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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Health visitor has just called to tell me to stop BF on demand.

74 replies

mamjo · 04/01/2011 19:04

I went to the weigh in with the health visitor today and my DD has again put on a lot of weight. She was 8lb exactly at birth and was 17lb 7 oz today at 14 weeks. This has seen her steadily rise from the 75th to the 99th centile. She is exclusively breast fed and I wasnt too worried because I have always been led to believe that breast fed babies cant overfeed. However I just had a call from my HV saying that she was concerned following my visit today and that I should now start only feeding my DD every 4 hours instead of on demand. This is going to cause untold stress to me and my beautiful girl and I am not really sure how necessary it is?

Untill 10 days ago she was eating every 2 hours day and night but she has now started to naturally go 4/5 hours between 9-9 and closer to 2 hours 30 during the day.

I always try to distract her before feeding but if nothing is working after 5 minutes, will offer the breast.

she wont take a dummy.

I would love to hear your thoughts and/or tips for achieving a 4 hourly feed.

Thanks

OP posts:
activate · 04/01/2011 19:07

tell the HV to fuck off

bet she's not using a Breastfeeding chart

HVs are optional - you do not need her

RobynLou · 04/01/2011 19:07

my thoughts are that you should totally ignore your HV.

You can't overfeed a bf baby, she's putting on a lot now, she may well slow down soon, follow your baby's lead.

moonstorm · 04/01/2011 19:08

Agree with activate

KellyBronze · 04/01/2011 19:09

HV is talking bollocks.

you have to live with your dd. you feed her as and when she asks for milk.

end of.

and congratulations.

IAmTheCookieMonster · 04/01/2011 19:09

could be a growth spurt, they make a 'hump' on the chart and then it goes back to the normal centile

seeker · 04/01/2011 19:09

Ignore. She's mad.

jkklpu · 04/01/2011 19:10

Ignore, ignore, ignore the HV.
My ds2 was born bang on average weight, a bit long; within 3 months he was >90th and since 12mo has always been around 95-97th for both height and weight. Do what you feel to be right.

SecretNutellaFix · 04/01/2011 19:11

I'd be tempted to tell the HV to take a running jump.

or failing that, lie.

ChunkyPickle · 04/01/2011 19:11

She was already a big girl, and now she's a bigger girl?

My little guy started just below the 50th, and is now closer to th 75th - also EBF, also a little greedy guts - their charts are probably skew-wiff I reckon.

How is she height wise? If a tall baby, surely you'd expect her to be heavier too?

activate · 04/01/2011 19:11

www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t023600.asp

llareggub · 04/01/2011 19:12

Agree with the others. You don't have to see the hv at all.

MoonUnitAlpha · 04/01/2011 19:13

My 5 month old would be beside himself if I tried to make him wait 4 hours between feeds (had to go three hours this morning as I was at the dentist and he was miserable enough about that!).

Ignore the HV, your baby sounds lovely.

PorkChopSter · 04/01/2011 19:13

What? Well you have a few options.

  1. Nod, say yes, of course and do exactly what you are doing.
  1. Ask her why, ask for literature references so you can review the data yourself. And carry on doing what you are doing.
  1. tell her to jog on and carry on doing exactly what you are doing.
Original poster
mamjo · 04/01/2011 19:15

Thanks Ladies, this makes me feel so much better.

Her length has never been measured but she is a very long baby compared with friends of the same age.

OP posts:
TheUnmentioned · 04/01/2011 19:15

go with option 1 above

BellaBearisWideAwake · 04/01/2011 19:16

Sounds like the kind of weight gain my DS had for the first six months (EBF). He then really tailed off for the second six months. My HV said this was completely normal for BF babies and only looked weird because they were using charts based on FF.

(I also could not imagine waiting 4 hours between feeds at that age!)

VivaLeBeaver · 04/01/2011 19:17

Do 2 followed by 3. Hopefully the HV might start using her brain a bit more before telling other new mums such rubbish.

missmehalia · 04/01/2011 19:19

If this has upset you, you could consider getting her into a bit of deep shit, actually, by writing to the Practice Manager at your doctor's surgery and tell them exactly what's happened.

I can't believe this.. I've had terrible experiences with HVs. I know there are some fab ones out there, but there are also some bloody awful ones. Yours is a case in point.

Just because your baby doesn't tick the boxes in order according to the manual she was given when she got her job. This is gobsmacking..

spiderlight · 04/01/2011 19:24

Ignore! Mine went from the 6th to the 91st centile on on-demand breastfeeding alone and our HV raised her eyebrows a bit, but he's now a perfectly healthy 3-year-old who quickly gained the height to catch up with his weight. If she's happy and healthy and you're not worried, smile nicely at the HV and carry on as you are!

Original poster
mamjo · 04/01/2011 19:24

I will continue as I have been, that is my instinct and I will go with it.

Thanks for reinforcing my will.

OP posts:
Tolalola · 04/01/2011 19:26

Agree that you should completely ignore your HV and continue on as you are.

My DS was exclusively BF and was a complete chub-monster. He looks like a sumo wrestler in pictures from about 4mo! He was in the 99th centile too, and was also v. tall.

He is 3 now and is completely mid-range for both weight and height. He's not in the slightest bit fat, is really active and is very strong.

The Dr I had when he was tiny said it was v. common for BF children to be big, but that they invariably lose the extra weight when they start moving about more, and that's exactly what we found.

Tolalola · 04/01/2011 19:28

Sorry, forgot to add - I also fed on demand until he was about 18m/2y.

harverina · 04/01/2011 19:28

I would ignore the advice given to you by your HV and continue as normal. You sound like your doing really great and as if your DD is thriving.

The idea of feeding on demand is that babies eat when they are hungry, not when their parents or feeding schedule dictates. Feeding on demand is believed to reduce obesity in later life as children learn to eat when they are hungry rather than wait till they are starving and over eat. I'm sure that I also read somewhere that babies who feed on demand will take as much as they need nutritionally - so its not just a full tummy that dictates what they need, but whether their nutritional needs have been met. Babies are far more clever than we give them credit for Smile

(p.s obv feeding schedules are sometimes needed for health reasons i.e prem babies not alert enough to root etc)

lala21 · 04/01/2011 19:29

Hello there

The charts are outdated anyway so she's being useless. You're not over feeding her and she's fine.

She may be nearing the top end of her per centile but she's so young, once she starts crawling, walking moving around it will all even out.

Besides she's having breast milk and if the feeding is not an issue don't start messing it up.

We've moved 3 times in two years ( have a two year old and a baby due in 4 weeks) met so many hv take them with a pinch of salt smile and say what you need to say to make your life easier but she really sounds like she's over reacting.

MoonUnitAlpha · 04/01/2011 19:34

The charts aren't outdated or based on ff babies - red books have new charts now.