To ignore the Dr and to keep feeding DS like I am?

[startrek90]

I have just got back from DS weighing in. He is 6 months old and according to the Dr is underwieght and needs more food.

I feed on demand atm. I thought my baby was getting enough. Some days he eats more and some days he eats less. On average his feeds go like this;

6am: 230ml milk
8am: 230ml milk and baby porridge
12 noon: Jar of baby food and 150ml milk
2:30pm: half jar baby food and 150ml milk
5pm: fruit pot and 150 ml milk
8pm: 230ml milk

he eats during the night if he wants and i give him more or less if he wants.

The dr said to force him to eat more and give him more solids but DS won't have it. Aside from the first and last feed I offer food everytime before I offer milk.

AIBU in ignoring the dr and continuing. I feel a bit crap now tbh.... I thought I was managing for once and now I feel rubbish....

No, don't force your baby to eat more good. Instead, feed him nutritious food full of all the good things babies need for their development and brain development; good oils (olive, butter), cheese, cream, different FRESH and cooked veg and fruit, plenty of protein and carbs.

Haven't seen anyone here mentioning force feeding yet you keep going back to that, why?

Are you sure the gp said you should force him to eat more, as surely he would know how difficult that is. Blenders are quite cheap, even steamers are good as well for veggies.

tesco do a hand blender for about 6 pounds. that's perfect my adequate

If it's a normal chart the dr should be looking at the weight for the age he would be if he had been born on his due date, so 5 weeks younger than he is.

He won't choke but not all babies tolerate lumps well. Mine certainly spat anything lumpy straight out at 6 months and ds1 had no truck whatsoever with baby-led weaning. So try these things but remember babies are all different (and not all of them have read the latest baby rearing books).

are you in france startrek9 ? i've already had that suggestion about oil, i think the stage 1 baby jars here have no fat in them at all, and babies need fat, so they say to add it

What's all this 'force feeding' etc....

It's not about forcing your dc to eat it's about experimenting with different foods he can try....getting used to textures and flavours.

Not eating the same slop from a jar or fruit pot daily....

Adding oil to a jar of food ugghhhh

My ds was quite small, at 6mo I fed him lots of full-fat dairy including things with cheese sauce, butter and full-fat yoghurt.

If mashed potato is a bit too thick/bitty for him still then just mix it with some mashed cauliflower or swede which are both wetter and will make the whole puree softer.
However, you can also try some 'finger foods' like sticks of cheese or homemade chips/wedges or toast... they will probably take a few goes to get the hang of the chewing/swallowing but it's good to start now. Also, give him little tastes of what you're eating whenever you eat in the day.

anyone know hwere I can find out how to wean??? or baby led weaning??? Thze Dr said I need to get more down him Stevie77 one way or another

Please give me a break. I have never had a baby before and am guessing. I have only ever seen babies eat from jars so thats what I thought you did...I already feel like a bad mum for giving formula now this ....

oh, and move him onto adult porridge or something like mushed up weetabix instead of baby porridge now, baby porridge is really only necessary if you wean early, before six months, and want to avoid gluten.

You can mash veg and push it through a sieve for a smooth texture but a very cheap hand blender will do the trick.

If he's 6 months old and was 5 weeks early I wouldn't be giving him any food, a few tastes maybe but no actual "meals".

I don't think there is anything really wrong with jars, I was told they have more calories in than most of the food parents make at home.

annabel karmel is the main author for pureed foods.
gill rapely is the main author for 'baby led weaning' or finger foods.

Officially 'baby led weaning' doesn't mix with purees but I used both together pretty successfully. We still use the annabel karmel fish pie recipe.

Jarred food is just not as good or as nutritious as fresh OP....it's not going to be BAD for him....but he'd be better on nice fresh food and also the jars taste awful and bland so when you do try to feed him "grown up" food a lot of babies are shocked at the strong tastes.

Pasta can be blended a bit...with some cheese...so he can eat it. I gave mine all the same as we had...just didn't add salt or anything like pacet gravy....no garlic or chilli....but if I had fish and potato...so did the baby...only blended.

Often babies gag, rather than choke which is fortunately very rare. Gagging is noisy and food gets ejected forward and either spat out or recycled for another go. Some unlucky children have a very strong gag reflex and the gag will be followed by a vomit, which can be upsetting but isn't choking. Choking is silent and more scary and very different to gagging.

Gagging is actually protective - it stops food going too far back and so prevents choking. Babies need to learn to manipulate food in their mouths and some gagging is inevitable to begin with. Don't be put off by it.

If your baby is used to very smooth purees then they may be sucking it in like they would with milk, and therefore gag on something that isn't completely smooth. If you persist with lumpier food or finger food then they will get the hang of it.

he struggled with it and almost choked....

That is normal - unless he was actually going blue, then they do appear to be struggling with solids when they first start as they are learning to push the food to the back of the mouth to swallow it. It does look scary, but they just gag a bit and then learn to manage it.

Go onto amazon and order the Anna bell karmal baby and toddler mean planner.

You don't have to go by the schedule but the recipes are good. and many are easily adapted for adults so you can take out your baby's then add seasoning etc to yours.

vary breakfasts a but. porridge one day, Greek yogurt with fruit puree another then toast and cream cheese , wheat a bix and banana.

have a look

Ah don't feel like a bad mum you're not. You can still use jars whilst you experiment with making some of your own stuff.

Museum so did I. I'd never heard of BLW and just gave mine a potato or whatever to hold as soon as she could....before that I mashed things a bit. Once they could hold food, then they did!

Oh and fgs pack it in with worrying about formula. .its great stuff! !! and a perfectly acceptable choice.

DD was a terrible gagger and it is scary. She only almost choked once, on a baby biscuit. She didn't breathe and looked panicked. No gag noises that time. Gagging is normal.

Easiest non-jar foods; take a ripe banana or avocado, take a spoon, apply spoon to fruit, feed baby tiny bites.

Ain't nothing wrong with formula Op it's pretty amazing stuff imo and the odd jar is no big deal.

I also would say the AK book of weaning is fab. Get a small microwave steamer and some small freezer pots and have an experiment....

Listen, you're not a bad mum! A bad mum wouldn't be asking questions and wanting to learn more. You are doing a great job, and we all have things to learn as patients.

As for choosing to formula feed, well the vast majority of babies in the UK and France are either partially or full formula fed by 6 months, so if you are a bad mum then so are all of them (
which is obviously not the case!).

www.amazon.co.uk/Annabel-Karmels-Complete-Toddler-Planner/dp/0091924855
www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-basics-tbhb14-hand-blender/671-7794.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=671-7794