My HV has made me feel like giving up breastfeeding!! Do all HV make you feel useless??!!

[mrsthommo]

My DD is 15wks old today, and yet again my HV has expressed concerns about her weight gain. She was 7lb 8oz at birth and I've been EBM. She's an extremely hungry baby, and I find I rarely have more than 1-2hrs between feeds (even less time recently, due to a growth spurt and the hot weather).

She latches on correctly and always feeds from both breasts (average of 20mins each side). She was gaining weight well for the first few weeks but this has now slowed down (although she has never lost weight). A couple of weeks ago my HV advised me to give her 2 extra feeds per day. I've done this (with great difficulty as there doesn't appear to be any spare time between feeds as it is) but again today when she was weighed (11lbs 8) my HV still wasn't happy.

I've tried expressing so I can see how much she is taking (can only get about 1oz between feeds as she feeds so regularly) and managed to get 9oz over the course of the day. This didn't even seem to touch the sides, and I still had to breastfeed her afterwards for approx 15mins.

I suffer from Coeliacs disease so was worried my gluten free diet meant my milk wasn't filling her, but have been told this is not the case.

On the advice of a few friends I decided last week to add a formula feed (6oz) to the last feed of the day. I breastfeed her first and then give her the bottle (as I find my milk flow slows right down at night and this frustrates my DD). My HV was entirely unimpressed with this!! She has now said that I should come off the mini-pill as it may have slowed down my breast milk supply, and has referred my DD to a dietician!! I'm devastated about this!! She has also told me to try and cram in yet another feed per day and has requested a urine sample from my DD to check for infection (she believes my DD could only be burning off the amount of calories she does if she is ill)!!

My DD seems perfectly healthy to me! She doesn't seem unhappy, or ill and is fitting nicely into her 3-6mth clothes. She is very active, and whenever she is awake (which is most of the day), she is kicking and making attempts to crawl, so I thought this was why she was burning calories.

Although I found the first few weeks of breastfeeding really difficult, now I love it and would hate to have to stop. My HV has just left me feeling utterly useless, and wondering if there is something wrong with my milk (she mentioned that there may not be enough calories in it)! Help!!

There are differences in the charts...but they are not very significant until 5-6 mths. After that age, they become more and more meaniningful...before that time, the very slight difference shows up as bf babies gaining very, very slightly more quickly than the old charts would suggest. After that time, bf babies look 'smaller' on the old charts, and yes, a baby of around 7 mths or so might well be 25th on the old charts and 50th on the new (that's off top of head - haven't checked!).

One of the very good reasons for having the new charts is that they should stop people looking at the charts at 6 mths on and saying that mothers should stop bf, or increase solids or something, because of apparent growth slowing.

MigGril - I know you did not suggest she ignored the HV; other people suggested it, but not you

my dd (now 5 yrs) was referred to a hospital dietician for very similar reasons..she never lost weight but whilst exclusively breastfed she never put on much weight...
she has just been weighed and measured at school and is on 75th percentile for height and 50-75th percentile for weight (don't know why they were no more precise)
I exclusively breastfed her until she wet on solids at about 8 months and carrie don bf til she was just over a year...
Don' ket your hv worry you - despie us taking dd to dietician for over a year they never found anything wrong with her.
If your dd is bright eyed, skin looks healthy, does not seem dehydrated (check fontanelles etc) and is having wet nappies then just carry on feeding her on demand and try sneaking in a few exra feeds if you can.
Don't let professionals worry you into giving up feeding.

Why are you trying to stretch out the time between feeds and giving her water if you want to increase her weight gain? Wouldn't it make more sense to just feed her when she wants it rather than giving her water?

I am avoiding the HVs, from what I have read on here they can mess with your head pretty effectively. When I am curious about DS2's weight I wander over the outpatient clinic at the hospital and use their weighing/measuring equipment.

Thanks for the advice everyone! Myself and my DH are both of slim build so I assume my DD will be the same. I am continuing to breastfeed on demand, as I have since birth. Some days she seems to go longer between feeds, other days it's more or less constant all day feeding.

I spoke to my GP today, to get a 2nd opinion and he expressed concerns that her slow weight gain could be down to a lack of nutrients in my breast milk??!! I've never heard of this!! I asked him if my Gluten-free diet could be the cause, but he said it wouldn't have anything to do with my diet, and just that some women have less nutritious breast milk than others?!!

I desperately want to continue with just breastfeeding on demand but am now worried that I'm depriving her of nutrients by doing so?!!

Can anyone on here confirm if this sounds correct??!!

I don't think breastmilk varies in nutritiousness.

I have heard that the mini-pill can affect some women's supply.

But tbh, it does sound like your baby is doing fine. If she was hungry, she would be crabby and unhappy. It doesn't sound like she is.

Mrs Thommo, according to Kellymom

"The research tells us that mom's diet does not affect the average amount of fat or calories in her milk."

Sounds like both your GP and your HV could do with brushing up their breastfeeding basics.

JUST LIKE TO SAY sorry TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAD UNHELPFUL HEALTH VISITORS. I'M NOT MAKING EXCUSES FOR ALL OF THEM BECAUSE QUITE FRANKLY SOME OF THEIR ADVICE WAS APPALLING, BUT IN ENGLAND SOME OF THEIR CASE LOADS ARE HUGE AND I FAIL TO SEE HOW THEY CAN GIVE ANY SORT OF QUALITY SERVICE. IT GO ES WITHOUT SAYING THAT THEIR. TIME IS PROBABLY TAKEN UP DOING SOCIAL WORKERS JOBS
ANYWAY SORRY AGAIN, I HOPE THINGS ARE BETTER IN WALES, WHERE WE HAVE SLIGHTLY SMALLER CASE-LOADS. BUT I'M SURE YOU'LL TELL ME, BUT DON'T PUT UP WITH IT ASK FOR HELP AND IF YOU DON'T GET IT COMPLAIN , YOU ARE DOING THE MOST IMPORTANT JOB IN THE WORLD

MrsThommo, I've just done the maths on your DD's weight gain and on average she's been gaining just over 4oz a week. That is slighly lower than average (5-7oz a week) but should be no cause to worry all other things being equal...and it sounds like they are.

Sadly, some health visitors don't have the most up to date information on breastfeeding. As long as your DD is having regular pooey nappies and 6-8 wet ones in 24 hours the chances are that she is completley fine.

You might find it helpful to arm yourself with information and go back to your HV to discuss the referral/tests she wants. Perhaps you could agree to see how your DD's weight gain goes over the next few weeks or month as she will probably have a growth spurt soon which could make a big difference.

Your GP said that some women have less nutritious breast milk?

Fucking hell, no wonder women give up breastfeeding in this country.

No, that's bollocks, your breastmilk is fine and formula is not a better option.

I have had exactly the same thing with my DD2. She is 13 weeks today , was born at 8lbs and is now 10lbs 12oz. This means she has dropped down to 9th centile in the charts. Have been having her weighed regularly and the HV keeps saying how she's gaining weight slowly and looking at me as if I'm not feeding her properly. I am EBF every 3 hours in the daytime and she wakes up once or twice in the night, is generally content and happy in between feeds and is alert and doing everything a baby of her age should be doing. My DD1 followed a similar pattern and is now almost 3 and eats like a horse, but is still on the skinny side, and is also tall for her age. Although I am only 5'3", my husband is 6'5" and was always skinny as a child (as were his 3 siblings). I have told the HV this and said I'm not worried as she hardly looks malnourished, and all I got was a pursed lipped expression and she asked if I feed her in the night. I'm not about to start waking her up for more night feeds as if she were hungry, she'd wake up herself surely? Every time I have her weighed I come away feeling like I've been told off and that my milk must be sub-standard. Am fed up with HV! My DH has told me not to go anymore and am inclined to agree with him after this morning!

The most obvious solution is to stop getting her weighed regularly...

your GP may have had an hour or two BF training years and years ago: aka hasn't a clue what they are talking about. Sad but true.

It's awful how the net result of all of this has been an undermining of your confidence .