to top up? or not against hv advice...

[crazyjane]

was just wonderin what bf mums out there may think of the following situation.

sis's baby now 9 weeks old. born 6lb,lost a bit of weight,now weighs 7lb 11oz. the baby was born a little early at 36 weeks, very jaundiced at first but since bringing her home from hospital she has been solely breastfed.she's quite windy some nights and has had some 'feeding frenzies' lasting a few hours,but must add its not every evening. most of the time, she feeds well and is settled inbetween feeds.she's just starting to do the odd smile and have times when shes just awake and looking round . anyway,the hv seems a little concerned that she is not gaining enough weight. on average, she has gained 5-5.1/2 oz per week, but last week only gained 1.1/2 0z.now the hv wants sis to top up with a bottle, the baby is on the 9th centile on the chart and hv is getting twitchy.the hv has suggested she starts with one bottle per day, and that she replaces one bf entirely with formula.sis is not happy about it, but does not want to completely ignore hv advice.this is her 2nd child, her 1st was very much the same in her growth pattern and is now a very average 2.5yr old runing around and causing as much trouble as the rest of them! we would both be very interested to hear other peoples experiences and their thoughts on this one. ive told sis just to wait another week and see what her weight gain would be next week before deciding what to do,thats what id do personally but i don't know if its the right thing to advise her.

[moondog]

No,no,no

Don't top up!!

No need.

Tiktok will give reasuurance form a professional perspective but if the baby looks good and is weeing and pooing plenty,then all is fine.

If your sister feels she needs more,then all she needs to do is offer the breast more frequently.

More sucking =more milk

On the other hand less sucking =less milk and if the baby is filled up with formula she will suck less,your sister will produce less and...you can see where this is going can't you? She will probably lose her supply altogether.

You of course don't need remindidng that breastmilk is vaslty superior to formula in every way do you.

What an arse of an HV.

If she wants to discuss this (non existent) problem with anyone,she would do well to contact people who DON'T talk through their arses,like the Assoc. for breastfeeding mothers.


08444 122 949

or maybe

0870 401 7711

[Jojay]

She should follow her instincts and stick with bf-ing if that's what she wants to do. She was putting weight on consistently, and has had just one 'bad' week. I'd definitely give it a bit longer and see if the pattern of slower weight gain continues or not.

We had hassle with ds's weight at the beginning and I'm convinced it was due to the calibration of a particular set of scales,so I wouldn't let one weigh in change things, if it's been going well so far. Obviously if the weight gain continues to slow down, she may want to reconsider, but don't rush into anything.

Good Luck

[emkana]

Was she on the 9th percentile at birth as well?

Does she have plenty of wet nappies?

It sounds to me as if the HV is talking rubbish.

[lilymolly]

oh ffs why oh why do so called professional people give this sort of advice.

I am sure someone who is an expert in bf will be along soon, but heres my thoughts...

My dd was bf then ff and is still on the 9th centile at 18 months, its just her size simple as, it would not alter if i had bf/ff/fecking weaned at 12 weeks

As long as the child is thriving, and is not falling through thrive lines, (ask the hv about these) then she will be FINE.

I stopped getting dd weighed, in the end. I recently got her weighted at 18 months old and she was only 21 lbs, which is what some babies weigh at 6 months. I dont give a flying f**k. Please tell your sister keep doing what she is doing and follow her instinct. HTH Good luck x

[Olihan]

Tell her to tell the hv to sod off. The hv clearly does not know what she's talking about and definitely needs ignoring. She's not a god, just a very poorly trained muppet. She should not be advising her to top up on the strength of one week of lower weight gain, especially as your sis's dd1 was similar. Everything you're describing about her baby sounds normal for an exclusively bf 9 wk old baby.

If I were you I'd tell her not to have baby weighed this week, or next week. Leave it at least a month and see how she's doing then. Or, tell her not to get her weighed at all, the hv can't make her go, there's no law about it. Weight gain isn't steady from week to week, she needs to look at a long term picture.

[crazyjane]

emkana.not sure what line she was on on the chart at birth,but theres definately lots of wet and dirty nappies!

[emkana]

She sounds fine then.

I would stop weighing her so much, leave it for a month, just look at her development, the nappies, and take it from there.

Good luck.

[edam]

Oh for heaven's sake, here's a baby who is healthy and happy and gaining weight nicely. ONE week of a smaller than usual gain and the HV is insisting on switching to bottles? She's either barking or sponsored by SMA.

You can't have every baby on the 50th centile, the charts don't work like that. It's like saying everyone has to be 5'6" tall! Some babies will be on the 9th centile, others on the 90th, because that's their natural growth pattern.

[moondog]

HV talks shit. Now there's a surprise.

[crazyjane]

cmon everyone. lots of replies and comments please then i can show sis this thread!

[Olihan]

@moondog. I read the thread title then the OP and thought 'moondog's going to have something to say about that'.

[JoMa]

I was advised to top up with ds1, he was about 6 weeks old, if that, and being a young first time mum i went along with it. This time round I am avoiding HV as much as poss and determined to do it without topping up. Ds2 is now 12 weeks and going great.

I even dared to tell my new HV this week that I wouldn't be taking her advice on bf as i'd been given rubbish advice last time

[moondog]

Was this one talking crap too then Jo?

They need bloody shooting the lot of them.We need a national HV cleansing programme and then to start again with new recruits.

[lilymolly]

I think if you go see another hv at maybe a drop in clinic or at a sure start centre, you may get differing advice.

It amazes me how much shit these hv spout, it make me so angry. I went through everything your sister is going through, and I PROMISE if i ever have another child (not likely ) I will NEVER see a hv.

[crazyjane]

[morocco]

why top up with formula? I'd phone one of the helplines staffed by real experts in bf and ask their opinion on it. I'd have thought if anything, expressing in between normal feeds and topping up with that expressed milk would be a better alternative? but prob unnecessary.
why is she getting her baby weighed regularly? is there some concern about weight and so she has been asked to have her weighed regularly? if not, and she is thriving, why not give a few weigh in's a miss?
my dd is on 75th percentile and thriving and she has mad feeding frenzies every night. you'd think I was starving her the way she leaps on me so that sounds totally normal behaviour for a bf baby

[lilymolly]

Moondog, I am with you 100%, i work with the Nhs, and if doctors/surgeon where grossly giving so much wrong advise there would be hell on.

[moondog]

Never assume than an HV a midwife or a GP or a paediatrician knows anything useful about breastfeeding.

Best bet is always to go to one of the b/f counsellors accredited through ABM,NCT or la Leche.

Most of these are volunteers too who have studied in their own time.

Bloody shameful eh??

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Maybe you could get your sister to pass on the numbers that moondog has given to her hv, so that she can get some decent information about bf herself.

Don't think I need to say anything else, except I agree with everyone else (except the hv )!

[crazyjane]

morocco. she has been getting her weighed twice weekly, partly because the hv has been visiting every fri and the drop in clinic is on a mon. it all stemmed from baby being born a month early,losing quite a bit of her birth weight(not sure how much tho)and she was quite jaundiced and was readmitted to hosp a couple of days after she came home, for light treatment and further blood tests.for some reason the hv is still paying very regular visits, i assume because of her concern for babies "slow" progress, although last week she commented that bf was being very successful !! wtf???

[Pannacotta]

Is there any reason why your sister is having her baby weighed so often? I don't know many second timers who bother - often through lack of time, but also as they weren't happy with the advice given by HVs first time round.
If I were her I would skip the baby clinic/weigh ins completely and use my instict to tell if the baby is thriving (am doing this myself with DS2 although I rarely bothered having DS1 weighed either).
Apart from wet and dirty nappies a mother can usually tell if a baby is ok and gaining weight.
She should hold her ground, she is doing the best thing for her baby by breastfeeding.
(Hasnt this HV heard of the WHO recommendations to give babies nothing but breastmilk for the fist 6 months?)

[moondog]

I repeat

THE WOMAN IS AN IDIOT. pOSS. WELL MEANING BUT AN IDIOT NEVERTHELESS.

[Piffle]

ditto moondog

[crazyjane]

teehee. i love mn this time of night when the vino flows!