Surely this is nonsense??

[MadameJ]

DD is 6 weeks old. She was full term and weighed 8lb 3oz. She is EBF.
Went for her 6 week check today and she weighed 12lb 10oz, I was advised that due to her size I should try and "space out" her feeds especially at night (she feeds 2 hourly maybe 3 hourly if im lucky overnight) surely this is nonsense and she is far too little for any kind of routine??

Utter, utter bollocks. You should ignore completely as you can't bf too much, you can however bf too little. You should complain as the HVs advice contradicts the NHS advice which is to feed on demand.

Did the HV even bother to take DDs height into account?

I would say that 4 and a half pounds in 6 weeks was a good steady weight gain but not excessive. She is still relatively young so you need to feed your baby when she is hungry rather than try to fit it into a schedule. Breast feeding advice is always a mine field as lots of people giving advice have out of date information, no experience or are pushing their own agenda except me obvs . Do what feels right for you, if your DD is staying on roughly the same percentile there is really no need for concern. DS went from 25th to 75th in under two months

Ridiculous. If you are lucky enough to have a good feeder and a lovely healthy baby who is chubbying up well, so much the better!

Yep, that's nonsense. Feed on demand. DS was EBF and turned into a right chubster. The HVs would visibly relax though once I had told them that he was EBF. At 3 he's now a lean muscley toddler.

I've heard absolute tripe from health visitors. Ignore this person and carry on as you are. You sound like youre doing a smashing job.

(There's a picture of DS as a baby on my profile page - he has fat-folds for wrists!)

I had planned to ignore it as thankfully this is my second child and I'm a little more clued up this time around but its worrying as she clearly has no clue. I obviously didn't mention that dd cluster feeds all evening!!!!!
Another corker was "when are you introducing a bottle" to which I replied that I wasn't planning on doing this as I didn't see the need, she questioned if DH minded never being able to feed her!!!!!

That's bollocks from your HV. My DS doubled his birthweight by 6 weeks! In fact between 4 and 6 weeks he put on 2 kilos! He was steadily becoming a chubster on breastmilk and then formula.

And from a purely practical perspective how on earth do you "space out" the feeds of a screaming hungry newborn baby? I honestly do not understand how you can feed anything other than on demand at the early stage, whether it's boob or bottle! Tell them calmly "sorry darling, the Health Visitor said you can't have any more boob/bottle for another hour"?

Your HV sounds like a nobber OP. You however sound very clever and clued up

Well done, carry on and please come round to my house and tell me what to do when I have DC2

Rubbish. My baby is FF and had similar weight gain. My HV advised that you feed a baby on demand however they are fed (which I have done with all of my 3 children) and they will find their natural weight pattern themselves. Both my GP and Paed said they thought how lovely and in proportion DD looks as she has gained significant length as well as weight (although length is not generally measured regularly so I don't know whether she is scientifically in proportion - nor do I care!)

Both my older DC put on a lot of weight quickly as babies and both have found their own shape. DD is skinny as a rake (age 8) and DS is slightly more stocky but certainly not fat.

This is rather sad. Complain if you can, if she's giving the same guidance to first time mums who aren't as clued up as you then I'd hate to think how many are getting stressed out.

What did the HV suggest you do with a baby screaming for a feed, shut the door and go outside for a ciggy?

I've decided long ago to ignore the HV. Mine are opinionated morons IMO. Some of the advice I have heard is terrible

Feed on demand, you know what you are doing and that you are doing it right. Prob had a massive growth spurt and poss won't gain much by the next time you feed them.