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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

Old, old story - the breastfed 9mo, the scales-toting HV and the SOLIDS.

45 replies

MrsBadger · 08/05/2008 12:39

8.5m check today - précis follows

HV: oh isn't she lovely, sitting well, moving toys from hand to hand, pincer grip, two teeth, attempting to crawl [ticks boxes], she's just perfect. Still having any bf?

MrsB: oh yes, 3 EBMs a day at nursery and on demand all night

HV: oh lovely, how's she sleeping?

MrsB: rubbish, always has done, cosleeping so not too bothered

HV: fine fine. Started solids? Three meals a day?

MrsB: only two, doesn't want breakfast

HV: fair enough if she's been on the milk all night
[gets out scales]
[reads numbers]
[face falls]

HV: SHE HAS DROPPED TWO PERCENTILES SINCE BIRTH! [75th-25th]

MrsB: well yes but only one since she was last weighed (at 9wks), could have dropped ages ago

HV: still that is not good, give her more solids

MrsB: what?

HV: she is filling up on milk, she needs more solids

MrsB: So solids are more calorie dense than milk?

HV: Yes. Cut her daytime milk and give her water instead.

MrsB: But I was trying to get milk into her in the daytime so she'd wake less for it at night. And surely water has no calories at all?

HV: yes, but she won't drink as much so will eat more solids. It's a vicious circle you have to break. Try no milk at all between 8am and 4pm.

MrsB: [quivers at thought of denying dd lovely milk] [nods and smiles and legs it]

I have to go back in 8wks to have her weighed again.

Do I
a) leave well alone and sod HV
b) leave milk and force more solids
c) cut milk and hope hunger does the job

farking HV, dd is perfect and I resent being made to feel I am starving / neglecting her when I am NOT

OP posts:

princessglitter · 11/05/2008 10:47

My dd sounds similar, she was 75th percentile at birth and now at 7.5 months old she is following the 25th.

She is breastfed on demand, co-sleeping and blw. I offer three meals a day, but she eats when she wants to.

My health visitor is not worried, she is clearly thriving as I'm sure your dd is too.
Babies come in all shapes and sizes, just as adults do.

Ceolas · 11/05/2008 23:00

Oh god, I posted exactly the same thing a couple of weeks ago. DD was below the 25th at 8 months. But doing everything else she should be. HV said bf wasn't cutting it any more and she needed more solids or formula (???!)

Don't keep the appointment if you're happy with how she's doing. It's not compulsory. You know that. Plus it'll give her more fuel if DD's not gained.

Don't see how you can force solids tbh. I have been trying to encourage more solids with DD, but if she's not in the mood it's a pointless exercise

bitodd · 11/05/2008 23:04

a) leave well alone and sod HV
b) don't go back to clinic
c) will bring you copy of dd1's chart showing same situation and then show you lovely healthy dd1 now
d) have large glass of wine

with dd1 the HV told me at about this time I should feed her biscuits to get her weight up
honestly, don't go back

MumtoAlexGeorge · 01/06/2008 07:32

Hi, my eight and 1/2 month old has dropped from teh 25th to 2nd centile. He doesn't like eating and its a real battle trying to give him 3 meals a day. My HV told me to drastically cut back his breast milk which I did, to 3 5oz per day and 1 5oz at 10pm and he still won't eat. He's not put on any weight this month at all. I'm going to increase his milk by an extra bottle per day and cut his meals to 2 until he starts enjoying food. I'm not happy with the HV advice at all. He was putting on weight until she interferred. I empathise with you totally though. Its very worrying. I have just found that my litte one is allergic to milk, soya, and egg which is another huge spanner in the eating works. I take comfort in the fact that all babies are different despite charts, etc.

yetihed · 01/06/2008 11:20

Mrs B- you know your DD is fine, so sod the HV.

My DS has dropped from the 90th percentile to the 21st! I've decided to be proud of that coz he is such an active little bunny he just burns it off!

Those charts are a load of tosh, not designed to account for individual circumstances and are best avoided unless there is a genuine health problem which there clearly isn't.

Pannacotta · 01/06/2008 12:00

MrsB, you are v wise on these matters, so please just ignore your silly HV and simply don't go back (I'd phone and cancel the appt nearer the time). Like your DD, DS2 was only weighed twice too I think.
As you know for the first year of a baby's life milk is the most important source of nutrition, just look at kellymom.com if in any doubt, also suggest you refer your HV to the site.
Just because your DD is petite doesn't mean she needs more solids. If she does need to put any weight on just up her milk intake, not her solids, but you know all this already.
Please don't doubt yourself, you give so much good advice on the breastfeeding boards, please don't let the misinformed HV knock your confidence.

Pannacotta · 01/06/2008 12:01

When I say top up I mean just offer her more milk, not "top up" with formula etc etc.

lackaDAISYcal · 01/06/2008 12:08

Mrs B, I think that if you take her back in eight weeks she will still be on the 25th centile and the HV should leave bloody well alone. Don't let her get to you and carry on as you have been doing, you know your baby and know she is fine.

Alternatively, make an appointment with the GP to discuss; they are usually much more level headed about these things.

My DD has been between the 25th and 50th since she was born. At around 7 months, she briefly went over the 50th, in a steady climb. The next time I had her weighed she had lost 6lbs in two weeks and the HV told me to come back in a fortnight and if she was still losing she would refer to paed. I had a doctors appointment for her skin and asked his opinion. He took one look at the cahrt and could see that the higher weights were the blip and her recent weight was back on the same line as before. His advice; you've been getting her weighed too much, she is also more active so of course she'll drop a bit, come back in five weeks and if still losing then, we'll think about what to do next. She has maintained the same line since and the HV looks po-faced when I see her.

evenhope · 01/06/2008 12:37

My 14 mo has only started eating breakfast in the last 3 or 4 weeks. Before that although she ate well the rest of the day she didn't want to eat before about 10am.

hadwinefeelingfine · 01/06/2008 18:59

OMG what is it with HV's, see my post!

LittleMyDancing · 01/06/2008 19:12

You could try showing your HV the WHO charts, which are more appropriate for bf babies. the current NHS ones are based on bottle fed middle class babies in Ohio so strangely don't bear much relation to bf English babies (of any class )

the WHO charts are here

angie0201 · 01/06/2008 20:53

Just like to add same experiences with hv told me if babe (9months) doesn't start finger feeding then her speech will be delayed scared me to death, how can i force to put stuff in mouth??? Why are do they have to scare you are they all like this?

tiktok · 01/06/2008 23:34

"the current NHS ones are based on bottle fed middle class babies in Ohio" - this is so not true!!! Where has this idea come from? The UK charts are based on UK babies, and many thousands of them, too....their feeding is not dofferentiated, but of course many of them were not breastfed.

Having said that, of course the HV is talking rubbish!

tiktok · 01/06/2008 23:35

dofferentiated = differentiated

LittleMyDancing · 02/06/2008 09:40

Sorry tiktok - can't remember where I read that so I take it back, as you know much more than me about these things! But I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere reputable, I wouldn't have made it up, so it is out there somewhere.

Will let you know if I remember where it was, so you can go and correct them!

tiktok · 02/06/2008 09:51

Dancing, it is possible you read it on an American website. US charts are different from the ones used here.

LittleMyDancing · 02/06/2008 09:54

aha - I have tracked down the error, I think. Apparently there were some growth charts in common use until which were based on ff US babies in Ohio - see here in New Scientist
think I must have either assumed that they meant those charts were in use in the UK, or read a news story based on this that made that assumption.

either way, if you tell me they're not, I'll be happy to believe you - even though the idea made me feel much better about DS' lightweight status!

LittleMyDancing · 02/06/2008 09:54

think they were in use by the WHO for while, before they revised them, as well, IIRC.

tiktok · 02/06/2008 10:13

Thanks for the link, Dancing....those charts have never been used in the UK. I can see that reports that don't explain this can be misleading.

LittleMyDancing · 02/06/2008 13:42

thanks tiktok - that's good to know.

there's so much misleading info out there about feeding and children's health in general, it gets hard to know who/what to trust.

Sigh.

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