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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

What is my HV on

39 replies

Beccarollo · 02/12/2003 15:09

Ive just been to clinic and dont understand a word of what HV has just said.

I mentioned his sickiness and she put it down to over feeding. He was weighed and is 15lbs at 12 weeks. He is sleeping very well at night and is generally great except this sickiness. He is going through growth spurt at the moment so feeding more often but usually goes about 3-4 hours between feeds BUT she has just told me to start weaning him and put him on hungrier baby milk?!?! What the hell?? He is breastfed so she is telling me to stop that put him on formula and start weaning at 12 weeks?

Im stunned!!

OP posts:
SenoraPostrophe · 02/12/2003 15:14

I would tend to ignore that and maybe contrive to see a different HV next time.

However, I think her point may have been that being a bit sicky after feeds can suggest a baby has eaten too much (volume wise). So her logic may have been that if he can get more nourishment with less volume, he'll stop being so sicky.

Does that make sense? I'm not an expert, but dd had this problem and that was my theory. presumably giving more hind milk (by feeding on one breat per feed, not 2) would also help, but I didn't get that far!

motherinferior · 02/12/2003 15:16

I'm stunned too.

Original poster
Beccarollo · 02/12/2003 15:18

She said "I know we normally say 14 weeks but some kids are different and I think he needs baby rice from now" I said isnt it 6 months now to try and wait til she said ohhhhhhhhhhh no thats rubbish! Its normally 4 months but most dont get that far

OP posts:
salt · 02/12/2003 15:25

I have to admit my little girl is 18months and I began weaning at 4months... as did everyone I know. I'm sure that's the norm. round here. Although things do change in a year! Why not try weaning? it sounds fairly normal to me.

popsycal · 02/12/2003 15:26

this really worries me....
a Hv said a similar thing - not quite sooo extreeme - to me when ds was about the same age
is it us geordies?

Slinky · 02/12/2003 15:29

I would get another HV!!

I always understood it that a baby that young still needs to get it's main nourishment from milk, be it breast/formula and that solids at that age don't really provide anything - other than filling them up!. But as your son is going 3-4 hours and sleeping very well at night then he doesn't need filling up

I find it bizarre that she told you stop breastfeeding and to start up on formula. I would have thought introducing formula now would make him even more sicky.

I would carry on as you are and remind yourself that you really don't need to visit a HV anyway

Original poster
Beccarollo · 02/12/2003 15:31

salt - he is only 12 weeks so not even the previously recommended 16 weeks.

She has never been particularly pro breast feeding - always telling me not to feel guilty to stop and suggested from the very first week to give formula supplements - very odd indeed!!

OP posts:
popsycal · 02/12/2003 15:31

i would almost thikn of writing to the GP thingy
luckily you are well educated in these type of matters
some people who don't have the benefit of this knowledge (and mumsnet) would just take what the hv said and go with it
that is sooooo bad

Original poster
Beccarollo · 02/12/2003 15:33

I take what she says with a pinch of salt and I do actually really like her - in that she is good for a chat and is really good with my DD but as for health advice, I think she could learn a few things from me (and mumsnet) never mind other way round!!

OP posts:
tiktok · 02/12/2003 17:06

As you suggest, beccarollo, she's out of order. There is no justification whatsoever for suggesting you give formula - and weaning to solids at this early age is known to have health risks. If nothing else it will displace milk, which is not good for a baby so young.

The advice has never been 14 weeks, or 16 weeks come to that. It has been 'four to six months' for about 10 years, and earlier this year changed to 6 months for exclusively breastfed babies.

You sound as if you are perfectly capable of making up your mind based on better information than she is giving you - but other mothers could be upset and misled.

Epigirl · 02/12/2003 19:14

Beccarollo, I had similar pressure from my hv with dd, she kept asking when #i would be putting her 'on the bottle'. I followed my gut instinct and didn't and ended up bf for a year (she made her disapproval obvious and wrote STILL BREAST FED over dd's red health log book at her 8 month check!).

Does logic not say that if a child is sick on something as pure as breast milk then there is more chance of it being sick on formula?

ds (13 weeks) has had some sickness after feeds and I might try the advice not to let him stay on as long...

I would say to go with your gut feel, good luck.

melsy · 02/12/2003 20:28

I really think it is wrong of HV's to give indoctrinating advice. Did she say why u needed to start weening now??? Sounds v strange. With when to wean I asked a HV about this and she stated that a bottle fed baby can be started at 4months b'cos their store of iron from u runs out by then. For breast fed baby's it can be as late as 6months as they r still getting a little iron from u , but it must be No later than this as their STORES, so to speak, run down too.

I think they like the sound of their own voices and deride power from telling people what to do with no holisitc thought to the situation.

charlize · 03/12/2003 07:58

When my son was born 11 yrs ago, he was a very sicky baby. He suffered from reflux. After every feed he would bring about half of it back up.
I was advised too by the Gp to start him on baby rice at 10 weeks old
I have to admit this reallly helped . But this was 11 yrs ago and advice at that time was to start weaning at 12 weeks. All the baby jars used to have from 3 mths on them.
MY ds2 was fine but dd born 3 yrs ago also had reflux this time much worse to the point she was not putting much weight on and was feeding constantly. This time I saw a consultant about the problem and dd was put on a special thick milk at 10 weeks but I held off weaning till 16 weeks.
This helped but to be honest her sickness didn't stop completley till she was about 12 mths.
So, I think I can see were your HV is coming from, she probably wouldn't recomend early weaning to baby without reflux but she should have refered you the gp.

Original poster
Beccarollo · 03/12/2003 09:24

She never mentioned reflux charlize she thought the reason he was being sick was because he was greedy and overfeeding (kept calling him fatty too! ) - so if he is OVERfeeding surely there is an abundance of milk available for him so why add solids? she is one bizarre woman lol

OP posts:
zebra · 03/12/2003 09:47

Is what Melsy's HV said tosh, then, as I thought harldy any baby (whatever kind of milk it's on) was in realistic danger of losing its iron stores before 6 months(?)

Tiktok: do you have a weblink for saying that breastfed babies (but not formula fed?) don't "need" solids before 6 months? All these years we were told that formula-fed babies had more iron in their diets, that breastfed babies would need solids sooner due to lower iron in their diet, and now the advice has reversed?

I've only been started a family 4+ years ago, and already the official advice has flip-flopped!

Karen99 · 03/12/2003 09:50

Hi Becarollo, my ds went through a similar thing at 12wks, and was also around the same weight. I did worry at the time, but the amounts weren't equal to a whole feed and weight gain continued well so I put it down to the fact he became alot more efficient at feeding and would quite often gulp gulp gulp at the start and maybe then overfill. He wouldn't be sick after every feed, but possibly 2/5 a day. I started to keep him in his baby chair for about 20mins after a feed, or on his back on his playmat, to ensure as much was digested as possible before more active playing started. Things seemed to calm down after 4mo (17lb), which possibly coincides with him starting baby rice, and the amounts of milk he took dropped from 15min to 10min a feed. He has also become much better at recognising when he is full after a bf and pulls off himself and stays off (whereas before he would always go back for a few trickles more)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it was a phase with my ds and the calm playing after a feed helped keep it down ALOT. Solids may have helped but he is still a bit sicky, but not half as much. (BTW, weaned onto babyrice at 4mo, 17lb as b-milk was clearly not enough and was still feeding every 3hrs in the night). HTH and go with your instincts!

tiktok · 03/12/2003 09:53

Calling him fatty???? Honestly....I think this is something HPs do get wrong sometimes, giving nicknames to babies, or ascribing negative character traits to them, like lazy, or greedy, or demanding. I cringe when mothers tell me 'the midwife says he's just being lazy' .

I try to be positive. The 'greedy' baby is one who just loves his mum's milk and takes full enjoyment from getting it. The 'lazy' baby is one who just likes to take his time over pleasant experiences, and the 'demanding' baby is one who likes to communicate his needs clearly.

There's no need to slap adjectives on other people's babies

The cheek of it....

Karen99 · 03/12/2003 09:53

And "fatty" !! What a cheek! You CANNOT over-feed a breast-fed baby! And anyway, baby rolls are a sign the baby is thriving not that they are 'fatties'! (this one is close to my heart too having a baby that is always wearing clothes the next size up and being teased about it!)

Karen99 · 03/12/2003 09:54

great minds tiktok...!

pidge · 03/12/2003 09:55

Beccarollo - clearly it is rot to suggest to someone who is happily breastfeeding that they should switch to formula. My dd too was incredibly sicky - other parents used to say, oh my baby is sick quite a lot too and then they'd witness the volumes my dd produced and would be aghast! So I know what it's like. She was breastfed exclusively to 6 months, and in shape was very long but totally average weight.

Maybe the being sick is a way for the baby to bring up the milk it doesn't need ... and although it's messy, as long as the baby isn't distressed by it I don't see any reason to worry. It will get better of its own accord.

popsycal · 03/12/2003 09:57

close to my heart too
my ds is 91st centile and i spent months and months when he was little worrying about him being big
to make it worse my sis has a little girl who is 6 wks older than ds and little and petite etc etc
ds is gorgeous and is shooting up in height now and is certainly slimming down
also just started getting fussier with food the last few weeks. and all this time that i worried that he was eating too much, i now worry that he isnt getting enough
can't win
all i know is that i would rather have a bigger baby than worry that a little one wasnt eating
i have had the 'buster' and 'oooh he's a big lad' commnets from loads of people. it used to really upset me but now it just passes me by
he is lush and beautiful
and of course, i am biased (as we all are )

3GirlsMum · 03/12/2003 10:19

Becca I am amazed at what your HV has told you with regard to the milk. At the end of the day your DS is thriving and is maybe a greedy baby which is why some comes back up, however, this is normal and doesnt mean you need to change anything you are doing (my sisters son was the same).

As for weaning, they do genrally like babies to start around the 4 month age as the longer you leave it the harder it is supposed to be to introduce. Saying that in America they dont start them there until 6 months anyway! You could maybe try a little babyrice and you may find that he will then also start to go longer in between feeds.

Take Care x

aloha · 03/12/2003 10:35

But I don't think he should go any longer - he already goes three to four hours during the day and sleeps well at night - a miracle at 12weeks IMO! Absolutely perfect. Beccarollo, your son sounds lovely and your HV sounds a bit of a nightmare.

Original poster
Beccarollo · 03/12/2003 10:47

Thanks Aloha - thats the thing, it feels like she is trying to "fix" something that isnt even wrong!

He has been eating more often at the moment but Im putting that down to a growth spurt - he goes to bed happily at about 7pm every night and goes through til at least 5am sometimes more so how can he not be getting enough!

Im trying hard for it to knock my confidence

"she IS talking rubbish, everything is fine, she IS talking rubbish, everything is fine repeat repeat repeat!!"

OP posts:
Ruth21 · 03/12/2003 11:29

It is so frustrating isn't it. You can't win, either they are too big or too smalldon't HVs realise not everyone can be on the 50th centile??? Our dd was little (2nd-9th centile) and hv kept going on about how small she was, and also suggested early weaninguntil we stopped taking her to get weighed. Much better for everyone's confidence. (We ended up starting solids at around 4 months though for the first few weeks I can't believe she got any nutrition from the teeny mouthfuls of mashed carrot she ingested. Mind you, she liked everything then, not like now.)

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