My lovely HV has been here for ds's 2 year check. I told her that HVs are (by and large)despised on MN.Can you post with examples of their idiocy,especially with regard to breastfeeding? I am going to print the thread and pass it on.

[moondog]

ooh you can't breastfeed twins, you'll never have enough milk for two.

can't help moondog, as my HV was lovely too!

God,I am sooo looking forward to passing this on.
She will be aghast!

I was told that breast feeding was supposed to hurt and continued in agony for 3 months before going to formula. At six months a different HV noticed my dd was tongue tied !!!!!!!! and as such was unable to latch on properly

My HV for DD was absolutely lovely. An older lady who never criticised. She was there when you needed her and all advice was sort of 'motherly'.

My HV when I had DS was also lovely in her own way. A true lentil weaver in a kaftan who drove a filthy dirty pick up truck!! She was ace though.

Loved em both.

Mine is useless in the silent way. No advice, no criticism, nothing. Just sits and writes down his weight.

Oh, she did give me an "understanding" smile, and gently asked "and how are you?" whilst looking like she wanted to back away from the mad woman, when I cried over wanting to postpone his jabs

Not that that is relevant...

Why do I feel the need to ramble on and on on threads that I don't actually have anything to say on??? Why can I not just not post???

lol at pick up truck driving HV!

I absolutley ADORE my HV, sorry can't help you here

ooo i have loads! will pop back later to add them

my HV is fab love her really, but my M/W in the hospital - 95% were good but one silly silly woman told me that BF don't get wind when Joey was 2 days old. (yet in the am a differnt M/W said ooh dear baby u have a bit of wind) - silly woman!

I have 2 HVs, one of whom is great, and I won't have a word said aginst her. The other is an old hag. Dhe told me that I's starve DS if I didn't wean at 4 months. She also kept asking me if I was still breastfeeding at 5 months. WTF? I try to avoid her at clinic if I can, and only see the nice one. She'd go ape if she knew I bfed DS for 15 months, and I don't care.

To parents of 2 week old baby (born prem with IUGR, 5 days in SCBU, partly on ngt): "she's not breast feeding because of nipple confusion and if you don't get her to bf properly within the next week she'll never learn how to".

When DS failed his 8 month hearing check for the second time, I let loose a couple of tears .. it wasn't the hearing test it was the straw that broke the camel's back .. DH was chronically ill and I'd just been referred for a suspicious mole

I pulled myself together, explained why and she promised she wouldn't be putting anything in the records (which I'd asked for)

she retired 3 months later .. new HV called me up and first thing she said was 'How's your husband doing now?'

lying duplicitous bastards .. haven't trusted them since

won't see them with DD

have no time for them .. and they know nothing!

My friend was on the phone last week. She has a 9 week old DS. Apparently the hv said, oh yes the government guidelines are not to wean until 6 months but I would start him at 4 or even 3 () months or he will be biting your hand off. I tried to tactfully suggest waiting to nearer 6 months than 3 but not convinced how successful I have been.

"If you're looking for a reason why breastfeeding didn't go well, it's tongue-tie, but there's nothing you can do about it."

Subsequent, but crucially not immediate, searches proved that a) yes there is, you get the tongue-tie snipped; and b) he was 3 wks old at the time, I could have relactated as was expressing anyway.

She's very nice but that was kind of lame and not on the ball. Perhaps a bit specific but it's not really as rare as all that.

A new mother friend of mine has been told the usual "introduce a bottle of formula" advice because her new dd is gaining weight at something other than a meteoric rate. Same hv also told her to give her 3-wk-old water on a spoon.

My friend was adviced by our HV to put butter in baby's milk because he didn't put on enough milk. He was 10 weeks! Pass it on please!

With first baby I went to my Hv with suspected mastitis. She didnt even examine me - just told me to come along to the Bf support group the next week. I phoned a friend of a friend who is Bf counsellor - she told me to go up to the hospital immediatly to see the "infant feeding specialist". She gave me ( not prescribed me!!!) anti biotics and said if i wasn't better in 24 hours would need to be admitted. Then she phoned up HV and gave her a bollocking & phoned GP to complain.

At baby's 8 month check HV said " oh you're not still breast feeding are you? You'll want to stop that soon". She told me there was no benefit to feeding past 6 months

My HV came to do her initial visit with ds2 who had a fractured clavicle from birth trauma and spent the entire time filling in forms was about to get up and go when I asked 'do you not want to have a look at him?', when she had a wander over to his crib, smiled and said 'ahh he's doing well isn't he?'. didn't hear another thing from her until a month or so later when she was obviously in the area and thought 'oh shit I haven't done the depression score with her'. I got a phone call to ask if she could call in in 10 mins. she arrived, did the questionnaire, said 'everything OK then?' as she was packing her bag.
I gave up after that. I saw her once in the baby clinic when I got ds2 weighed and asked her a question, but was just amazed by the inane platitudes and stock phrases she kept coming out with - no practical help, sources of other information at all. She's supposed to be coming to do ds1s developmental check but has cancelled once already.

When I gave up bf at 2 weeks with my second child, HV breathed a sigh of relief. "It's nice if you can manage it, but formula feeding is so much easier."

With that kind of support, no wonder formula feeding is so much easier for so many...

My first HV was marvellous though. Because she was an accredited bf counsellor, so actually knew what she was talking about. So rare.

ooh nearly forgot - was in the baby clinic last year (so it was quite a while after the new weaning guidelines had changed) and spoke to another HV about bfeeding and how ds2 was still feeding every 2-3 hours at 4 months. the HV said 'well he's 16 weeks now so you can start giving him baby rice'.
Arghhhhhhhh.

Mine insisted that there was no iron, none at all, in breastmilk. It was around this time I stopped going to see her.

I instead got ds weighed, and talked over any concerns, at a drop in clinic. The sort where you all sit in a hall waiting for them to come out and call you. I stopped going there after the HV, in lieu of saying "hello", called loudly and scornfully across the crowded hall, "Still breastfeeding?" Ds was 2 at the time, and of course everyone in the room turned round to gawp.

dgs has just had his two year check and was told that he was overweight for his age, but it was ok as he was tall and thin!!!(sic)

'your daughter is overweight and you need to put her on a diet'

dd2 was under a year old, admittingly she did weigh around 30lbs,and had gone off the charts totally, but i had to force them to check her height as well. she was perfectly in proportion. height and weight are alsoways on the same 'line' even when not on the line IYSWIM.

no wonder i never went back to that clinic.