Worried HV is urging us to wean too fast...

[CubiksRube]

We started weaning DS at 5 months. HV was very, very keen on this. He was huge - 98th centile weight and off the charts for height. He also sat unsupported, had complete head control and pretty much looked like an 8 month old. So I started weaning very slowly, basically making a fruit puree and giving a bit of finger food if we were having something appropriate (cooked carrots etc). Still EBF on demand.

Last week I took DS back to the HV for weighing (he has just hit 6 months) and he had dropped to the 91st centile. I'm absolutely not worried about this - he is weeing/pooing fine, full of energy, bright and very happy. He's also still very big, hardly likely to starve!

HV however insisted that he should be on three 'proper' meals per day now, as purees/veg have been 'established' and he needed to go to the 'next stage'. She implied that I have been underfeeding DS and asked me to keep a note of what I'm feeding him.

So now DS is on three meals per day, including meat and dairy, at her urging. She tried to show me the amounts but they seemed very large so I just let DS stop when he's ready. He does seem just as happy/healthy as ever, and genuinely enjoys mealtimes. I just ... didn't envisage that at 6 months, he would NEED three meals per day? Particularly the meat, that's freaking me out a bit. Could this be harming his digestive system?

Part of me wishes we'd just waited to start weaning until 6 months, as I'd feel more comfortable with DS eating so much at 7 months.

He doesn't need meat and dairy at 6mo and if he's still demand fed then he'll be getting everything from milk. The drop to 91st might have happened whether you were weaning or not, he may just be due a growth spurt or something.

tbh, I'd carry on as you were, stick with small amounts and still demand feed and then as he gets closer to 7mo maybe introduce meat then. I don't think it would harm him as such, but he certainly doesn't need it :)

Gosh that does seem a lot. I'd follow your instincts - if he was happy before I'd just carry on!

from 6 months they can have pretty much anything except whole nuts, honey and highly salted foods. Meat, gluten, dairy is all fine to give so dont worry too much. Feed solids to his appetite and give milk as he needs it too. Both mine were on 3 small meals at 6 months - ds started weaning at 5 1/2 months and we established 3 mealtimes even though the amounts started small and got bigger as he ate more at each meal.

Thanks for your responses :) Good to know it won't actually harm him, which was my main concern. I'm going to cut down on the meat, I think, and make sure I'm never giving him food he doesn't want, for the sake of having a 'meal'.

DS has just galumphed down a huge portion of butternut squash and lentil puree with toast, and is very pleased with himself.

Cheeseandbiscuits I thought it did seem a lot. But as long as DS isn't being forcefed I suppose it's ok.

Cleverything, yes I know! And I always said I'd never get too involved in the HV's odd ideas. But I've finally found a HV I like and respect, and sort of want to keep her 'on side' just in case I need her! You're right, I should mix it up a bit, go on a different day so I don't get too fond of this one

I'm pretty sure good health visitors don't decide not to help people because they haven't followed all of their advice before. And anyone who works in healthcare knows that 90% of the advice they give won't be followed so they are sensible enough not to fret about this.

And anyway how would she ever know?

Don't worry about it. It sounds like your doing the right thing by just letting him eat to his appetite.

We had the opposite problem - HV advising to give a tiny amount of puree ( 2 teaspoons) DD screaming when it was gone, trying to grab our plates, desperately sucking her bib to get the food off. Now we let her decide when she's had enough and she eats about 6o grams (obvioussly we don't weigh it, but just to give you an idea!)

veronicacake - she'd never know - that's what is so sad! I could just not tell her...

I don't usually just do what she says, but am less confident with feeding DS. DP is a vegetarian and eats hot vegetable curry 99% of the time, and I pretty much survive on sushi. In this one area I noped the HV would be the expert.

how much is he eating at each meal? my boy is 6.5months has suddenly got very demanding at every meal and will eat loads - if it's a perfect shop bought stage 1 consistency! he's had 1/2 jar sized amount 3 times today and breadstick as a snack. his big brother was blw so didn't 'eat' very much till 7 months and i keep remembering it's supposed to be just tastes at this stage. i don't want him to fill up on solids too much and cut back on milk just yet.

naturalbaby, he eats variable amounts, to be honest. A lot more than one or two ice cubes per meal though. He eats what I would honestly expect a 9-month-old to eat.

See, I would think what your DS sounds 'normal'. DS probably eats 2.5 jar sized amounts, plus toast. He still BF on demand, so I hope still getting enough from that.

I think I'm going to try and care a bit less - DS is fine, healthy, active and is OK. I just need to calm down, it's silly to be this het up

You are the expert - even though it doesn't feel like it. There are a thousand tiny little things you'll pick up on about your baby at mealtimes that the HV will never see.

You sound like you just need more confidence. If you had more confidence you'd have no difficulty saying to your HV 'Thank you for your advice - in the end we did things a slightly different way but it still worked well.' And that is useful for her too.

So your little boy has not been underfed. He sounds healthy and wonderful. Nothing you feed him at this stage is likely to harm him. And if you want to make life even easier both sushi and homemade veg curry would be fine for him.

i think mine would probably eat that amount if i let him but i keep thinking his big brother never ate this amount at this age so he can't really need it. he is bf on demand too and is v.demanding at the moment, but then he pretty much slept through last night so i'm very happy!

am going to get him weighed tomorrow to see what gems of wisdon the hv has to offer

Thanks, veronicacake, that is actually exactly what I needed to hear. Really, it was. You're right, I lack confidence in this area and really want to do 'the right thing'. Maybe we'll do some sushi finger food!

naturalbaby - in my (very limited, as you can tell!) experience, DS is a bit more demanding of the breast since we started weaning. I'm not sure why, but I've noticed that too. Congratulations on the sleeping through! Long may it continue