9-12 month HV review - crock of BS or is it just me?!

[Siamesecatlover]

Had my sons 9-12 month health review today. He is 9 months + 10 days old and I completed the form they sent me when he was 9 months and 4 days old. The form / appointment can be completed at any point between the child being 9-12 months old. They review the form in the same way for a child that is 9 months old vs 12 months old. I asked if they had a sliding scale they use for evaluations based on the age of the child but no they do them all in the same way. So, bearing in mind, when my child is 12 months old this is in almost 3 months time, i.e. nearly a quarter of his life so far, why do they review everyone's development and questionnaires the same!?!?!? Make it make sense. My son was ranked in the "black" i.e. cause for concern for his gross motor because he isn't standing/pulling to stand and cruising yet. I don't know any babies my sons age i.e. 9 months who are doing this but I know lots who are 10.5-11 months who are so I expect he will be doing this in no time, he is just too young right now. So now they want a follow up check with me on this and I'm just like sorry none of this is fit for purpose?! I debated even going to this review based on some past experiences with HVs that my friends have had in the area but thought I'd give it a go. Safe to say I won't be going to any more!!

Be cautious, some of them can be utter cows if you dare say no or refuse follow ups. They really do think they are Gods, they're on a par with GP secretaries.

In my experience, nod, smile, say yes and then ignore. Do the minimum required to keep them happy.

Oh they had just changed one of the reviews to a huge range like this when my youngest turned the same age and the health visitor couldn't hide her contempt about it! She said the difference she would expect if she visited so much as a month later, let alone 3 or 4, would be quite a lot so it rendered half the questions useless but she still had to ask them anyway and we also failed! She just did a follow up phone call and asked me if she'd developed as we both expected and then ticked us off.

Thanks guys glad to know it's not just me who finds it ridiculous that they have such a huge age range for these reviews. 3 months is not much when you're comparing two 10 year olds but at 9 months it's an enormous difference vs a 12 month old in terms of development!

Absolute waste of everyone's time for any hv visit I've had with either of my children. The asq3 questionnaires are split down so should have a different one for a 9 month old than a 12 month old. You can download and do them yourself.

Don't overthink it too much. Have a look at the questionare again in 3 months and see how he is getting on. The follow up check for us was just a brief phone call with the promise of another follow up check if there are still issues. My daughter was in the black for most categories and only got a very brief follow up at 13 months. We did have ongoing concerns in one area (gross motor) and didn't manage to get a referal until 18 months despite two of those follow up phone calls.

I think most HV reviews are a waste of time but in fairness, most babies do some things quicker than others so it’s always going to need to cover a range of time.

Why is it a problem to have a follow up though? They're not designed to 'tell you off', it's to catch any worries early for early intervention. My dd was a late walker and I was glad that they checked in rather than me having to push for advice about it.

My niece was rated as behind because she couldn't do something totally arbitrary at 2 years old, but she was advanced in everything else! She was having full conversations.

My other niece who has just turned two is really behind in her speech has been marked as being fine. It's a load of rubbish.

Not pulling up at 9 months is late though.

my baby didnt do this at 9 months but all my friends babies were. She didn’t walk until 21 months so that early referal was very useful.

I’m not sure what form they used but the Asq has a one month cut off so he won’t be compared with those 10 months and above. You can ‘self-assess’ by looking at the forms and scoring criteria. I’ve done this regularly with my DCs at home. If he’s below the threshold then they are just there to help. https://www.broomfieldpediatrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ASQ-3-9-Mo-Set-B.pdf

https://naturopathicpediatrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ASQ-3-Scoring-sheet-9-months.pdf

I declined it (also had no concerns) after hearing horror stories and for these reasons. My profession means I know alot about language development and it is waaaaay too advanced...I hate all this pressure to hit milestones and make parents feel crap if their child doesn't tick all the boxes!

After my fourth I declined any health visitor appointments. I know where they are if I feel the need to be patronised

I’m not sure what the issue is? Is having some extra checks a problem?

They can’t see everyone bang on 10 months, so it’s a range, and if you get seen earlier and have some gaps, you’ll get some extra support.

I don’t see the problem, it’s not an indication they’re out to get you

HV’s are a very mixed bunch in my experience. If I were to do it all again I would opt out. Some of them can be very unpleasant.

My experience of my own child and all the others at playgroups etc at that age is the vast majority were cruising by 9 months.

It's not like it's going on some permanent record for your child to forever mark him as a dumb-dumb. Everyone knows kids do things in their own time, but the checks have to cast a wide net just to keep an eye on those children who aren't doing things within an expected time frame.

I declined health visitor visits as I didn't feel any need for them. The early midwife appointments were invaluable, but after that I wasn't fussed. You can politely decline them.

I can't bear health visitors.
They do nothing useful.

I do agree some are in the wrong job. But I did have one who was incredible. She made my day with her visit. I will forever be grateful. Thank god there are people like her in the world.

But that's off topic. It's bizarre to compare a 9 month and a year old baby to the same yardstick.

Thanks for your messages everyone it's put me at ease!! And to the person who said not cruising at 9 months is "late" - you've either never had children or had them so long ago you have no idea what you're talking about. A child that doesn't pull to stand or cruise by 12 months old is considered late, with the age range of 9-12 months being most common but some babies may do it a little earlier e.g. 8 months. Just sharing this factual information for you so you don't spread misinformation on other posts.

I had similar, baby had her review at 9 months. 'concerns' over gross motor exactly the same as you say, and communication. All they did was give me a phone call just after she turned 1, gross motor was fine as she started to crawl at 11 months and pull to stand then also, communication I said no she's still quieter so they made another phone call in a month. She's now 20 months old and says loads of words and understanding
So overall I thought it was a load of rubbish to be done at 9 months!

Only one of my 4 was cruising at that age

I’m not spreading misinformation, I giving my lived experience of having a baby who didn’t crawl, cruise or pull to stand or show any progress towards this and did not walk until 21 months. I knew it was late and not normal even before the HV arrived.

Although I have just checked my diary to check when this appt was and it was when she was 10.5 months old. But I was worried about this from 9 months onwards as I knew she was behind in gross motor skills compared to other babies.

My baby is 3 btw

My 3 year old didn’t get a 1 year review and I haven’t had anything mentioned as yet about my 9.5 month old.
He’s been standing and cruising for a few weeks and crawling before that.
They all do things in their own time but there’s really no harm in having an additional check up because your baby isn’t doing X or Y, even if it’s just because they’re a bit younger. Better than things being missed surely?

Why are you so offended by a HV follow up that you accuse somebody of “not knowing what they are talking about”

Except safeguard many children who have been harmed or neglected
Except detect developmental issues and provide early intervention to ensure children meet their full potential
Except detect severe failure to thrive/dehydrayion/jaundice and refer to hospital for life saving treatment
Except provide safe sleep advice which can prevent the absolute horror of the loss of a baby

What a rank comment