Health Visitor is worried- where do we go from here?

[bonbonpixie]

Dd is 11 months now and until a month ago was following the 91st centile for height and the 25th for weight. At our HV appointment this morning we discovered she has dropped down a centile for both height and weight. I am beyond worried about this, although not entirely surprised (about weight) she's never been a big eater and has always struggled to finish any meal. My freezer pots are 60g and I don't think she has ever eaten it all. She is breast fed with no formula given, only water during meals.

After a vomiting bug only lasting 24 hours over a month ago she has never really recovered her appetite and now completely refuses to be spoon fed any meal only accepting yogurt from a spoon. I thought this new development would be fine, that she would just eat what we had and arming myself with lots of info on BLW I cooked her more manageable meals. So a month on and she really isn't eating anything much. It seems that she prefers her food to consist of simple ingredients rather than facing an actual meal. So for example she might nibble some pasta, a bit of mince but if confronted with a portion of lasagne would just toss it to the floor. In fact I would say that 90% of the food offered ends up on the floor. It mildly upsets me seeing all of my lovingly prepared food being thrown to the floor but it is breaking my heart seeing my beautiful baby getting skinner as the weeks go on. I have absolutely no idea what has caused this or how to improve the situation. She is teething just now but then so are her contemporaries and they are little puddings! My HV is blunt and today said that if this continues DD might end up in hospital! Dd sleep is also abysmal. Constant wakings and she feeds a lot during the night. During the day it really depends what we are doing but I try to limit it to after breakfast and after lunch.

HV is here tomorrow to witness a meal and how she eats. I dread to think how she'll react to Dd spitting food over the side of her highchairs! I feel like I have completely failed at weaning. I find HV to be a bit rude on occasion and would rather not have the woman in my home but I feel I have no choice.

Has anything similar happened to anyone else and the child has recovered her centile?
What possible help can the HV be, it is time to see a paediatrician?

Help!

I think your HV is being completely OTT about this and is worrying you without obvious reason.

Firstly it is notoriously difficult to accurately measure length in babies. Is she measuring it with another HCP using a proper roll measure and really ask jug sure that your dd is lying exactly straight? No?? Thought not!

Secondly a drop across one centile is not worrying at all, particularly in a bay who has had an intercurrent illness and who, by her age I am guessing, is starting to be more mobile and thus burning of more cals than previously. No sensible paediatrician would be interested until a fall across at least 2 centimes.

Thirdly, do as Lunatic Fringe suggests, let her have whatever she is interested in eating most and try no to worry too much. Give her yoghurt from a spoon, let her try thick porridge with her hands, some soft fruit, lightly toasted bread spread with fruit purée, a bread stick to crumble etc etc.

Sorry, a few random auto corrects thrown in there but I think you get the jist.

I think the HV sounds OTT too, she is undermining your confidence by the sounds of it & is therefore crap at her job personally I would be chasing her

As for you DD I agree with letting her lead with how she prefers to eat, my DD was always that way & I used to tear my hair out at times having cooked good nutritious food that she wouldn't eat, but then I came to my senses & realised - did it actually matter, so long as what DD chose to eat was healthy & balanced, why stress myself - she ate far better as a result :)

I didn't give my DD any wheat foods until older though as can be hard to digest & we are vegetarian/pescatarian so no meat, but DD thrived on simple foods - she often preferred them raw too - still does - we added Hemp oil & fruit to her porridge for extra nutrition, she loved it & other than that she ate fruit, salads, vegetables & fish, all plainly cooked, bananas are packed full of goodness & will help her gain weight as will cheese - honestly, don't stress yourself, the others are right, it will become a game for your DD - let her eat the plain foods she likes

Good luck:)

OP I have been where you are but without the HV - I made it quite clear to mine that i wasn't interested so they only bother with the development checks. I often think they are more hassle than they're worth, HVs not the checks!!

My DD around the same age refused everything post illness/teething for about a week, then ate hardly anything for the following 3 or 4 weeks. She would eat rusks and yogurt but i think that was about it. We also put a vitamin supplement in her milk, even though she wouldn't drink much. She would wake for it and have extra during the night so when i knew she was well enough i watered it down and she gradually became more receptive to food. I also gave her snacks, eg raisins away from the dinner table and she started to eat those too. She still (at 17mo) goes through phases of refusing certain types of food, sometimes she only wants finger food, other times only food on a spoon. I think you have to decipher what they want, go with it for a bit, then slowly integrate everything else.

Please think about getting rid of your HV,.she shouldn't be making you feel like this. They're supposed to be there for support!

I think "beyond worried" is a huge overreaction about a drop of one centile. Maybe "slightly concerned" but no more worried than that.

But hopefully somebody with more knowledge will come along who can reassure you.

I suppose what I want to know is whether you are worried. Regardless of what your Health Visitor thinks. My impression is that you'd feel happier if she was eating more and sleeping better. Do you have a good GP who you can go to, to discuss your concerns? It's quite likely that there's nothing 'wrong', but surely it would be good to discuss these issue with somebody knowledgeable who deals with lots of babies so you don't feel on your own with this one....