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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Please confirm that this is shockingly bad breastfeeding advice before I write to complain

155 replies

mawbroon · 20/05/2007 19:44

DS is 19 months and has had around 12 bouts of vomiting in the last 24 hours. He had nothing but breastmilk through the night and had some water this morning along with a bit of rice cake because he hadn't vomited for a few hours. He started vomiting again at 4.30pm so I called NHS24 who sent us to the out of hours department at the hospital.
We saw a nurse practitioner there who examined ds and said he wasn't showing any signs of dehydration, which is good. Now, what she told me to do was to stop breastfeeding him as it just sits in the stomach and to give him water, orange juice or "something like Ribena" instead. She also gave me some rehydration sachets. Needless to say I am going to ignore her advice and continue offering ds frequent breastfeeds.
I am livid. I've been hanging around MN long enough to know that this is absolutely crap advice, isn't it? When I questioned her saying that I thought what she said about the milk in the tummy was indeed correct for cows milk but not breastmilk, she said that no, it applied to breastmilk too.
I am not being over the top to write and suggest that she gets some retraining, am I?

Ribena instead of breastmilk.... WTF??

OP posts:

harpsichordcarrier · 20/05/2007 20:29

a nurse practitioner should really and truly know advice about how to deal with a toddler with G/E or D&V. that is absolutely her job. it is nothing to do with lactattion, it isn't specialised advice, it is about the right thing to give to a child who is vomiting.
shame on her for not doing her job properly or at all. she needs retraining.

beansprout · 20/05/2007 20:30

Ds had to go to hospital as he had an awful vomiting bug when he was about 2.3 and the advice I was given was to b/feed him all he wanted as this was the best possible thing for him.

I'm really disappointed that you were given such awful advice. Please complain.

Original poster

mawbroon · 20/05/2007 20:30

Thanks cyclonbabe, but I still disagree...

OP posts:

Wallace · 20/05/2007 20:31

shocking

LOL at hatrick's nurse "Dairy is the worst thing for it" Have you got udders?

moondog · 20/05/2007 20:37

Yes,that is as thick as the HV who wrote about the baby having 'human food' in the red book when told about BLW.

Who was that???

Original poster

mawbroon · 20/05/2007 20:37

I read that too. I was PMSL

OP posts:

macmama73 · 20/05/2007 20:47

Aside from anything else, can you imagine giving a child who is throwing up orange juice or blackcurrant ribena? You wont get those stains off the carpet!

Original poster

mawbroon · 20/05/2007 20:53

Dunno, do you not think there could be a thread:

Sunday Fly - clean those lurid vomit stains from your carpet....

OP posts:

Wallace · 20/05/2007 21:15

lol moondog...wonder if it is her twin sister?

(twas whomovedmychocolate's HV btw)

liquidclocks · 20/05/2007 21:23

mawbroon, have nothing to add on the right/wring side of it and I absolutely think you should make a formal complaint = but, if someone were making a complaint about me and my practice, as a health professional I would like to know on what information they are basing their complaint. may I suggest that in addition to your complaint you write an personal letter addressed to the nurse and include the relevent info. That way she will understand why you are unhappy and have the opportunity to update her practice. We're not all evil and out to get you - we actually do want to know the evidence for practice and be as up to date as possible - we just don't always have the time to read about everything

liquidclocks · 20/05/2007 21:24

I sure hope my note writing's better than my thread writing really am havin a poor night for grammer!

Original poster

mawbroon · 20/05/2007 21:33

Very sensible advice liquidclocks, thanks. I certainly don't want to get her into trouble and I am hoping to write a letter of constuctive criticism so I need to do it tomorrow when I have chilled out a bit about the whole thing!
Is Kellymom recognised as an authority on breastfeeding, or could it be dismissed as "well you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet"? Perhaps I should quote something from one of the breastfeeding groups sites. Will google.

OP posts:

terramum · 20/05/2007 22:49

Defo bad advice - BM is classed as a clear liquid as its mostly water! (88% according to Kellymom iirc) & has far more nutrients in it than water, oj or squash

.....ribeana actually states on the bottles "nor suitable for children under 36 months" so why on earth the nurse would want to reccomend it I have no idea

tiktok · 20/05/2007 22:56

Of course it's terrible advice - and of course you must complain, calmly and pointing out the contradiction between what you were told at first and then in person. You can send a copy to the chief exec of your PCT, and the consultant paediatricians at the hospital as well.

Cylon - you mean well, but please don't perpetuate the myth that the mother's physical and emotional health affect the quality and quantity of the breastmilk...maw could be having a nervous breakdown and her milk would still be fine, and still the perfect treatment for vomiting.

There is plenty of evidence for continuing to bf during vomiting and/or diarrhoea, and for this ensuring the hydration and health of the baby.

The nurse has clearly confused cows milk and breastmilk....how unusual.

It would be useful to add some evidence in your letter - google on treatment diarrhoea breastfeeding and you will find something, for instance this which is a good site.

Not a bad idea to also give rehydration sachets as well the bf.

Elasticwoman · 20/05/2007 23:02

When my ds had really bad gastro bug at 20 months, I spoke to the dr on the phone and we were discussing those little rehydration sachets, which he said I could use if I liked. I asked what was in them that wasn't in breastmilk. He said bm was just as good but he guessed I wouldn't have much left by then!!!

Excuse me very much, I had plenty!

Am shocked at ignorance and terrible advice from nurse practitioner. Am glad I didn't take my ds out of the house when he was ill, but just spoke to gp on the phone.

When my ds couldn't keep bm down, I gave his stomach a rest for a while. After a bit, bm was the only nourishment he wanted and could keep down.

luciemule · 20/05/2007 23:03

DS had a very bad sick bug when he was 11 months (I was still very much BF him) and so I took him to GP, who said if he still wanted the BFs, it was fine but dairy and breast milk would not make it disappear as quickly and that the bug would stay in his stomach longer and that he would carry on being sick . He did say to give him clear fluids (eg apple juice) and that the sugar would help against dehydration. He also told me to give sachets of dioralyte.
He wouldn't drink the sachets and only had some apple juice but also drank boiled water. I decreased the length of time I fed him so he didn't have too much milk in his tummy at once. If it were me, I wouldn't complain but everyone else seems to think you should so maybe I'm wrong. My DS' bug cleared up after 2 weeks but he didn't eat properly for a couple of months afterwards (apart from BFs) but I didn't think the advice was anything out of the ordinary.

moondog · 20/05/2007 23:04

Oh Lucie.
What a surprise.
You came across another health professinal who talked through his arse!

luciemule · 20/05/2007 23:17

oh whoops then - sorry. The GP had lovely eyes and was v. sexy - perhaps that's why I thought it was ok advice and wasn't really concentrating on poor sick baby!!!

LongDistanceClara · 20/05/2007 23:19

When my 22mo DS1 had rotavirus (when DS2 was 6 weeks old - oh joy), he didn't keep anything down for six days. I did nine loads of washing one Saturday, because he'd been sick on every stitch of clothing he possessed, plus some of ours, plus all his bedding and some towels. It was February, I had no airing cupboard and I very nearly died of "aargh!".

I gave him ebm to drink as well as water and he kept some of it down.

tiktok · 20/05/2007 23:20

lucie, it was pretty poor advice and you certainly didn't need to reduce the time your baby was on the breast . Perhaps the GP didn't know there is sugar in breastmilk?

As moondog says, par for the course....

DimpledThighs · 20/05/2007 23:21

lol WadneringTrolley 'was she drunk'

Jenkeywoo · 20/05/2007 23:24

Sorry I haven't had time to read all the messages so this may have been said before - as well as the advice being shite about breastmilk - which we all know is secret feel better medicine as well as being nutrionally perfect! My GP said that the latest advice to give milk, even cow's milk as it is more important to get some food into their tummies and that children given their ordinary milk get better more quickly as they have more energy. Not sure how true this all is but just goes to show that the advice was doubly shite!

ghosty · 20/05/2007 23:31

I think you should check the 'sell by date' of your milk mawbroon. Could it be 'off' maybe?

Nurse is clearly talking crap ...

I was told by my gp to put dd on soy milk when she had a rash as she could be allergic to dairy. When I pointed out that she was exclusively breastfeeding her he persisted that she was probably allergic to dairy and I needed to put her on soy milk formula. He went a bit red when I pointed out that I wasn't a cow

VeniVidiVickiQV · 20/05/2007 23:34

Tiktok you are lovely

I am still ROFL at hatrick's nurse saying "dairy" was the last thing her b/fed child needed

Original poster

mawbroon · 21/05/2007 08:39

Just an update. DS is worse and we are trying to get through to the GPs on the phone for an appointment. He slept with me overnight and fed a lot of that time, but this morning is burning up and was sick again. His normally podgy belly is all sunken

OP posts:

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