Grr (and a bit of a laugh) at Plunket
Printed From: OHbaby!
Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=37208
Printed Date: 29 August 2025 at 5:15pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Grr (and a bit of a laugh) at Plunket
Posted By: Hopes
Subject: Grr (and a bit of a laugh) at Plunket
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 10:35am
|
So the conversation went a bit like this:
Me: "I'd rather feed him every three hours or so, but lately he's been waking up after 45 minutes, and won't go back to sleep, so I've just got him up and fed him and started again. This means he's getting fed more like every two hourly". Her: "Oh, you shouldn't go that, make sure you stretch him out to three hours. Take him for a walk or something" Me: "Ok. That means after he wakes up from a 45-min sleep, I'll stretch him out another hour, then feed him. But after an hour of being up, he'll be tired by that point - so I should feed him and then put him to bed?" Her: "No, we recommend you do a 'feed / change / play' routine. So you feed him, then he has his up time' Me: "Ok. So he'll wake up after 45 minutes, I'll stretch him out for another hour, I'll feed him, then I'll give him some more up time to make sure he has a play after his feed. That will probably mean he's awake for a couple of hours, though, is that OK?" Her: "Well, no, at his age he should only be up for an hour and a half max." Me: "Oh. Well the only way to avoid that and still keep the feed / change / play routine is to feed him a bit earlier..." Her: "No, he shouldn't be fed sooner than three hours after the last one..." Seems there just isn't a solution  (My plan is to keep muddling along in a similar manner to what I've been doing...)-------------   
|
Replies:
Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 10:57am
|
Lol, I see!
Yeah, DD ffed 2 hourly until 7 months, day AND night, Plunket didn't seem to mind, although when they would ask me her routine I would tell them and they would take it as if I was complaining about it when I wasn't and then rant that it was my fault.  - do what works for you. About the age Jacob is now is completely normal for them to suddenly wake after 45mins, if he's obviously still tired then I would try put him back down but if he's happy to be up then I would keep him up and if you don't want to feed right away then just distract him with some toys, singing, whatever until he wants to feed and when he's tired put him back to bed. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 11:11am
|
hahaha, what's your problem, makes perfect sense to me ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: JadeC
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 11:12am
|
Gah, ridiculous!!!
Incidentally, Quinn is doing the same now, so I'm just working on a 2 - 2.5 hour schedule. Not much else you can do really! ------------- http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/" rel="nofollow"> 
|
Posted By: freckle
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 11:14am
|
LOL Hopes - you have to stick to the rules even if they make no sense whatsoever ------------- mum to 3 lovely girls :D |
Posted By: GuestGuest
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 11:19am
| She sounds like a robot! Unbelievable how they think everyone should fit in to their little box. |
Posted By: BugTeeny
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 11:33am
|
haha I've had similar conversations with my PN, too. She's lovely and has awesome advice, but sometimes they need to loosen up a little and realise not all babies are the same
Mason, for the last month or two, has been a 45minute napper. But I just fit food and play in around it however he indicates. Generally he feeds every 3 hours, but sometimes it's a feed every 90 minutes. Really, you just have to do what works for you and baby  ------------- 
|
Posted By: Raspberryjam
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 11:57am
maybe she would like to explain to wee jacob that this is how it works, Im sure he will be happy to comply
 ------------- http://lilypie.com] 
http://lilypie.com] 
http://lilypie.com] 
|
Posted By: _SMS_
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 12:30pm
|
Hahahaha i love that
Its funny because BFing your baby is so different to bottle feeds. I always demand feed DD. And no the last thing you want is an overtired baby  -------------  
|
Posted By: Red
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 12:42pm
|
I just offer it, if she isn't hungry she won't take any, but I don't see the point in stretching it out to 3 hours. Just do what is working for you guys.
When my PN asked me the other day I just said 3 hourly to save a converdation like that! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: NovemberMum
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 12:50pm
| hahh my 12 month old goes anywhere form 1-4 hours between beastfeeds and he is on solids too |
Posted By: Mum_mum
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 1:34pm
|
lol i think we ended up with feeding before bed, and then she'd only sleep for 45 mins anyway.
I honestly think that feeding your baby every 3 hours is a bunch of crap, Im sure my milk supply was so great because I fed her on demand and sometimes that could be every hour lol. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
 Angel baby - May 2008
|
Posted By: AuntieSarah
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 1:40pm
Lol Plunket are awesome aren't they! 
Sometimes I just didn't tell them what I was doing. Easier not to get into discussions about why I wasn't following their way of doing things
I always found it so silly how at the beginning they are so 'you MUST feed on demand' and then at some stage (I'm not sure when the cut off was lol) they change their tune to 'you MUST feed every x hours, or x times a day'. |
Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 2:08pm
|
LMAO that is too funny, I'm surprised she didn't say that he's waking after one sleep cycle & that you should sneak in at about 40mins & see if you can help coax him past that 45 mins wake & into the next sleep cycle. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 2:10pm
|
I take what plunket says with a grain of salt!
Ive always muddled along to my own lil routine and thats worked for us. ------------- |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 2:18pm
|
Don't ya love plunket.
I got told off for changing his nappy before I put him to bed each time because I didn't wanna risk it leaking and that being a reason to wake him up. I was informed that a nappy should be able to hold 1L of fluid so I said to her by that reasoning I should only be going through one nappy a day then since hes drinking less than that... yeah ok |
Posted By: NovemberMum
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 2:53pm
wtf and what about nappy rash gee my son gets a clean nappy before I put him down for his sleep unless I have just and does she realise how much 1 litre actually is..it would mean that the nappy was soaked which IMO the nappy has been on far too long |
kebakat wrote:Posted By: Whateversville
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 2:59pm
|
This made me think of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caaMzvkqo7k&feature=related - this
|
Posted By: Mum2ET
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 3:08pm
|
what an odd thing for plunket to say. Why would you put them to sleep in a wet nappy? surely its much more comfortable to sleep in a clean nappy and then they may sleep longer as well. Silly plunket.
I actually quite like my nurse- she seems pretty relaxed and didn't seem at all bothered that Tom still doesn't eat much (or any) solids and wakes multiple times in the night. I was expecting a bit of lecture, so it made a nice change. ------------- Mum to Ella (5) and Tom (2) |
Posted By: Whateversville
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 4:37pm
|
I'm very lucky too. I love my PN. She's very supportive and totally on the same page as me. Maybe coz she's young and has a 15month old daughter? I dunno but she's great..
Agree on the wet nappy thing, how odd. Sure know I wouldn't like to go to bed in wet knickers!!
|
Posted By: TrinaL
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 6:37pm
|
We don't have plunket - we have Hora te Pai and our nurse is fantastic. Basically she goes- "she is happy she is healthy - keep doing what you are doing". No generic rules for us here.
Basically I am going with what feels right and my gut and what is working for us. Everyone can't believe how chilled out my baby is ( she is 5 months tomorrow) . I do think I have got lucky with her but not stressing and trying to make her fit whatever 1 particular person says I am sure has something to do with it to. Sometimes I think hey if I was living in a cave or a third world country what would I do - I am sure it wouldn't be make my daughter wait for a drink in this hot weather according to some timetable. |
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 7:02pm
|
My plunket nurse is fantastic. She's been an absolute rock and source of sound advice and ideas to figure out my little miss's troubles. Her back up could be your plunket nurse's twin, lol. I reschedule my appointments if they are with the back up now!
I second Kel's suggestion of sneaking in just before he is likely to stir (sit there reading a book or something) and rock him as soon as he stirs and he'll get back into the habit of longer sleeps. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
|
Posted By: kiwi2
Date Posted: 22 December 2010 at 9:39pm
|
one of two scenarios:
She is young and has never had kids or Older and can't remember what real babies are like.
|
Posted By: Hopes
Date Posted: 23 December 2010 at 1:54am
|
I think it's the second, Kiwi2
My usual Plunket nurse is awesome, I'm not sure why I had this different one for this appointment. This lady did have some very good advice on other things... but yea, she didn't even seem to understand why that conversation left me a bit confused
Yea, it's definitely the waking after one sleep cycle thing. He used to do great with a dummy - you'd pop it in when he stirred and he'd go back to sleep. But he's grown out of his wrap, and gets his hands up and dummy out, and that wakes him up completely. I've yet to find a great solution to that, but we're trying! -------------
|
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 23 December 2010 at 6:11am
*LIKE*
|
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 23 December 2010 at 6:22am
|
I had a bad experience with my first baby thanks to the Plunket nurse. He was not putting on much weight & so I had to take him to be weighted daily to her & then she told me he probably had Cystic Fibrosis & referred us to the hospital where they strapped my baby of a few weeks down on a table screaming doing tests on him only to find nothing wrong &I was told to do formula top-ups......
|
Posted By: kabe
Date Posted: 23 December 2010 at 7:07am
|
Hehe, I recall having exactly the same issue when DD was little & not getting any helpful advice. I think I stretched her drink out by half an hour to 2 1/2 hourly and then pretty much put her straight back to bed afterwards. With a full tummy, she eventually started to sleep longer.
Good luck! ------------- http://alterna-tickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: Danda08
Date Posted: 23 December 2010 at 8:36am
|
OMG I am having the exact same problem at the moment and have had an identical conversation with my Well Child Provider!
Soooo frustrating ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: TheKelly
Date Posted: 24 December 2010 at 11:56am
|
I have never paid much attention to plunket and my two kids are fine and dandy and healthy and happy, im glad the service is there, especially for those who need it, but as far as I go, like Sheza I take what they say with a grain of salt. ------------- 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: myonlineself
Date Posted: 24 December 2010 at 5:12pm
|
what on earth are plunket doing recommending set times between feeds? The whole world is recommending demand feeding isn't it? I sometimes wonder if Plunket causes more problems than it fixes. I am sure there are some good nurses out there, but they seem to be in the minority ... ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 10:09am
|
PN nurse told me feeding her after less than 1 hours sleep was like giving her lots of morning tea and no lunch.
I was tempted to say to her well I prefer cake to sandwiches why wouldn't DD. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: NovMum
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 10:53am
|
lol caliandjack!!!
My PN asked me how many feeds DD1 was having per 24 h, she was 8 weeks old and sleeping through the night, I think she was having 5 at the time so I told her that, she said that that wasn't enough for a baby that age.... I asked her what would what she like me to do...her response.... Wake her up! Stunned I asked when I should do that... She said middle of the night.... Needless to say I ignored that advice ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
|
Posted By: astral_monkey
Date Posted: 28 January 2011 at 12:40pm
|
I think PN's spend too much time following the company line - 'breast is best' etc. and not enough time giving people their options and supporting them in their decisions. (I know this from taking care of my niece when she was a baby.)
Take the good advise, ignore the bad, and do what's best for your child and your family! ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 9:19am
|
Had an interesting experience with Plunket, had our 7 month group with the Karitane Nurse with the follow up solids talk.
I said I give DD her breakfast meal around 9-10am as she has a milk feed first thing. Karitane Nurse said she should be having it earlier for when she goes to school? I said I didn't think I would be bf DD when she's 5. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: Isabella
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 11:06am
|
I find our PN is good for weighing... thats about it... I often ask her questions and she goes off on some rant and doesnt end up answering them!! It was a simple car seat question last time and I completely regretted asking!! Still dont know exactly what she was on about..
I just tell her bubbas patterns are exactly what they 'should' be because if I am honest I know i'll get a lecture and I have no intention of changing my "routine" anyway so there is no point! :) Disgustingly - I told my PN about a concern I had with a family down my street and she said 'oh there is nothing we can do about that - you'll need to contact CYFS'!!! Im not prepared to do that because I have very little basis to my concern - just thought it would be good for plunket to make sure everything is OK next time they are in their house! Gah! |
Posted By: Isabella
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 11:09am
| And OMG Jazzy thats terrible!! You poor things! |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 11:42am
Thanks , I have learnt to trust my instincts & do what I think is right so by the time I had DS3 I knew what to say & what not to, lol..& you are right about the lectures lol.
As if parenting, especially your first, is not hard enough trying to parent from a "one size fits all" plan is near imposable
|
Posted By: Plushie
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 11:59am
|
My plunket nurse herself is pretty onto it but her backup and the 'host' of the family centre are both batty as they come.
eta: dammit hit post too soon. One told me that i should start DS on solids now as he is towards the top of their damn charts for his age and my milk won't be enough for him (at his 3 month check) and the host of the family centre (where i have pepe) is always offering to take DS and rock him for a bit...why? He's never crying or anything but he doesnt have a capsule so is always in my arms instead of in his seat so maybe she thinks i need some help...?? |
Posted By: Kalimirella
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 12:02pm
|
I gotta say, I love my PN, shes one of the good ones, has 3 children of her own and knows that real babies don't work on a schedule or do exactly as a book says they should.
She just gives out all the info, even likes listening to what Ive researched up on BLW and extended rearfacing etc and then doesn't judge my decisions. However my karitane nurse is a bit older and seems more old fashioned lol ------------- Kiara is 3 and Teagan is 2, now we're expecting our long awaited 3rd! http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
|
Posted By: Kazper
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 3:17pm
|
Plunket here are awful. Small town and they talk to other mum's about other mums - even give there names. So I don't trust them and they have never been supportive at all. ------------- http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/545141" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: Lucky apple
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 4:15pm
And that's why I don't use plunket any more. After two visits I really really didn't want to hear about the "family who lived_____ with x number of children and X number of adults in the house who smoked and have intellectual disabilities...ra-de-rah...." Not professional. Not confidential. Not cool. *disclaimer* - I can only talk about the one plunket nurse that saw us...I'm hoping she's not representative of the bunch..... |
Posted By: Kazper
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 6:13pm
Not cool is it. We have one karitane nurse and one plunket nurse. The karitane nurse has had complaints against her, but nothing done. She let slip the name of a woman who has post natal depression. Soooooo unprofessional. Worst thing is she will gossip about you to other mum's who are friends of yours and make out your doing a bad job or at least not the way she would parent. ------------- http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/545141" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: Nothing
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 6:56pm
|
That is shocking, she needs to be reported to someone! We must be quite lucky here as I have seen three plunket nurses and they are all very laid back, let me do my own thing but always ask if I want more info about stuff. One of them is a bit old school, but she will listen if you tell her about 'new ideas'. ------------- 
|
Posted By: nathansmummy
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 7:21pm
|
You could try (I would recommend but up to you) resettling after the 45min waking to aim for the 1.5-2hr sleeps rather than naps if you know what I mean. That would be the solution IMO..
|
Posted By: Bexta
Date Posted: 24 May 2011 at 8:24pm
|
I've got a good PN - only seen her twice though. After the first visit I was fully prepared to get a lecture on safe sleeping (sleeps on her tummy) but the PN basically said that her role was to make sure I was aware of the risks and to make an informed decision. I think if I got a lecture on how to raise my child I'd probably just tell them what they wanted to hear too!!
My DD was like that with sleeping too. Would wake after about 45 mins to an hour. I used to get her up but now I try to resettle her with varying degrees of success!!! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
Angel Baby June 2010
|
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 10:17am
wow it is common it seams. When we moved back to the city with DS2 who was 6mths I got a new Plunket nurse (been through a few ) & she wrote in DS2 well child book the address, ph# of the lady down the road who had just had a baby.. I was like WTF. I hated to think what information she gave of me to other mums...as I said I did not use Plunket for long with DS3 
|
Posted By: Kazper
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 11:54am
|
OMG jazzy!! I hate the different advice.
Karitane nurse tells me 150ml a day of milk is more than sufficient for DD and then Plunket Nurse says no she is wrong I must give minimum of 400ml. For goodness sake they work in the same office, you would think they could work together on their advice. Other than that I take what they say with a grain of salt. Every baby and family is different and they really should be there to support and offer advice if it is asked for or needed. ------------- http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/545141" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: bumblebee
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 1:39pm
|
The first time we meet our plunket nurse, i had DS on the change table with no nappy on (i was bout to change him when she arrived) She comes over and says "what a beautiful girl you have" I told he to look down a bit more because he definatly a boy (she hadnt read her notes properly so obviously goes by whats written down without actually looking at things)
also when he started to cat nap and not really sleeping much during the day i asked her how to get him to sleep longer than 20 mins at a time, she said there was nothing i could do.. (i went to the sleepstore and got some USEFUL advice there) so i havent listened to her since she called DS a girl ------------- [URL=http://lilyslim.com][IMG]http://swlm.lilyslim.com/xSCep12.png][/URL] [URL=http://lilypie.com][IMG]http://lb1m.lilypie.com/yjadp12.png][/URL] |
Posted By: Kazper
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 2:05pm
|
OMG that is useless. Only think I like them for now is the weigh in and even then I might as well do it myself. To me it feels like just having another mum come in to your home and tell you what to do. Everyone parents differently.
Oh and don't you just love the sleep store. They have so many different ideas on sleeping so you can chose one that suits your baby and you  ------------- http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/545141" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: Hopes
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 3:50pm
Hahaha... sadly for us, that's one of those comments where at the time "yea right" was the appropriate response. There just wasn't anything you could do to get him back to sleep. I'm pleased to report that now he's a little older (I started this thread a while ago) he's learning to sleep through more than one sleep cycle, and has reasonable day sleeps. -------------
|
Posted By: Lucky apple
Date Posted: 25 May 2011 at 9:30pm
OMG!! Seems that some health professionals don't know about the Privacy Act! I mean, I can totally see where she's coming from putting the ladies name in your book, but it's actually just not allowed! I was all set to write a letter about my interactions with our PN as I was so riled up about it at the time. In fact, i did write one...but then chickened out and never sent it. I should have. They need a reminder about limits of confidentiality. That is so Sh**. |
Posted By: newme
Date Posted: 26 May 2011 at 8:30am
|
I had an interesting experience yesterday with my 6 month old....had to answer questions about how I thought he was getting prepared for SCHOOL! And then she asked if he could understand when I told him no...I told her that I hadn't really told my 6 month old 'no' yet.
Then she measured him, couldn't be bothered doing it properly (so why do it at all??) and now it looks as if he has dropped from the 98th percentile down to the 25th. In my own experience, plunket are terrible. I really don't know why i go |