Do you pay attention to health visitors? Do you assume their knowledge comes from experience or from a text book, or from both?
If you discover that the Health visitor doesnt have any kids do you disregard anything she says ?
What are your experiences of them? does their advice sometimes seem crappy?

I thought my health visitor was good until she told me to ignore my son whilst headbutting stuff at the age of 1 to find he was still doing it months later and even now! Not because he was seeking attention but because he is autistic. She never noticed this until he still wasn't talking properly at the age of 3. He may have done his head some real damage in this time. Fingers crossed he hasn't.

Hmm health visitors...yes:) Well I listen to what they say and decide what is useful and what appears to be absolute claptrap! My HV with son 1 frightened me to death saying he wasnt putting on enough weight and told me I should be topping up with formula:suspect: She hadnt really seen enough fully breastfed kids to see that his weight gain was entirely normal - all she saw was that his weight was straying from his line (90th percentile so not suprising really). I do find that the ones with kids give better advice than those giving you advice from text books.

Your HV is unlikely to know really what your homelife is like and whether what they suggest will work for you. The way I feel though is that they are not always right and maybe you should think about what is said before blindly going ahead with their advice. :thumbsup:

I can't say that I had any major dealings with them with my first and not at all with my second child.

I think it depends on how much you trust your own judgement. For some they can be a lifeline if you get a good one. For others they can be a bit of a nuisance. I do think that there are probably a lot of people who are thankful for their services though.

my health visitor was pretty good - she was sort of a FAQ sort of person, and admitted that with the few things she didn't know the answers to that she wasn't the best person to ask, but would find out for me what i wanted to know. she was supportive and possibly the least judgemental person i'd come across, which was really good.

My opinion is not good as I have never had a good encounter with one. Here's just 2 examples.

On my sons 2 year review visit I had to insist on a referal to a speach therapist as he was still baby talking, I say insist as she was more than reluctant saying it would develop in time....it never has, he's autistic which the speach therapist spotted in his 1st session.

When he was 4 the HV phoned to make an appointment for a home visit (I'd not heard from a HV in over a year) I kept a manic child out of nursery and in the house for a 11am appointment to which she came 30 minutes late to plonk herself down on my sofa and say "Is there anything we can do to help?" Apologies for the rant, but HV's are not my favourite health care professional!

I couldn't stand my HV - she rambled on but said nothing at all, asked me a week before I was going back to work if I have childcare sorted out (errr yes, I had it reserved when I was pregnant as places are so rare!) and she spoke to me as though tI was totally stupid, she told me nothing I didn't know already. She'd be the last person I'd go to for advice!

Ive had contact with three Health visitors, one in `86, one in `96 and one in `03. Two were in Sheffield and one was in Leicestershire and NONE had kids of their own, ALL gave advice that simply wasnt logical- in all cases We asked grandparents for advice and it was a lot more helpful than the health visitors.

I used to trust my health visitors advice and believed them to be knowledgable, experienced professionals (most probably are). However, I saw my health visitor about my son's terrible nappy rash and she had to look up advice in a book. Her reply went like this "Hmmm, nappy rash, not sure about that one. I'll just have to look it up." !!!! I presumed a common ailment such as nappy rash would be a health visitors bread and butter!!

HVs are like midwives in my area - you're lucky if they don't change every two weeks. Not exactly great for continuous care...but I suppose you get a wide variety of opinion.

They missed my PND/PTSD, so not too impressed. Plus I felt a bit under seige by the constant visits at first. But at least I know where to go to get him weighed/ask stupid questions - oops, no, that session would be on a day when I'm at work. Oh, never mind. :O(

My first one was a lovely hippy type lady from Derbyshire doing temp work in Sheffield and she seemed to know everything.
The second was really friendly and admitted to not having kids of her own etc but was very helpful and would ring me after checking info I'd asked for.
She just had a baby in September though and I really hope it all went well, she was lovely.
The clinic nurse throughout my pregnancy was a nightmare though and seriously could not be bothered.

my first health visitor was horrible im a first time mum on my own and she kept saying things like "he's not going to amount to much" "his head's way too big fo his body" and things like that. The one im supposed to have now was lovely to start with, got him refered for speach therepy, hearing test and development checks, but now not heard from her for over a year and was told she was too busy to discuss the hospitals report on his development!!! now awaiting a ryegate appointment and hopefully will get some anwers about whats happenng with my son from them

I like my HV. She doesn't say alot but is full of common sense and never critical. Never bombards me with information but gives plenty when asked.

I like my HV. She doesn't say alot but is full of common sense and never critical. Never bombards me with information but gives plenty when asked.

might be the same as mine, then!

all mine were totally useless, the first one spoke to me like i was a complete nutter that shouldnt be left in charge of a pet gold fish, the third was a complete nutter that shouldnt have been allowed to give advice or anything even about a pet gold fish and the third one i threw out of the house. the third one kept trying to talk over me and tell me what was best bla bla i ended up asking her if she had any kids and she said no, i asked her why she thought she was qualified to tell me how to bring up my 3rd baby, and to go away and leave me alone. She did and unbeleivably my youngest has now managed to reach 10 :)

having said that im sure there are some absolutly top HV's out there that do an excellent job , every job has loonies and busy body jobsworths in it that really havent a clue what they are on about:rolleyes:

My first HV with my first child ten years ago was lovely and was always ready to give advice without making you feel so stupid that you'd had to ask to question in the first place. She took time to listen. To me this is just as important as the advice.
My second HV with my second child born 20 months ago, well, I couldn't tell you what she looks like or her name even without checking in my childs record book! She came to visit me at home when my daughter was about 4 weeks old, asked me a load of questions, did a lot of writing in a little book and said ' well everything seems fine, it's your second baby so you know what you're doing, you will probably never see me again'. And off she toddled!! Luckily my first HV with my first child is still around at the clinic where I go to get my daughter weighed etc and whenever I need any advice, she gives it! But, the second one, I wouldn't pay her out in washers!!!

might be the same as mine, then!

Does she wear a cardigan alot?

ive had about 5 health visitors over the years and all have been absolutley fine.
I do know that many have thier hands tied in what advice to give - often they have to go 'by the book' when first hand knowledge points in the opposite direction.

if you have a HV you arent happy with, ask to see another ... a freind of mine in frecheville did (a couple of years ago tho) and there wasnt a problem.

shame that so many have negative experiences, at what should be happy and stress free time...

sue x

They are just like doctors or teachers. Some are good, some are mediocre some are poor. I was lucky to have a brilliant one in Beighton, but not met my new one. I felt the Beighton one was rather put on though, she seemed to have a huge caseload and as her colleagues left they werent replaced.

At the baby clinic where i take my son to see the Health Visitor it varies as to which one you see. As there are a few Health Visitors there I find the advice that you get totally depends on the person that you see and they often contradict each other.
Being a first time mum I hung on there every word for my sons first few months but I think as you get used to your baby and parenthood you realise that no one knows your child like you do and so its best to follow your instincts and do what you feel is best for you and your baby :)

i have to be honest i didnt have much contact with health visitors, only saw them when my daughter went for jabs and check ups,
luckily i had a great midwife who gave me loads of info preparing for childs birth and beyond.
so al in all....my hv wasnot worthy of the job title!

i managed to miss the Hv all the time as i came up to Glasgow to givebirth and then moved back down so i think they just decided to miss me! I had midwife for 5 weeks after birth so did not really need a Hv. I did take mini to the baby clinic a few times but soon gave up as they were just full o nonsense!

WARNING: Rant coming up!

The management of the Sheffield Health Visitor service is utterly incompetent.

It's so depressing having to deal with these people who are so concerned about their own departmental structures and what they are and aren't responsible for that they lose sight of the very children they should be supporting!

Basically child sat at home waiting to start nursery for over a month but can't because health visitors and school nurses are arguing about who should provide support. Not getting anywhere sorting this out!

So much for 'Every Sheffield Child Matters'

The HV I see now first came to me in April 2010, when I move dinto a new area. Her first comment was "Ooooh isn't she a pretty little thing! So many babies are horrible looking now a days but shes beautiful!"

Now, my daughter has always been a bit slow at developing, born in Jan 09, she didn't sit up unaided until 9 months, crawled at about 17 months, and didn't walk until 22 months. There was nothing wrong with her, she was just a bit 'lazy'. Her speech, however, was always quite up to date. The HV keeps finding excuses to come back, either monthly or 3 monthly, and every time, finds a reason to come back the following month, now that my daughter is walking, its her speech that they've turned to. As she can't 'string a sentence of over 12 recognisable words together' (she can, she just doesn't want to talk to the HV) and she has 'no understanding' because she won't stop watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to get up and fetch a fork from the kitchen for the HV when she wants her to (she will for me, and she'll close the door, put something in the bin, and all the various other commands). The HV keeps saying she can't understand her when shes talking. I don't know how she can't understand her, she speaks very clearly. When she comes back in a couple of weeks, lets see what problems she finds this time...

WARNING: Rant coming up!

The management of the Sheffield Health Visitor service is utterly incompetent.


It really is this. I have a lot of inner knowledge of the health visiting service. The Health Visitors are all pretty much excellent and a lot have refused promotion because they want to stay on the clinical side. I won't mention areas and especially not names but it is a post lottery on quality of care. Newly trained Health Visitors aren't staying because the job is awful, others are seeing out until their retirement or hoping on early redundancy, the bad ones are being promoted out of the way. They'll be a major shortage soon as they are already stretched and it's not unknown for some HVs to work another 20 hours a week just to catch up. HVs have my up most respect and if there is one thing that parents can do to help is be there for the appointment, because it's a waste of clinical hours that could be saving a Baby P if not (proved not any HVs fault btw before anyone gets facts wrong).

My daughter has no understanding and speech skills - "Look Mummy, the postman has bought you some mail from Boots!" - My advantage card update just came through the psot. Stupid HV :hihi:

WARNING: Rant coming up!

The management of the Sheffield Health Visitor service is utterly incompetent.

It's so depressing having to deal with these people who are so concerned about their own departmental structures and what they are and aren't responsible for that they lose sight of the very children they should be supporting!

Basically child sat at home waiting to start nursery for over a month but can't because health visitors and school nurses are arguing about who should provide support. Not getting anywhere sorting this out!

So much for 'Every Sheffield Child Matters'

It's simple
If it is reception age it's school nurses
If its prior to this, which sounds like it is as you said nursery, it is health visitors.
Health records are held with health visitors and have responsibilty for children until the enter reception at school. If health visitors are saying it is school nurses they are wrong (unless you mean reception class in which case it absolutely is the school nures) and you are absolutely right the health visitor managers should be sorting that out straight away, it is not good enough a child has not been in nursery for a month when it really is that simple.
Health visitors and school nurses are managed by childrens hospital now. Call them and ask to speak to the departmental head
x

This thread makes me a little sad. I'm a community nursery nurse that works with the health visitors. I do appreciate that you have good and bad experiences but dont tar everyone with the same brush. They don't go by text book but years of experience, all are trained nurses then some gone onto be midwives before completing extra training to be a health visitor. In my opinion it dosnt matter whether they have children are not as they are not coming to you as a parent but as a health professional. I support parents around behaviour, sleep, toilet training etc and although currently pregnant do not have children. I do however have qualifications and experience that have helped me to support alot of families. Everyone is different, for me I give parents up to date advice, guidance and support and then a parent can make a choice based on that guidance. And although it's not your problem as parents the health visiting service is so stretched and health visitors do work alot of unpaid hours so that they can but clients first xx