WWYD RE Health Visitor

neneromanova

Just had the wonderful health visitor turn up for the 6 week checkup. Little man hasn't gained any weight above his birth weight. He measured him as well but said he hasn't grown in length when you can see he has. He's a very long baby now (mummy and daddy are tall).

She said I need to start giving him extra feeds after breast feeding, either by expressing or by formula. My thinking. Is surely if he was still hungry he'd carry on at the boob. It just sou D's cruel force feeding him extra just so he can gain the weight THEY want him to gain.

He's a happy content baby through the day, smiling and cooing. And sleeps well at night (6hrs normally).

What would you do. Give him extra feeds by forcing it into him, or jut ignore the health visitor?

Born 8lbs 4oz, went down to 7lbs 12oz now back to 8lbs 4oz for the last 3 weeks. Had jaundice til beginning of last week. Had all test under the sun and all came back negative or well below normal.

onlyroz

Does your GP have any concerns about his weight gain?

peachyprice

If he's thriving in every other way and doesn't look undernourished I would ignore the health visitor. All babies are different, they all grow at different rates. The only thing force feeding him will do is make him throw up more.

Gillyx

If you're concerned at all about quality of your supply I'd make sure you're eating and drinking as much as you can, food high in good fats, and lots of oats will really boost your milk supply.

IMO weight gain is only one indication of a thriving child, and if he is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies, is sleeping well, and is generally quite content I wouldn't be too concerned about top ups yet, but I suppose it is something to keep an eye on

neneromanova

I have absolutely no worries. He does more than enough poos and wees through the day. I haven't taken him to the GP as I seriously thought nothing was wrong. I didn't think he'd have gained loads of weight but only because he's long and thin like both OH and I are. Grandpa is 6ft 6" and was born at 27" and very thin so could be doing the same as him.

I suppose I could look more into my milk supply by eating more good things for breast feeding like the nuts. are there any supplements i could take to help as well?

peachyprice wrote: »

If he's thriving in every other way and doesn't look undernourished I would ignore the health visitor. All babies are different, they all grow at different rates. The only thing force feeding him will do is make him throw up more.

Yeah and I don't want him throwing up because of me.

Nicki

I wouldn't be taking unqualified advice from people who can't even see my child to be honest.

If I had up to that point felt confident that my baby was thriving and the HV telling me he hadn't put on weight came as a huge surprise, then I'd get a second qualified opinion on the issue from either another HV, my GP or a paediatrician. I would not ignore it however. If I'd already had a niggling doubt, then I would probably take her advice.

Little babies get very sick very quickly. Dehydration and malnourishment are serious and life threatening. Most babies have regained their birth weight by Day 10 and exceeded it by 6 weeks. One of my own children was admitted to hospital at 28 days old and kept in for a week because he hadn't regained his birth weight by then and was kept under very close medical supervision for months afterwards to make sure his weight was increasing appropriately (twice weekly weigh ins and regular appointments with the consultant paediatrician for 6 months).

Breastfed babies do gain weight differently to bottle fed but not gaining anything at all over 6 weeks does raise a red flag and why run the risk of letting your little one get ill by just ignoring advice from someone who has actually seen your child in favour of opinions from strangers who haven't?

lao_cat

I think that hv can be overly concerned with low weight gain. In saying that though zero weight gain in 3 weeks would concern me. The minimum suggested in 30g a day. One of the best ways to help gain wait is to add some extra night feeds. 6 hours is a long time to go at that age.

I would also offer him more feeds during hje day.

Have you had his latch checked ?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If you normally swap sides, try keeping him on one for the duration of the feed, just to make sure he gets the maximum hindmilk.


But other than that, just keep an eye on it. Offspring #1 grew at a normal rate for both, is now 5'9" and about 9 stone, Offspring #2's dad is 6'5". She weighed 9lb 12oz at birth but was very skinny - and was about an inch and a half too long to fit into newborn baby clothes.

She went from above the 95th centile on each length and weight to above the 95th on length/height and below the 5th on weight - most of the time, just getting taller and taller but remaining the same weight with her little birdlike bone structure. IIRC, she stuck at about 2 stone for a couple of years, then spent another couple at 5 stone, only really going above that when she got to 11.

She's now 14 and a half, a lot taller than me, still growing - and has just reached 8 stone. She eats a lot, too.

Length measurements are very hard to perform consistently, what with babies being those wriggly little things they are. And weight gain is still largely based upon formula feeding figures.


So I wouldn't risk damaging my supply just as you're developing a far greater efficiency in production and baby is is feeding well. But I would keep an eye on it.

Gillyx

Fenugreek is good for milk supply, but oats are brilliant so porridge for breakfast, and flapjacks as snacks. Make sure you're having cheese, milk as part of your normal diet.

I agree with Jojo. Any consecutive feeds within a 3 hour block feed from the same boob, as hind milk is fattier maybe even compressions when he's feeding to help get more milk into him xx

Tropez

I admit I may be making some assumptions (but being both a man and childless I've never dealt with health visitors) but I will assume that your health visitor did a little more than turn up at an interview saying "Oh I know a lot about kids, me. Had six of them, and wouldja believe I'm a grandma at 29? Our Charlie's a right clever'un ya know."

So she likely has some qualifications and has told you what she has for a reason. Therefore, if you have reason to question what she has said or want clarification on why she has said it, I would be talking to her about it or seeking medical advice and to be honest, this thread is dangerously close to seeking medical advice.

whitewing

Nicki wrote: »

If I had up to that point felt confident that my baby was thriving and the HV telling me he hadn't put on weight came as a huge surprise, then I'd get a second qualified opinion on the issue from either another HV, my GP or a paediatrician. I would not ignore it however. If I'd already had a niggling doubt, then I would probably take her advice.

Little babies get very sick very quickly. Dehydration and malnourishment are serious and life threatening. Most babies have regained their birth weight by Day 10 and exceeded it by 6 weeks. One of my own children was admitted to hospital at 28 days old and kept in for a week because he hadn't regained his birth weight by then and was kept under very close medical supervision for months afterwards to make sure his weight was increasing appropriately (twice weekly weigh ins and regular appointments with the consultant paediatrician for 6 months).

Breastfed babies do gain weight differently to bottle fed but not gaining anything at all over 6 weeks does raise a red flag and why run the risk of letting your little one get ill by just ignoring advice from someone who has actually seen your child in favour of opinions from strangers who haven't?

I think this is a really good comment.


I have always listened to my hv carefully and followed most of her suggestions. The ones I haven't followed straight away, I have still thought about and sought other opinions as, and when, necessary. The 'when' is the point I am trying to make. If the hv is concerned about something, and I am not overly concerned about it, I may try and change something about the way I am doing it and see how that goes. But I may decide to take swifter action than I would have done otherwise.


What I wouldn't do is ignore the hv's comments. It would be part of my ongoing evaluation of my parenting.