Is this right? (something a HV said)

[smurfgirl]

I am a student nurse and spent today with a HV and something she said didn't ring true to me so I wanted to ask the experts

A mum was feeding her baby (6 weeks old) sma gold and the hv weighed him today and he had put on a lot of weight since he was born - 7lb at birth and 13lb today. He was quite a chubby baby but not like ginormously massive! Anyway, the mum asked if she could put him on SMA white (hungry baby milk?) because he was taking 9oz every 3 hours. And the HV said that she would not normally say yes but because the baby was so big they had to slow up his weight gain or else he would become fat by 6 months and so he had to go onto the hungry baby milk. The HV said that it would fill him for longer so he would not eat as much so his calorie intake would come down. That struck me as odd, I didn't think you had to limit a 6 week old's calorie intake?

When we left the house she turned to me and said 'what a fat baby' and said how round his face was. I was a bit surprised at all this because I didn't think babies could be fat some are chubby some are not.

She also was telling the mum to give the baby water and not juice and the mum was agreeing and saying that she only gave water. And then the HV said that if she HAD to give juice it should be sugar free cordial v.diluted, thats not right either is it?

TIA for any advice, I am genuinely interested not looking for an argument!

Puts you in a shit position, really SG.

Can you ask her whether she means squash with sweeteners and then looked a bit shocked and say you didn't think they were suitable for babies?

(which they definitely aren't, btw - fgs, with HVs like this, who needs mentalists?!)

Message withdrawn

Oh My God....................................

Am a HV too and am speechless at what she said.....

HMs DS is 6 months??? How the hell did that happen? He was just 2 days old last I remember! He's very cute - looks about a year older than my 11.5 month DS though!

I bottle fed and DS was consistently in the 8oth percentile or above since birth. I did limit his formula to the recommended amount for his age asmy health visitor advised - he would have had more if I'd let him but I feelthat it wasbecause he was sucky rather than hungry. I gave him the odd ounce of cool boiled water here and there but also around 3/4 monts he found his thumb and then stopped wanting the water (which is why I think he was sucky). It's quitecommon I believe with formula fed babies because they get pleasure from sucking but obviously the amount of time they spend doing it comparedtoa breastfed baby is a lot less.

I would NEVER give an under 6 month old any sort of squash/juice unless they were dehydrated (then I'd probably give milk anyway) - if a baby is genuinely thirsty s/he'd drink water if offered, just like you or I.

I couldn't say anything because I am a student and most 22 year olds don't know about weaning etc, but I mentioned the squash thing to my boyfriend and he was shocked and he is not a baby person at all. She definately meant squash because one mum asked her and the HV said 'not fresh juice or baby juice, asda's own sugar free squash'
Makes me a bit worried about what my friends studying to be children's nurses who are with HVs are learning.

This HV was a very nice woman, very caring etc just had some funny ideas.

Hunkermunker, your ds is very sweet looking

I have bottle fed both of mine "on demand"(as much as you can with a bottle) and neither has been gaining a pound a week! Both have been on SMA white from 3 weeks old due to lots and lots of posseting (My poor Sofa and Carpet!!) and it helped with that, they still want to drink the same no of oz though as that is what their stomach gets used to taking. The only other benefit that it gives is making them go longer between feeds.

at the juice thing!