Impressed to find that 70% of mum's in my area breastfeed

[Wallace]

That's it really :) What is the natonal average (we are in Scotland)?

The HV was complaining that the charts in the red book are still for bottlefed babies even when the majority of babies are BF.

What part i wonder?
In some urban Scottish areas,rates are so low as to be practically non existent!
(ABM had a most interseting article a while back about a b/feeding initiative in a very rough part of Glasgow.)
That chart thing is a misnomer i think.
Tiktok keeps telling us it isn't just bases on bottle fed babies

Is that women who start bfing or who are still bfing at x weeks?

We're in the highlands. I don't know if it is woman who start breastfeeding - I'll have to ask!

It's women who start bf, I would think, Wallace. It's still a good figure.

Please tell your HV the truth about the charts - that they are not ' for bottlefed babies', but for all babies (see zillions of posts by me explaining this!!) and if you got a breastfed chart it would differ hardly at all until about four months or so.

The problem is not the UK's charts - which are absolutely fine, at least for the first six months or so - but the way they are used.

Where can you find out this sort of info? Is there anywhere online? I've been told that my area (west fife) has a poor "beyond 6 wks" rate but I don't know what it is or how it compares to other areas.

Scottish bf stats are on the web - put Scottish breastfeedin statistics into Google and the first few results you get will show you.

The national average is Scotland is still piss poor, particularly in Glasgow.

That's interesting about the charts. It makes sense thta they are from all babies - they are not going to single out just bottlefed babies are they.

My HV seemed to be saying that thediffence, if the charts were just for breastfed babies, would be that that weight gain would be slower in the first few weeks because breastfeeding takes longer to get established.

That's interesting about the charts. It makes sense thta they are from all babies - they are not going to single out just bottlefed babies are they.

My HV seemed to be saying that thediffence, if the charts were just for breastfed babies, would be that that weight gain would be slower in the first few weeks because breastfeeding takes longer to get established.

OTOH, my bf baby has gained weight MUCH more quickly than FF dd1.

Another HV who just doesn't have a clue.

Breastfed babies typically gain faster than bottle feds in the first weeks, though there is not much in it.

The real difference only starts to show after about six months.

Charts cannot 'diagnose' anything in an individual baby. They are helpful as a tool, that's all.

I did wonder - my breastfed ds doubled his birthweight in 7 weeks