On Friday C and I went to the health centre so he could have his 27 month check. I had a call about it a month ago and as they only open Mon - Fri, 9-5 I took the day off work. What is it about calls from the NHS that makes you feel like a bad mother? There's no reason for it but as soon as she said it was the health visitor calling, I felt guilty.
We'd been sent a questionnaire, 4 A4 pages of questions about what he can do, sometimes does or not doing yet. I was able to tick 'can do' for pretty much all of them with a few 'sometimes'. The thing is he's learning so fast at the moment that I ticked 'sometimes' for jumping with both feet off the ground and he's suddenly doing it all the time.
The questions varied for all the different development areas, from pretending to give dolly a bottle to threading beads on a string and speaking 4 word sentences. There was an area at the back to highlight any concerns and I wrote about him being a fussy eater and shorter then his peers.
The HV said everything was fine, here's what I took away:
- Start giving him a toddler vitamin called Abidec, this is a lemon flavoured syrup. I was worried about him not eating meat and she said to give this to help peace of mind, if he is getting enough vitamins, the additional ones will pass straight through and if he's not then this will make sure he is. I got some at the supermarket and the first spoon he swallowed, then burst into tears. The next day I hid it in his milk and all was fine.
- Get him weighed and measured more. I pointed out I work full time and she said to try and just pop into one in the Christmas hol or the Grandparents could take him if they see him in the week - they don't but the hol idea is a good one.
- Potty training when he's ready. Not to use pull up nappies, just cotton pants so he can tell when he's wet. Can call to get more advice if needed.
So that was it, I'm glad I took him as it did give peace of mind but I wish they had a weekend option as I'm sure there's some mamas who can't get the time off.
I didn't even know they were due to have a 27 month check - So mine hasn't had one! Sounds like C's went well though. Very much agree with the advice given on potty training.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that was the 2 year check but a bit later do you think? The little man had his quite a way after his second birthday as the HV was so busy. I always wonder why certain things can't be opened when it is convenient for people working, like banks, post offices that close over lunch time, and definitely health visitor access. The same goes for those looking after children all day. I want to get my hair done but I don't want to do it at the weekend as I would rather spend time together as a family. Why can't they open late, say to 10pm, for one day a week? Am sure lots of mums would jump at it.
ReplyDeleteIt's odd how the NHS in different counties and London boroughs all have slightly different times and dates for these type of things. Because I live in Lewisham (my back garden is in Bromley) C had to have a TB jab, whilst friends living in Bromley didn't. The form for this check definitely said 27 months, but when the HV phoned she said it was the 2 year one, so I guess even they don't have an exact time listed...
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree about access to banks, drs etc, it's so dated but I guess the ones that haven't changed are the ones that don't need to, banks won't make more money and doctors would have to pay staff more to work on the weekend or late at night. And hairdressers - exactly! I have to arrange childcare just to have an hour or two to go and get a haircut.
The little man had to have a TB jab too as we were living in London when he was born. Glad he had it done but had no idea how long it would take to clear up (and how awful it would look in the meantime!). No TB jabs offered now we are living in Dorset. By the way, sorry for not doing the Liebster blog award yet. Will do it in a couple of days as have just posted - like to space my posts out a bit!
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