Centile Lines & HV advised weaning?

[RhinoGirl]

Hi everyone, so i'm looking for some advice. I took my DD to be weighed at baby clinic earlier this week. When she was weighed, the HV had no concerns, merely commented 'oh she has caught up hasn't she' (was really small when she was born). She appeared to have no issue until plotting on her chart and discovered she was no longer on the same centile line she was.

She then stated that she was 'almost at weaning age so why not try', like she believes she is having too much milk. Maybe she is I don't know, I've always just fed on demand when she is hungry.
She has 7oz bottles, is on C&G Anti Reflux milk.
So my question and requests for advice are;
How did you start?
Should I focus on one meal at a time?
When did you introduce a second meal?
Best foods to try?

Will have to go down purèe/mashed root as she is only 21 weeks/a week shy of 5 months old.

Thank you.

Which centile line was she on before and where is she now?
Do you want to wean before 6 months?

From what you've described, it doesn't sound like early weaning is essential for her and you weren't planning on weaning with purees?

Maybe the HV thinks she should be gaining a little more? If you want to start weaning now I would just try a little bit or rice/baby porridge mixed with her usual milk in a morning, in between two of her usual milk feeds, then after a few days introduce some veg purée around lunchtime, again in between two milk feeds. Then fruit purée in an afternoon.

Of course if you don't feel ready to do this and would prefer to wait until 6 months and start with finger foods then that is entirely your decision.

I got the impression the HV was saying as she had moved up that she was concerned that maybe she had gained too much?
But she has only in the last few weeks started filling out 😂
But if she has jumped up and they are concerned, I wouldn't of thought trying to feed her solids would be the way to go?

I don't know, i'm new at all this and don't know what's best!

And no I didn't want to go down the purèe route but she definately isn't ready for BLW.

DS jumped up and down centiles (PFB so weighed him A LOT); but he seemed to pack weight on, and then grow a huge amount - so overall, he tracked the same centile, but it was very much a scatter graph approach not a linear line!

What does PFB mean? :)
They didn't measure her length or head circumference. She has had a bit of a growth spurt lately and is suddenly rather long! 😂 i don't know if that makes a difference.

My daughter had a growth spurt around the 5-6 month mark too and skipped centile lines. Is she still hungry after milk or is it satisfying her?

From what you've described, it doesn't sound like you need to start solids yet if you don't want to. Starting solids isn't going to cause her growth to slow down as they initially maintain the same milk intake and have solids alongside it. As you know, definitely shouldn't start BLW before 6 months and they should be showing signs of readiness.

Personally, I would wait until 6 months before weaning, it really doesn't sound like there is an overwhelming need to have solids yet.

She went through a stage where she was finishing a bottle and would want a 'top up', but generally she is satisfied with just the one.
I thought that was down to the reflux at first but now I know it's due to growth spurts.

Thank you for the advice. I'm a FTM and usually pretty confident in how I do things/parent, but the HV totally threw me. Or rather my DD massive growth spurt did!

If it helps, we saw a dietician recently about my lb and she said weaning is only recommended for 6 months plus unless there are serious issues (and you'd know if your baby had these!). So unless your little one is ftt/has bottle aversion/has severe reflux and you've been referred to paeds/dietician you probably don't need to wean yet.

Thanks, I just couldn't understand why she recommended weaning!

*PFB is precious first born