Confused by GP and Health Visitor

[Honeyjo87]

Hi,
My LG started her weaning at six months, now she’s 9 months and we are still trying with lumpy food which she eats but with lots of gagging. She have constipation sometimes or she gets dark smelly poo which is either hard or peanut butter consistency. So I spoke to our GP last week and asked about weaning and different food, and formula milk. I asked if I should start giving her the follow on milk or continue with from birth milk. Below are the advice GP gave me.

1. It’s up to me if I want to start follow on milk.
2. Food is just fun for babies till they are one, so don’t worry much about it. Keep feeding her but concentrate mainly on milk.
3. I can start to get her drinking cow’s milk, if I want to.

Now last week I went to see the Health visitor for weight checks and we discussed the poo situation and what the doctor said. My health visitor said that the info given by the doctor is all wrong and I should completely ignore all of it.. she said

1. I should stick with from birth milk as it’s got more iron.
2. food should be important as baby should have stopped her milk completely as she should be having 3 main meals and 2 snacks a day.
3. do not start cows milk till she’s one.

I compared the from birth milk to follow on milk and I saw that the follow on milk have more stuff than from birth milk.

Now I am totally confused as whom should I follow. Any advice?

My ds is only 5 and a half months but I was told by health visitor by 7 months he should be on three full meals a day and that he shouldn't have cows milk as a drink until one year. But can use whole cows milk in food

They always differ.
You get used to it

Cows milk is fine before one but it’s not a formula or breast milk substitute. They should still have formula until 12 months-ish.

Follow on milk is crap - it's a marketing ploy from companies. You can keep baby on first stage formula until one then onto cows milk (blue top).
You can use cows milk in cooking (cheese sauce etc) from 6 months.
The constipation and strange poos are normal because her diet is changing so her poos will change too.
'Food before one is just for fun' is the saying - feed baby but try to make sure she has the recommended amount for her age (or close enough). Also, I wouldn't expect baby to be on 3 meals and 2 snacks at this age... maybe more 8-9months.

Hello,

I was led to believe the below to be true

You don't need the different stages of formula as 1st milk is okay. I breastfeed so not hundred percent on that.

Cows milk as a drink is from one but can be used as an ingredient.

Food is important for iron but milk is still the main source of nutrition. My DS was on 3 meals a day with snacks at around 9 months but still had his milk. At 1 year he now has a mid morning and bed time feed

Hope that helps

I would go with the GP, minus the cows milk. We kept DS on the from birth milk until he was 1. I think the follow on milk is more for if your kids were breast fed. I have also heard it's a marketing ploy because they can't advertise or do offers on the from birth milk!

DS was having 3 "meals" from 9 months but I would say his main nutrition source was still milk.

I've been told by 3 different HVs that milk should be the main source of nutrition until they are 1 and to wait to start cows' milk until they are 1 apart from in cooking or on cereal. 1 of mine was breastfed so I just carried on with that and she naturally reduced feeds as she started eating more food.
It was trickier with formula fed babies but I was told to continue stage 1 milk. I switched to cows' milk as soon as they were 1 because it's cheaper but I mixed it with the formula until they were used to it.

He didn't eat loads of his meals but I still offered it so he had a little.

Cows milk from 12 months but in the food from 6 follow on milk is a bit of a con really if your child is settled on a from birth milk leave it as it won't matter gagging is normal don't rush things have you tried finger food? It's good for a mess around

By the way three "meals" and two snacks a day can be anything from a fromage fraise to a jam sandwich or a roast dinner

Are you feeding food or milk first? I've had three kids two liked food then milk one liked half milk then food then more milk an hour later

Birth milk is fine to continue, as is follow on milk. They are much of a muchness but hcps are keen to let you know you don't have to move on because the formula companies tell you to.

Food is for fun but you should be building it up (my dd is almost 10 months and has 2 6oz bottles and 3 meals a day, for context). Once they are one they should be getting their nutrition from food. I think its absurd they told you she should be having no milk by now.

Cows milk in food (e.g. with weetabix) is fine but not as a main drink until 1 (I believe) because of the sugars and lower nutrional content.

The only milk they need until 1 is infant formula. Follow on milk was invented for marketing purposes. It is fine to give from 6 months but you don't need to change from your baby's usual formula as there is no evidence they actually benefit from the iron.
Cows milk should not be given as a drink until 1 but can be given as an ingredient in meals e.g in mashed potato.
Some babies may be on 3 meals a day by 9 months some may not. Some babies take longer to get used to different textures.

I can't advise on the lumpy poo.

Remember all babies are different if you consider 3 meals a day too much for your baby then don't do it yet. I'd say go as slow as you like as long as your baby is gaining weight overall (not necessarily every week) and doesn't seem hungry then go at your own pace.

Don't bother with follow on milk especially if your concerned about upset tummy changing milk would prob mage that harder!

If you're worried about the poo situation then feed your baby one new ingredient at time every 4+ days so you can see any triggers but most likely just the change.

(P.s. not a nutrition expert....just a mum of 3 x)

I agree with the doctor on all points.

A baby will eat when they are ready, as long as their milk intake is still good don't worry too much just yet about how much they are eating. Give it to them to play with and have fun with (e.g tomato pasta, carrot sticks etc) if they aren't getting on with purrees and stuff. They will get there eventually.

As far as I know the stage 2 milk has more iron than the stage 1 milk, but stage 2 milk isn't really necessary and they should get all the iron they need from the stage 1 formula if you want to stick with it. So I agree with the doctor - it's up to you.

Concerns about iron stores are for breastfed babies, whose iron stores can be quite depleted by 6 months so at that point it is recommended to wean with food/fortify foods with formula.

Cows milk can be introduced from 6 months but shouldn't replace breast milk/ formula as a drink until 1 year.

Think the HV has got a little muddled.

Btw my dear had dodgy poo until she was nearly 2...apparently it's "normal" for some kids!

I weaned my two early. Yes, I am a terrible mother and I will suffer in hell for my sins. So they were on 3 meals a day and comfortable with lumps and such by 9 months.

Personally, I'd keep your LO on regular the first stage formula. Both of mine had reflux and I didn't want to mess around with their milk and make it worse so I kept them on the first stage reflux milk until they were one. Cows milk can be given in food and as a drink with meals from 6 months, but shouldn't replace formula until a year old.

Generally with weaning, there is no consistency and despite everything saying never wean your baby before six months, every health professional I saw with my children told me to wean at 16 weeks because of reflux.

Hi, yes, I tried finger foods.. she likes toast fingers, chapathi, biscuits.. only purée food I try n feed her.. she have little bit of everything..

I give her meal first n then top up with milk if she wants it before her nap.. that’s all..x

I only add the cows milk to her porridge.. I’ll go with the from birth milk.. I was soo confused I thought I’ll ask fellow mums.. which is much easier.. thanks all..

Unfortunately GPS don’t have any training in feeding babies and the information HVs give can ve very outdated.

The NHS guidelines, which they should both be quoting are first milk only till 12 months. Have a look here and here. The second link says that “moving to follow on milk has no benefit for your baby”. I’m guessing because they’ll just get rid of most of the extra iron anyway.

In this link they recommend moving to offering solids 3 times a day between 8 and 9 months, so I think your HV is a bit wrong on that one. The emphasis these days is to not drop the formula too quickly as there is very little you can feed them that will have the same calories. I’d think about introducing your first snack at 10 months and your second at 11 months but that’s only a suggestion

If she’s constipated, are you offering water with solids? Have you tried some high water foods like water melon, broccoli, cauliflower, soup and jelly? Try to lay off foods like banana and sweet potato for a few days and see if that helps too