health visitor advises rusk in fromula milk for "hungry" 10 week old baby!

[jasper]

I cannot believe what I have just heard. A friend of a friend has started to give her 10 week old formula fed baby a rusk dissolved in her lunchtime bottle at the suggestion of her HV.
The mother in question is delighted as her baby is much happier.
What's going on??

Tissy - Health Visitors do have to undergo an intensive training, which I believe lasts about 18 months (tho' could be wrong). Most HV's have some relevant background (ie: midwives, paediatric nurses etc).
I would imagine all HV's who qualified recently, or fairly recently, would give very up to date information, and would balk at some of the info being given out. However, Health Visiting, like other professions, harbours its die-hard 'old timers', who dish out the same information they were years ago - they probably don't keep as up dated as they should, and/or go to study days with a very cynical view, and leave informed, but still bent on doing what they've always done because they think it works - bugger the research! Trust me, there are people like this in every profession (midwives included!), but I think possibly the turn over of HV's is not as great, so 'old timers' can be in post for a long, long time. If they ork alone, or just with one or two colleagues, their advice would rarely be challenged by those around, and so the cycle of misinformation perpetuates. I believe the high turnover of staff in nursing/midwifery etc always introduces new blood, with up to the minute practice, based on latest research - it encourages older staff members to keep up to date!

Agree with Leese. It used to be that you had to be a nurse who had also done midwifery training to be accepted on the HV course. A good few years ago they dropped the midwifery requirement. I am not sure paediatric nurses can do it. Here the course is a year and is at diploma level. It is intensive and only a few places become available each year. As Leese says, there is not a lot of movement in the H/V population therefore there are a lot out there who stick to the old traditions. The fact that they are lone workers does mean that they can say a lot of rubbish and not be challenged. There are some excellent H/Vs out there but the rogues are not challenged. I am sure mumsnetter mums will be challenging though - especially with a couple of midwives winding them up No interprofessional friction here

Aha, Mears! Interprofessional friction, eh? I had spotted this myself. My experience with midwives is wholly positive. Almost every one I met from my community mw, to the various ones I came across, to my own friend and "personal delivery" midwife ( whom I am nominating for a sainthood )were fantastically well informed and supportive.
The hvs I have come across, while lovely, have not been quite up to the same standard. One seemed frankly nice but loopy! I had sort of wondered if they were would be (or ex) midwives who could not make the grade.
Of course you could not possibly comment on this..

In several EU countries they also add cereal in formula for very young babies... I should try to find out how old babies are when they get these cereals/flours added. It is very common over there to the point that I have always been told that my baby (who sleeps easily 12 hours at night!) would sleep better/longer if she had these cerals added... saying that makes me believe that babies must be quite small.
These cereals are available in supermarkets.

my baby was over 10 pounds when he was born and the advice of 4 ounces of milk would fill him for about an hour and then he would be looking for another bottle so after about two weeks I made up a very small amount of rusk mashed up with milk and gave him a couple of spoonfuls at night and then gave him his last bottle and guess what he slept all night i spoke to my doctor about it and he said if he is not being sick and is happy on it then leave him on it as he is obviously hungry and the rusk is satisfying him, there is too much focus on "the book says" guess what? the child has never read "the book" every child is different and one size does not fit all, go with your gut feelings you know what? sometimes the older generation (people of my age(60 plus )and older) do know what they are talking about, the human race never died out so your grans and mothers must have done something right!

A friend of a friend?

I would be reluctant to believe it actually came from the HV.