how much and what should a baby of 9 months be eating?

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Hello
This is my first post; I am looking for some guidance on what and how much my DD should be eating, following a distressing visit to the doctor where I was told virtually everything I am doing is wrong. I live in Paris and there are numerous cultural differences between UK recommended practice and French, but I feel thoroughly confused and demoralised.

Eg

1. Even though DD is breastfed, the doc told me to give her a bottle of formula every morning to make sure she is not hungry through the day because "you obviously don't have enough milk now" (based on what??). She said she should have 250ml of "2nd age formula" and to make sure she meaves a drain in the bottle, thus proving she is no longer hungry. She said that if she drinks it all, I should give her another 30ml. I am not against supplementing the breastfeeding if my DD needs it, but she does not seem hungry to me!
2. Don't give her any cereals (she has porridge oats for breakfast) as they are "nutritionally empty"
3. Give her 3 natural yoghurst per day (my daughter is not keen on yog and I struggle to get her to eat one per day)
4. Even though I make sure DD has iron rich food, the doctor told me her hair was too fine, illustrating an iron deficiency, so she has prescribed iron supplements
5. feed her only 4 times a day, including breast feeds. I tend towards the "little and often" school of feeding thought yet the doctor told me that "grazing all day is a fast track to obesity"!!!

So, alot of the advice she gave me goes againts my own commonsense and my feelings about what's right for my baby. But is there a good site where it gives detailed guidelines about what / how much a baby should be eating?

I have done a quick search but the main sites about baby feeding tend to be the ones from the baby food manufacturers and I am really looking for something by an independent nutritionist.

Just as a guide, here's what DD eats on an average day:

7.30 breast feed
10.00 porridge, sometimes with puréed fruit
12.00 breastfeed
1.30 purée of veg, sometimes with baby rice
4.00 breastfeed
6.30 purée of veg + purée of fruit
7.30 breastfeed
12.00 breast feed

Any advice would be gratefully received.

oh gosh! did you go and see the doctor for a reason or is it a routine thing over there? you're happy your baby isn't hungry so need for formula at all. what on earth would be the point? and as for sugesting 2nd age formula... no point in that at all what so ever. really not sure about the fine hair thing, never heard of that. but if iron intake is of concern to you then dried apricots are nicer than iron tablets.

i myself did baby led weaning so can't say much about quantities. but suffice to say at 9 months your baby can have basically whatever you're having, just don't add salt and avoid processed foods. no need to puree either, just serve as is.

you sound like you're doing a wonderful job, is it possible to ignore the doctor? do you have to see hime again?

I have 2 dd's and TBH I can't remember exactly what there routines were but I think they were only on milk early morning, lunchtime and bedtime. At mealtimes I no longer fed them pureed food or baby food but gave them plates of finger food for all meals, i.e. whatever I would normally give them just not done for a baby. So they would have toast or weetabix etc for breakfast, a sandwich cut up into little pieces for lunch and a tea which could be pasta, chicken with veg etc. Anyway all of it was finger food so they could feed themselves. Both had a couple of teeth but managed no problem. I'm sure someone will come along with some pearls of wisdom. Welcome to Mumsnet.

PS Your doctor sounds a prat.

Hello again
Thank you for the speedy replies and reassurance!

In answer to your questions, it was a routine visit, DD is not ill in any way, doing really well from what I can see although goodness knows the doctor doesn't give you that impression!
And yes, I can switch doctors, it is very easy to do so here, I had already decided on this course of action, but she (yes, it was a woman) had planted some seeds of doubt.

BLW sounds like a good idea - to be honest, I had not heard about it until coming onto mumsnet yesterday ...DD does not eat alot of solids (volume-wise) and it is already starting to become a bit of a battle ground, esp. when my (French) DH tries to feed her, as he is not terribly patient. Please tell me more or direct me to a thread where BLW is explained!

Thanks again

And yes, I agree, that doctor is a prat! She is clearly very misinformed, she told me I shouldn't be giving baby rice (which, to be fair, is not available in France) because of the gluten!!!! I was too flabbergasted to protect that rice is naturally gluten-free..........

Your doctor sounds bizarre!! I've never heard anything like it!!

IMHO:

Your DD does not need formula. Breast milk is the best thing for her and you will be producing plenty. you'd know if she was hungry.

Most cereals are enriched with vitamins and minerals over here, and I'm guessing that's the same in France. proper baby cereals have loads in them, and you serve them with milk that s v. nutricious, so I don't knw where he gets 'nutritionally empty' from.

Don't know what's so special about that amount of yoghurt. My ds loves yoghurt but only has one a day, max. Have never heard of giving them more than that.

Have no experience of iron deficiency, so can't realy comment, but going on the basis of hair seems vague. surely blood tests would give an accurate result.

don't see what's wrong with little and often at this age - babies moderate their own appetites, and won't eat if they're not hungry, generally.

What you're doing looks absolutely fine to me - my ds is 9 mths too and I do very similar.

The only comment I would make is that I've introduced more than just fruit and veg for solids - he eats meat, pasta, rice, dairy pruducts like cheese, lentils, beans - basivcally practically everything we do. It might be worth moving her weaning on a bit now. Fruit and veg is great, but it's low in calories, protein and easily accessible iron, whereas a broader diet will gve her more of these vital nutirents, and will also fill her up a bit more.

But as to the doctor's comments, i've never heard anything like it!!!

you need babyledweaning.co.uk and babyledweaning.com both are set up by aitch, a mumsnetter. the .com is the original blog which then got so big she started the .co.uk which is more of a forum message board. blw threads on here are good too.

i think the main thing is that it's not about amounts, you just serve up the food as it comes and let her eat it, not eat it, play with it and er..throw it, if she wants. (and you keep on bfing when she wants.) it gives her more involvement in eating, rather than being spoonfed.

No advice really - just thought an idea of what my 9 month old eats to compare might help
7.30 baby cereal, 2 fingers of toast and 3oz milk feed (formula)
10.30 6oz milk feed (cos she doesn't have much milk for breakfast or have a feed on waking)
1.30 eg cheese on toast, half a banana, few bits of nectarine.
3.30 dried fruit snack or bread stick/rice cake etc.
5.30 fish in sauce/beef casserole/chicken and cous cous etc, finger food veggies, yogurt or fromage frais dessert
7.30 6oz bottle

She often doesn't finish the milk feeds - my HV doesn't seem concerned by that.
I just try to make sure DD has a bit of all the food groups each day.

Mine eats very little compared to her contemporaries in terms of quantity, but she is active, happy and growing so I just reassure myself that she's just ickle, both her Dad and me are pretty small.

Provided your DD is happy and growing, I would be more inclined to use your own commonsense, you know her better than anyone

Jojay - you don't know the half of it!!! Here is France, doctors seem to have no knowledge, or worse, incorrect knowledge like you can't imagine about BF.

For example, at DD's 1 month check up, when I was breastfeeding 10-12 times a day, I was informed not to breastfeed more than 8 times a day, as her intestines should not be working overtime, as they would need to to process 12 feeds. I asked what I should do if she cries from hunger and was told: just give her water in a bottle.

That was curtains for that doctor!

Then at the 4 month doctor, doctor number 2 told me DD only needed 4 breastfeeds a day and laughed indulgently when I told him we were on 7-8 feeds a day.

The same doctor told me not to bother making food for my DD myself, but just to buy ready-made jars, as the big companies have so many nutritionists and food experts working there that nothing you produce in a home kitchen can possibly compare with the superbly researched jar food.

I could go on.....suffice to say, we are on doctor number 4 and we will have to change again....the only good thing is that here changing doctor is extremely easy. But, it is such a disappointment when every time you discover the medical "expert" in front of you has no clue!

but is that not because doctors are trained in how to deal with sick people? so they won't know a whole lot about feeding infants solids let alone breastfeeding. certainly that's the case in the UK. apparently they get little more than a brief hour or so lecture on how breastfeeding works. so if they got that in their early student days you can imagine how little a 50 year old gp will know. many seem to know what they know through being a parent themself...which can lead to even worse information being given.

Yopu are right, I have heard the same thing (doctors get 2 hours training on BF here in France) but with no system of health visitors, where is one supposed to get info from?

I don't idealise the UK system above the French one, but I do think it is wild that a French doctor would discourage a new mum from making meals for their child in favour of bought jars.

What do you think?

HVs here are similarily trained, ie they get bf training as part of their nursing degree, possibly, then they are supposed to keep thmselves up to date. i, and many many, other mners would never ever go to an HV for any advice at all. they aren't baby experts, they are nurses who have a year's extra training in all aspects of health visiting, ie seeing elderly people, disadvantaged people..oh and a few babies too. for bf advice i would go to a bf helpline such as NCT, where the counsellors do something like a 3 year training course on bf and counselling skills.

Wow! it sounds more and more bizarre, but I agree with what you've both said - most GP's are not experts in baby nutrition, or the early years generally, and nor would you expect them to be, as they have such a wide remit to cover.

You'd think that they'd do a bit better than that though!!

I agree with ruddy - are there specialist charities that could help, similar to the NCT that we have here?

Otherwise you could do a lot worse than sticking with Mumsnet!!! as obviously we are all experts here

your docs on smack.

Oh my goodness, you seriously need to get a new doctor. Number 1 is crazy. If it were any true then those poor poor babies back when formula wasn't invented eh? Breastmilk is all a baby needs and it grows with your baby, increasing as his needs increase. Also, a baby will stop drinking when she has had her fill. Babies know how much they need. It isn't important for them to empty the bottle - unless you want a baby that grows up learning to eat past the full feeling. Also mother knows best. If she does not seem hungry it's because she's not. Please do your research on the internet, you will see how absurd it is that a doctor of all people is telling you you're not capable of providing what she needs with breastmilk.

Number 2 is again CRAZY. Baby's should have iron fortified cereal with formula at least once a day after 6 months (4-6 months US).

As is number 3. Yogurt is not needed at all I have no other why she said this.

I can't comment on the hair thing except to say that it sounds whack like the rest of her advice. And let baby graze, it's what they do. Only formula fed babies should be on a schedule.

I can't comment on your daily routine as you didn't mention the age of your child but it sounds like you're doing just fine.

there's a poster on here called emilyinfrance, she's a friend of mine and she will So Sympathise with the Frech docs thing. luckily she had two children already in the UK and was more confident about ignoring them.

and this doesn't look immediately relevant but if you scroll down you'll find a table from Lucy Burney's Optimum Nutrition book... as you can see, even if you're operating in teaspoons the amounts are pretty small for a while.

it does seem like your doc is pretty OTT, in my opinion, but i can understand how this sort of thing would totally rattle you. good luck.