HV has suggested intro'ing purees at 4.5 months - I can safely ignore, yes?

[Okonomiyaki]

My Ds is 19 weeks old and ebf. My plan is to blw from 6 months. However my hv suggested I start him on purees now as we are going overseas for a month and will be away from home when he reaches 6 months.

She seemed to think that this would throw him and that we might have trouble if we don't start now. Bit baffled, as they do have food where we're going

So I intend to just carry on as I have been...yes?

as long as he's not hungry then yes

not sure what her thinking is

Oh just carry on. Unless you're going to the Land of No Food but if you are, please don't. It sounds awful.

Ah, she's lovely, but he's always been a crap sleeper and she is always coming up with odd new ideas!

Is he a crap sleeper because he is hungry? If so, don't think weaning at 4.5 months is such a bad thing. Both my boys were weaned at 4 months (ish), my girl was 6 months.

I trusted my HV as she had 4 children of her own and knew a thing or two.

I think there's a difference between always been a crap sleeper and suddenly waking up a lot more.

Even so, there's no link between increased waking and need for solids anyway. And often people report that weaning makes waking worse at first. The amount they take at first is negligible and if they're actually hungry then milk should always be the first port of call with a 4 month old. If he was sitting up, had lost his tongue thrust reflex and was able to reach out, grab, bring food to his mouth and subsequently chew and swallow, I'd maybe suggest seeing what he does. But the average 4.5 month old won't be there yet.

No, always been a shocking sleeper - he's actually better now than he has ever been. No 4 month regression for us! :o

Still has tongue thrust reflex, not sitting up unaided yet and as likely to stick things in his eye as his mouth so I think we are ok to wait!

If you want to go ahead with BLW then of course ignore, there's no need to introduce purees at all.

My HV doesn't get me at all.
'Your baby's managed to stay on the same weight curve...just with breastmilk and finger foods...congraulations i suppose'.

As you can imagine, I pay very little attention to anything she says.

Utterly, utterly bonkers. And (I think) flying in the face of WHO guidelines, which say feed exclusively on breastmilk if possible for 1st 6 months.

If he doesn't fancy a bit of fruit/veg puree whilst you're away then have another go when you come home.

I am beginning to loathe HVs, I haven't heard any good stories about any of them, and am beginning the whole service should be scrapped. So far I think they do more harm to the self esteem of parents than no service at all. So many of them say very harmful things.

I must stick up for my hv. She was lovely (I've moved though, so haven't met the local one). She always had tea and biscuits, said well done, helped where she needed to, applauded bfing to 6 months and to natural term alongside solids, never judged anybody as far as I could tell, had the most amazing purple boots and liked folk music almost as much as me. She was brilliant.

Like I said, she is lovely - has been a great support during a very difficult time - but more in "nice chat and coffee" way than for her feeding tips!

Chat and coffee v important though when you've had pnd and bugger all sleep for half a year.

I say go with your intuition! My HV suggested some purees to my 4.5 month old and I had a nightmare couple of days till I decided DD wasn't ready and stopped. Much happier little lady!

I wasn't saying that HVs are all complete starchy knickers and cold or unkind, only that some of the advice they can offer is way out of line and outdated. They should be more aware of their responsibilities, not just the tea and cake kind..

Anyway, I suppose that's a bit of a side issue and maybe a personal beef of mine. So pleased she sounds at least a nice person.