an 'art' with lots of different styles and opinions.

Luckily by child number 2 we'd learnt a lot and didn't need them so much.

HVs are total pot luck in my experience. Some are lovely and some are shit. Problem is when you are dealing with mums who are listening to your advice, you should really be bang up to date and compassionate.

What do you mean 'the guidance had changed on co sleeping'? The guidance is still that baby needs to be alone on their back in a cot/moses basket, with no bumpers/toys in there with them. That hasn't changed. They won't be educated on 'safe sleep 7' because it's a misnomer, it doesn't make bedsharing safe. It makes it less dangerous, but it's still more dangerous than safe sleep guidance. I'd be worried tbh if a HV was going around telling new parents that bedsharing is okay because they can do it safely.

Breastfeeding beyond one doesn't have any benefits lol. The benefits (which are short term and minor) have disappeared by that age. And food before one isn't for fun, so it's good that's gone out of the window?

No offence OP but you seem to be the uneducated one here, not saying HVs can't be rubbish but just from your post alone it's clear you're not up to date with your knowledge.

Not to be mean but you’ve come across like a right idiot here. It would be best to do research before coming in on your high horse.

Safe 7 is a safer way of co sleeping and NHS even have it on their website, it is always always advised separate sleep space on babies back but they also acknowledge some parents do co sleeping, so there are some things you can do to make that safer. Of course HV’s should be up to date on this.

Breast feeding benefits don’t disappear at 1. Again, it is best and proven benefits until 2 (and beyond) for mum and baby.

Op isn’t the “uneducated” one here

You are, and have made yourself look silly!

OP I fully agree with you. HV’s caused me a lot of mental stress when my first born was little. He was born unwell and I kept asking them to check him, they said I was a first time mum being nervous. Turned out I was right - he was then treated for sepsis and was in nicu!

Then they told me I should feed on demand, then one told me I shouldn’t feed on demand. They told me “all bottle fed babies should be on a 3-4 hourly schedule” what a load of rubbish! Mine wanted feeding at all different intervals.

Then when I told HV that my son was starting to sleep through, well above his birth weight and 6 weeks old - they told me I should be waking him until 3 months old and that I could be dehydrating him. I didn’t listen, as I knew it was wrong.

Honestly, I finally found one that I clicked with but most of them were shocking

Please refer to the lullaby trust and NHS website on co sleeping. There is guidance there which the health visitor was completely unaware of.

Please also send some peer reviewed evidence of the lack of benefits of BF beyond 1. The NHS and WHO disagree with you.

This post wasn’t to disagree on science backed peer reviewed guidance, it was to state that if the guidance is there on the NHS website then surely HVs as NHS employees should be up to date on it, or at least refer back to it if unsure. And that if they are giving something as their own personal opinion as advice they should make that very clear and also refer the family back to the guidance.

What a load of shit you’ve just spouted.

Heh. I regarded waking a sleeping baby in the same way as waking a sleeping dragon. Avoid unless you have to!

I only saw mine twice (different both times) then not until 12 month review, which wasn't a visitor at all, but at a GP surgery. Had no idea how to contact them, should I have needed to. Perhaps they offer some benefit, but I never saw it.

Every single nurse/health care worker I encountered following birth of my daughter gave competely different advice on everything from breastfeeding to umbilical cords. There seems to be little consistency or consensus.

The Safe Sleep 7 isn't accepted by everyone, including the AAP.
I never co-slept with mine and I wouldn't have taken kindly to a health visitor advising me to do so.

I agree but food is for fun before isn’t true either.

Yep we had advice from HV that would have actively made our lives much, much harder and was counter intuitive to what our instincts were telling us.

You always just do your best, regardless of the advice.

I agree with this too! There was once a very funny play on this where they went through all ages making up daft rhymes

My mother in law gave me good advice, listen to one person you trust for information, I chose her as she had brought up 9 children. I was also told to trust my instincts, I went my own way about weaning, potty training etc which under today’s rules!! were too early. I have 2 happy, well balanced, healthy children.