In the absence of a 9-12 month check...

[pancakes22]

Hello

HV are not doing their 9-12 month checks at the moment understandably but in the absence of one I thought I would check if anyone had some advice in just w couple of small niggles I had that I don't want to trouble them with

My son 9 months always seems to stick his tongue out. Like that's his resting position? It's not all the time but I notice it a lot that he is resting his tongue out against his bottom lip or generally sticking it out and has done for quite a few months. Is that just a sensory kind of thing discovering whats in his mouth or is it something a bit strange?

The other thing is he isn't great with feeding. For breakfast for example I will give him some weetabix perhaps and he will maybe have a couple of spoonfuls but that's it. Again, the tongue comes into play and I always have to make sure food is on the tip of the spoon as he just gets his tongue in the way or will bat me away with his hand that he doesn't want it. He has finger food/blw for lunch dinner and he just doesn't seem to eat much just a nibble here or there. The only thing he does have are the Ella's fruit pouches which he will take with a spoon and then has breastmilk on demand.

Would his eating or the tongue thing worry you at all or shall I just go with the flow and see how he gets on?

I don't have any advice about the tongue thing but I'm sure if you have a specific concern you can still speak to HV on the phone.

Wouldn't worry me at all. Easier to say this than live it though.

The food sounds completely normal for 9 months. The tongue thing I probably wouldn't have noticed!

If you are concerned there should be someone you can phone.

How old is baby?
I know with food they don't properly reduce milk feeds and get nutrition from food until they're around 1. I'd give HV a call for tongue thing in generl.

Thank you that's all reassuring. I don't want to disturb them when they are dealing with such urgent cases if that's normal for babies not to eat too much and if it's just a silly mummy worry over his tongue too. Thank you for putting my mind at rest x

I had my check when my daughter was about 10.5 months and I said I was concerned she wasn’t eating much - just a few bites here and there, and a lot of milk still. HV wasn’t in the slightest bit concerned. Daughter is now a year and only in the last 2 weeks do I think she’s really ‘got’ eating, and is actually consuming a reasonable amount. So your sons eating sounds normal 🙂

No idea on the tongue thing, but I expect it’s nothing to worry about.