Bit confused and cross with HV advice

[bratnav]

I went to the 8-12 month health review at the health centre with DS last week and the advice given by the HV has been niggling me ever since.

HV said that I should stop giving DS (9 nearly 10 mo) his lunchtime milk feed (given after solid meal) and just give a feed morning and bedtime, with a view to changing to cows milk by a year . I explained that I didn't have a fixed timescale for stopping BFing DS, that I was planning to just let DS decide when he was finished, but definitely by 2yrs (DH and I have plans for a romantic long weekend around then). She looked horrified then said that I should of course feed DS for as long as I felt I needed to

I know I just need to ignore what she said re stopping, but is she right about the lunchtime feed? I really feel undermined by her attitude, the first time since having DS
.
Sorry, just needed to vent

Of course she's not right - I'm sure there will be someone along soon to give the scientific facts etc - cows milk is designed for baby cows, not baby humans... I fed until 22mo - gradually decreasing - but at the rate ds and I felt comforable with and not because some interfering HV imposed their own sensibilities upon us - its not as if he's 5yo!

bratnv - of course she's wrong. There is no reason why you need to drop this feed. She was clearly under the impresh that stopping by a year is what you wanted to do - you corrected that impresh and she backtracked.

Why would you need to change him from human milk to cows milk at 12mo? Yes, if he was FF you can get him swapped over, but he isn't?? I agree she is a bit bonkers mistaken.

I started introducing a small drink of cows milk at bedtime to see if he liked it at around 11mo but rarely bother now as he still has a bedtime feed anyway.

As you probably know, WHO recommends BF to 2 years and beyond, as long as you and baby are happy.

DS is 18m and would happily have 4 or 5 feeds a day if offerred, but I now usually feed him before his nap, before bed, and sometimes in the night.

I was still feeding in the day ie on demand at that age and sounds fine IMO.

And well done for keeping going, there's not that many of us feeding past 6m apparently (though lots on MN!)

Thank you all so much, DH has been great at trying to reassure me, but somehow hearing it from you feels a lot better

No wonder BF rates are so low.

from what i have read and heard, solid foods are supposed to compliment BM in the first two years so i cant imagine why she would be suggesting you drop a daytime feed if your baby is still looking for it. take your cues form your baby and you wont go far wrong.

and just to add, my ds is 13 months now and still feds on demand. somedays he will just have 3 feeds, somedays he will have a small feed every few hours or so if we are in the house most of the day. i just go with the flow (excuse the pun)

Hmmph I had a very similar comment from the HV the other day (baby is 12 months, was 8 weeks prem). HV said "in my opinion anyone BFing after 12 months is doing it purely for her own personal gain". When I said that she won't go to sleep without it she said "well just let her scream for a few nights, she'll soon get over it".

Who trains these people?

'in my opinion'

You see ,that's the trouble.
It's endemic in a field that is supposed to be run according to evidence of best practice but isn't.

You get it in Helath and Education, where jumped up so and sos think their opinion carries more weight than
the cold facts.

I know because I work with such peopel on a daily basis.

My DD is the same age and I still BF her about 6/7 times a day, sometimes more. She lets me know when she wants it by pawing and clawing at my clothes and trying to latch on to any breast flesh available. Who am I to stop her?

Feed as much as you and your DC like!

Drives me mad that it is still OK for HV to advise based on what they think - why on earth do we pay these people to dish out advice they make up as they go along? Evidence based research concludes there are benefits to mother and child of breastfeeding until at least 2 years old. Not massive benefits, mothers are doing no huge disservice if they wish to wean earlier, but children who are bfed are sick less often than children who aren't and the longer women breastfeed the less likely they are to develop certain cancers.

I breastfed dd as often as she felt the urge until she was one after that we gradually got down to a morning and evening feed then just bedtime, which she decided to drop when mummy milk went yucky when I fell pregnant again. I also decided to stop visiting the HV when dd was 5 months old and I was told that I needed to tell her off when she tried to wriggle while on the changing mat (this wasn't a problem I asked for advice on)