Do we HAVE to take our baby to be weighed at the HV?

thatgirlsam

i took my dd quite regularly till she was about 2

i didn't take my ds once, ever!

i remember laughing at the charts they use to plot the growth as they go up to 18 years of age!

i can't wait to take dd in aged 18 to the baby clinic!

thatgirlsam

albacookie wrote: »

My sister is a peadiatrician who works in neonatal ICU and SCIBU. She doesn't have kids but plenty of parents listen to her every day.

exactly.

its like saying you won't have a doctor treat you for cancer as they haven't had it.

ridiculous comment!

puddy

DueMarch11 wrote: »

I highly doubt anyone has been put on the at risk register because their parent hasnt taken them to be weighed, thats absolutely ridiculous. I work in CYPS and have never heard this...

ive worked in child protection for years, no baby will be put on the register JUST for not wanting to interact with their HV (many parents cant stand their HV)

ALIBOBSY

Sadly some of my exeriences with HV are also rubbish. I have 4 kids from 13 down to 7 months.
With baby 1 I agree you are much more worried about things, but I felt I trusted my own instincts. Ds was 2 wks overdue and pretty big, desite them saying hold off weaning till 4 months (as it was then), desite getting alot a breastmilk he started watching us eat and being interested in food (can't describe it exactly but you know when a baby is ready). The hv was a bit put out that i didn't require her advice on weaning, but didn't say much.

I did the clinic weigh in a coule of times then didn't bother. To be honest I never got any of the others weighed on purpose. If they were getting and injection or check up and the HV asked if they could weigh them I did, but with being breastfed the charts just aren't an accurate way to judge babies development.

We moved when DS was 18 months so got a new HV, what a difference she was brilliant and did DS and DD1 and DD2. She was just slightly older than me but very laid back, but at the same time very knowledgeable. She frequently said mum knows best and she was just there as a backup support. I had an issue when taking eldest for a checkup at clinic. The young girl who looked barely out of school just couldn't get DS to talk much (she was useless with him so he clammed up) she suggested he might need speach therapy and told me "you have to talk to him face to face not just stick him in front of the telly for him to learn seach you know" cheeky cow. I stood up told her she was cheeky and basically useless and left. I contacted my HV and she flew around to our house after she finished work to apologise, she said she would be having stern words with the girl (and I believed her) and did the checku form for me there and then (needless to say son blabbed away to her no problems).

My HV was brill and yes you guessed it had 3 kids herself. She once called around to drop something off on her way past and I mentioned DD1 was still in pJ's as we had had a busy morning (it was about 11 am) with DS and new baby DD2. She just laughed and said the first wk of the summer hols she took a week off and her and the kids stayed in pJ's till lunch all wk rofl.

Sadly she had left once my latest was born last year. I posted about a bit of a set too I had with the new one about breastfeeding. She was obsessed with weighing and "how much milk are they getting". She wasn't happy when I said I didn't keep notes of how often and how long she fed, or how many dirty nappies etc. I posted on here about her threat of "further action" if babies weight didn't start shooting up, plus her moaning about me still BF the toddler as well. Got some great support on here and just didn't go to the clinic for any weigh ins. Next injection due got ready for a fight, but she looked at the notes and asked if I wanted DD3 weighed-I said sternly NO and no more was said.

There is not a chance refusing to get baby weighed would get you in trouble. Social services are over stretched dealing with kids who have far more obvious signs indicating further investigation is required to worry about someone standing up to the HV.

If you are happy with babies growth don't go. You can always weigh at home just for your own peace of mind if you want.

ali x

SusanC_2

starjumper wrote: »

Morning all,

Just had a "follow up" visit from the HV this morning and I'm a bit miffed off, I was given to understand that I didn't have to take my baby (now aged 10 weeks) to be weighed, it wasn't compulsory and I could only turn up if I was worried.

No says the HV, you need to come every month and get him weighed.
...
Apologies, this seems to have turned into a bit of a rant, but do I HAVE to take him to be weighed so often?

No you don't - it's a service they make available to you should you feel the need of it but you do not have to use it. I never went - I just used to get on the bathroom scales with my baby every so often to give a rough indication of weight gain. And if it was really important he be weighed monthly, surely the hospital team he is under would have told you?

Molly41 wrote: »

Your HV is a professional person who has had extensive nursing or midwifery practice and thus the education/ training that entails and then gone on to do further training and practice to enable her to be a HV.

There will be a reason why she wants to see the baby once a month. Instead of shooting her down in flames why dont you just ask her what her clinical reasoning in behind her request. Then if you dont like it you can question her further. Really in this situation she is dammed if she does and dammed if she dont and your attitude is really not helping the situation.

There will be a reason but it could just be that she has to advise it because it is trust policy. Just like many other professionals they are not necessarily free to use their own common sense and judgement and can be bound by inflexible official policies and regulations.

SusanC_2

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

Sadly she had left once my latest was born last year. I posted about a bit of a set too I had with the new one about breastfeeding. She was obsessed with weighing and "how much milk are they getting". She wasn't happy when I said I didn't keep notes of how often and how long she fed, or how many dirty nappies etc. I posted on here about her threat of "further action" if babies weight didn't start shooting up, plus her moaning about me still BF the toddler as well. Got some great support on here and just didn't go to the clinic for any weigh ins. Next injection due got ready for a fight, but she looked at the notes and asked if I wanted DD3 weighed-I said sternly NO and no more was said.

:rotfl: I actually did keep those kinds of records (and made spreadsheets) but that was just because I like record keeping and statistics - the idea that anybody *should* keep that kind of record is absolutely ridiculous!

mum2twinsx2

I take my boys fortnightly and use to take my girls every two weeks up until they were just over eighteen months. Both my sets of twins were early so more just to see they are doing okay.

In our area if you dont go to get them weighed for a while they tend to chase you up with phonecall.
There is know compulsary attendance so dont be bullied into going.
x

Becles

I do agree that HV's who have had children can give better advice than ones who haven't, but that's just because they have a mix of experiences and can draw on both their professional and personal experience.

My current HV for Charlotte doesn't have children and is very text book and irritates me as she always says "current guidelines say......." and there is to be no deviation at all from the current guidelines. She doesn't seem to understand that not all babies follow the current guidelines.

When she's not available, I've seen a HV who has four children who says "well guidelines say........... but with our Harry ............." which I found more helpful as she understood sometimes it was difficult to do exactly what the guidelines say all of the time and there has to be a bit of give and take at times.

jaibaby

thatgirlsam wrote: »

exactly.

its like saying you won't have a doctor treat you for cancer as they haven't had it.

ridiculous comment!

No actually, not a ridiculous comment!!! Cancer is cancer. Same symptoms, same disease. And that is life-threatening.

A health visitor is someone who is supposed to support you, advise you. Would you ask someone to advise you on a certain food, for example, if they'd never tried it???

Seriously, I would rather go to my mum, my nan, my aunties, a friend, anyone who have had children, rather than ask an opinion (that's all it is!) of a HV who has never had children!

Back onto the subject of my HV, she was also my brothers HV. He was a little on the chunky side when he was a baby, and she told my mum not to give him biscuits because he would end up fat. If you could see him now! He ate like a pig, on solids from 3 weeks, breastfed until he literally ripped my mum apart, he still eats like a pig, but he is as skinny as a rake! Put it this way, he has 4 huge meals a day, on Sundays he has 3 sunday dinners!

So can you honestly say that because the HV was "educated", she was right in saying he'll be fat????

She missed Post-natal depression on my sister and only picked it up after she tried leaving the baby with a neighbour. Thankfully, my sister is ok now, and a wonderful mother. But she could have lost her daughter, my niece, forever, all because the support wasn't there.

They are a joke, and no help to some people.

As for the nurses on Neo-natal, I have nothing but respect for them, the way they can look after tiny babies (my nephew was born 7 weeks early). The only bad thing I have to say is they can be ones who go "by the book" too.

My nephew was 5lb born, and started drinking from a bottle straight away. As soon as he was born he had one of those small bottles they give in hospital. Yet, the following day, one nurse decided he had to have his feeds down a tube. No reason given. That pushed him back, and he stayed in for 3 weeks. Even his doctor said there was no need for that. My sister lodged a complaint and is waiting to hear.

Just because you may have not had any problems, does not mean the same for everyone else. We are just voicing our opinions, I didn't know we weren't allowed

thatgirlsam

jaibaby wrote: »

No actually, not a ridiculous comment!!! Cancer is cancer. Same symptoms, same disease. And that is life-threatening.

A health visitor is someone who is supposed to support you, advise you. Would you ask someone to advise you on a certain food, for example, if they'd never tried it???

Seriously, I would rather go to my mum, my nan, my aunties, a friend, anyone who have had children, rather than ask an opinion (that's all it is!) of a HV who has never had children!

Back onto the subject of my HV, she was also my brothers HV. He was a little on the chunky side when he was a baby, and she told my mum not to give him biscuits because he would end up fat. If you could see him now! He ate like a pig, on solids from 3 weeks, breastfed until he literally ripped my mum apart, he still eats like a pig, but he is as skinny as a rake! Put it this way, he has 4 huge meals a day, on Sundays he has 3 sunday dinners!

So can you honestly say that because the HV was "educated", she was right in saying he'll be fat????

She missed Post-natal depression on my sister and only picked it up after she tried leaving the baby with a neighbour. Thankfully, my sister is ok now, and a wonderful mother. But she could have lost her daughter, my niece, forever, all because the support wasn't there.

They are a joke, and no help to some people.

As for the nurses on Neo-natal, I have nothing but respect for them, the way they can look after tiny babies (my nephew was born 7 weeks early). The only bad thing I have to say is they can be ones who go "by the book" too.

My nephew was 5lb born, and started drinking from a bottle straight away. As soon as he was born he had one of those small bottles they give in hospital. Yet, the following day, one nurse decided he had to have his feeds down a tube. No reason given. That pushed him back, and he stayed in for 3 weeks. Even his doctor said there was no need for that. My sister lodged a complaint and is waiting to hear.

Just because you may have not had any problems, does not mean the same for everyone else. We are just voicing our opinions, I didn't know we weren't allowed

where did i say i had no problems with HV's??

i couldn't stand mine.. i didn't like her at all.. i weaned my dd when i thought i should, not when she said etc

my point was to the poster who said that she wouldn't listen to anyones advice unless they had children - that comment IS ridiculous in my eyes!

i do think that many HV's stick to the guidelines withour deviation and i find that very rigid.. and while they are indeed there to support you they are also trained to give advice and information

it takes years of training to become a HV.. they may not all get it right but for someone to say they wouldn't listen to any advice unless they had children is frankly stupid.

you can jump down from your high horse now missy ;)