Are you sick of getting different 'advice' depending on which health professional you speak to?

Question

Since I had my baby 4 weeks ago, I don't think any two people have given me the same advice.

It started in hospital (where we were for 8 days) with each midwife shift change - every 12 hours, and now in the community, each midwife and health visitor I have met has said totally different things!

The latest example is when I was asking for advice about expressing - my health visitor and her colleague all (helpfully) told me to "give it up for now" whereas at the breast feeding cafe I went to today I finally got some useful advice!

Honestly, as if having a newborn isn't tricky enough, wouldn't it be a whole lot easier if people could sing from the same hymn sheet!?

Answer 1

YES YES YES!!!

I've had one say add cow's milk to cereal now (6 months) another sayNOWAY until 12 mnths...the one that says yes says no wheat for another 2 mnth but the one say no dairy says wheat now aaaargh.

sorry bout bad grammar etc am nursing lol

Answer 2

Ooooh your good ms Cranberry..it took till my second to realise all this was going on. I used to run round in circles trying to follow the advice of all these 'professionals'.

The conclusion I have come to is this- EVERYONE be that a midwife, nurse, doctor. your mum or the woman from the fruit and veg shop do is tell you the right thing to do is , strangely, whatever THEY did.

It validates their choices. So it may be good practice to recommend you do a, b, or c but if the doctor didn't do a, b, c then he won't tell you to ;-)

It's a very emotive thing this child rearing malarkey. Agree with everyone smile politely. Shut your front door..and do your own thing.

Answer 3

It's the same when you read any parenting book or book about newborns...it seems like every book has different suggestions and advice. I suppose you just have to do what you feel is best. Personally though, I've found the best advice to come from my mother and mother in law.  

Answer 4

I have a 4 month old, and have learned to go with my gut instinct on how to take care of my baby.  EVERYONE is going to tell you different things, so you just do what you think is best!  :)

Answer 5

god yeah, not to mention that every person you meet will give you varied advice, even if you don't ask for it!

Answer 6

i know it's very annoying. when you're a new mum you feel insecure and it's hard to tell what advice is good and what's not. after a while you'll feel more confident and you'll also know your baby better so it will get better. the best advice i think is to listen to your instincs. most of the time they're right.

Answer 7

lol, yeah that would be nice, huh?  Unfortunately there seems to be just as many "opinions" in the medical field as there are in every day life.

Answer 8

Exactly why I do my own research and only follow those health professionals who I know are correct in what they say.

Answer 9

Yes! I noticed that also at the hospital and at home when my Health visitor came to visit. Its different all the time but you have to remember that all babies are different also - they are not programed robots so some advice may be helpful others may not.

The best you can do for your baby is to go with your mothering instinct. As you bond with your baby more, the less you need to ask advice.

I bought loads of baby books for advice and help but now, i feel more confident as a mother and have little need for them now as I just go with my instincts.  

Answer 10

The trouble is that the guidelines they are supposed to follow change so often.  One of my (many!) midwives told me that she couldn't keep up with all the policy changes etc and that many of them give advice that is out of date without realising it.  It is a pain in the bum, though!