Yet another moan at hvs

[hercules]

This is not about bottle v breast!

Got that out of the way.

I went to my baby clinic today as dd had some green poo and has been a bit unsettled. The hv said this was a sign of colic and I should give boiled water to her. Fine I said (not much help there then).
DD is nearly 5 months and the hv asked what her diet was and I said bm. HV said what is she eating so I said bm. HV what solids is she having as it must be her diet that is causing the colic, I said she isnt having solids.
HV had already weighed her and said her weight was fine etc etc. Now on hearing this re the solids she said she needs to be on solids as needs the calories. (DD has been in 6-9 months cloths since she was 4 months). I said doesnt the WHO recommend waiting until around 6 months. Not at all she said and the trusts policy is 4 months. The trust being the NHS. I asked why would the WHO and the government say 6 months then, they dont she said.
She then said i was doing really well to feed dd this long to which I said I fed ds for a lot longer. She was shocked and said didnt he bite you and did he mind this?? Like I forced him or something!
I said he bit once when he was 6 months old.
DD has been going through a stage of crying when anyone she doesnt know looks at her and when hv looked at her she burst in to tears. HV said Oh it's the colic, I said no it's because you looked at her.

Sorry for poor grammar and rambling. Feel much better know.
As a teacher I feel I have a duty to keep up to date with current recommendations so why dont HVs?
Surely there must be some rule about this?

Thanks Tiktok. Thats pretty much what I said to them that I didn't want to complain more raise a concern.

Actually tiktok, I have complained numerous times both directly to my hv and to my gp. But I always feel rotten afterwards as my gp is lovely but extremely overworked and I always feel has 'more serious patients to deal with' and my hv is a v. sweet woman who's just kind of clueless. So I decided long ago to do my own research and only go with dd to be weighed. I haven't been there is months and months now, I just don't see the point.

Whow!! Makes me kind of glad there's not a HV within a few thousand miles from me

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My brother, who works in the NHS, says that they are extremely badly paid. But not so badly paid as midwives who also work much longer hours and in my experience are much more helpful. And not much different pay to nurses in general. Aside from the numerous stories we hear about bad breast feeding advice etc., there's also a big problem with PND and the way they deal with that. I've got a couple of friends who clearly were suffering very badly but the hv's didn't take it seriously at all. One of them took an overdose and came very close to dying. She was a single mom and was literally crying out for help.

Agree about the dealing with PND. My HV gave me the standard questionnaire at my 6 week check. Being a "health professional" myself it was obvious what the "right" answers were, and I didn't answer it wholly truthfully, i.e. I "toned down" my responses to not seem too extreme. Even so, I must have scored fairly high as she looked at my score, said " you're borderline, you should see someone" and left it at that. Didn't tell me who I should see (GP? Counsellor? Psychiatrist?) and didn't check up on me later to find out if I had seen anyone, or if I was feeling better. If she had sat down and asked a few pertinent questions, such as how I thought I was coping with a new baby, I probably would have burst into tears and told all! I only got through the first 3 months with the help of dh and a close friend, who knew exactly what was going on, and who colluded to give me all the support they could. And I've since checked with them and the HV had no part in this at all. She just was not interested.

Tissy, I remember that questionnaire. It had questions like 'have you ever thought of harming your baby?' It was really very blunt. I didn't ever have an extreme kind of PND but I did feel very low and anxious for the first 6 months or so and would have loved some 'gentle' support without anyone thinking I might harm my baby! Rather than those v. basic questionnaires I think you're right, they could sit and have a chat with you and a lot more would come out.

your hv sounds like a div!

i looked up to see what the qualifications to be a hv as im quiteintertested andi was surprised to see ou need to have been trained as a nurse etc... some hv's i have met know balls all frankly and are behind it all the latest findings etc... they should be made to update their knowledge twice yearly.
one hv i went to is in her 60's and she is so lovely and really knows her stuff, she is not old fashioned at all and encouraged me bf all the way, always there with advice and solutions.
can you just go somewhere else? god she has probable caused lots of hassle with other babies. trust your own instincts, your baby sounds like she is getting enough from you, hold out until nearer 6 months.

No intention of weaning dd until she's around six months.