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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

So should I go to the silly NHS weaning talk tomorrow?

22 replies

CherryChoc · 04/02/2009 18:26

My DS is 4 months and has slightly slipped off his magical line on the chart. As he is exclusively breastfed and they use the old bottlefeeding charts in our area I expected him to do so and am not worried - but the HV wants me to attend the special NHS weaning talk tomorrow. A couple of my friends have been and say it is rubbish - I very nearly said this to the HV but managed not to at the last minute!

Basically her advice was "If he continues to 'lose' weight in this pattern by next month I recommend you give him 2 tsp of baby rice a day" and wants me to attend the weaning talk - which is at 10.30am and I will have to walk/get the bus. Very little chance of me getting DS ready to be out that early at the moment so I might say "Oops I missed it"!

What has annoyed me, apart from the fact I want to do BLW (which I probably will do anyway, and just stop going to the clinic every month until he is actually eating ) is firstly, I don't see that 2 teaspoons of baby rice is going to do anything, (isn't it basically low calorie tasteless mush?) and also, why is it so important he sticks to that magic line? What is going to happen? Will he waste away? I highly doubt it!

Only slight problem is - is there any way I can weigh him myself to keep DP and MIL happy though without being badgered to wean him all the time? I have a feeling with BLW he will probably be ready before 6 months anyway as he is already grabbing everything and gumming away on it happily - I just haven't offered him food yet (and he doesn't seem interested in trying for mine either). I estimated his weight before and then DP was worried when his weight was lower than my estimate.

Or I could always lie about his weight to get them all to chillax!

OP posts:

shonaspurtle · 04/02/2009 18:39

Miss it. I've never met anyone who found the weaning visit/talk/fair - whatever they call it in your area - any use at all.

Seona1973 · 04/02/2009 20:11

re: weight - I used to weigh myself and then weigh myself holding my lo and work out the difference.

normansmum · 04/02/2009 20:16

HV I used to have said it was normal for them to go up and down a centile on either side of lowest weight since birth centile. (if that makes sense) Anyway you can always read up on it if you need to.

I'd miss it, its too cold!

maretta · 04/02/2009 20:18

It was a while ago so it might have changed but here's a run down of the one I went to

-demonstration of how to make baby rice.

-Invitation to look at a tray of vegetables that your baby might like.

Think that was it.

Really not worth the hassle of a bus.

rolandbrowning · 04/02/2009 20:19

If I want ds weighed, I take him to clinic as their scales are accurate, but I don't take his red book, so they can't comment on what line he is on.

giantkatestacks · 04/02/2009 20:20

our local breastfeeding drop-ins do weighing if theres one near you.

bohemianbint · 04/02/2009 20:23

I didn't bother going to the one i was invited to but I sort of wish I had now, as it turns out they are saying that BLW is how it should be done and were advocating no doing purees at all. However, they were also totally pro waiting for 6 months, which it doesn't sound like yours are. If it's going to be a tired old puree talk I'd not bother.

As for the weight, at 12 weeks my DS showed signs of slipping off the 75th percentile. I deliberately didn't have him weighed for 10 weeks as I didn't want to get obsessed by it. I took him the other week and at 22 weeks he had fallen to the 50th. However, they weren't bothered, as he's very long and probably growing down rather than out, IYSWIM. He's happy, filling nappies and full of beans and I'm not remotely worried about it.

Some HVs talk crap - you know your baby and if you believe there isn't a problem then get your DH onside by explaining how it all works (it's not much to do with MIL is it?!) and stay well away. As if 2 tsps baby rice will make any difference!

Katerina75 · 04/02/2009 20:26

The one I went to had samples of Hipp jars and baby rice packets to look at and the HV told us that commercially produced baby food was quite good these days. I think that was the sum total of the information given.

annatee · 04/02/2009 20:43

At mine they didn't mention purees or rice, think guidelines are for BLW which surprised some people but showed a DVD by Gill Rapley and gave out sippy cups and toothbrushes. Was quite good actually, pretty much word for word what the BLW book she wrote says. My boyf hadn't read it so was useful for him but if you have read the book then I think you could afford to miss it!

Original poster

CherryChoc · 04/02/2009 21:38

According to my NCT friends who have been, they tell you to wait until 6 months but then say "Well the guidelines say 6 months but your little ones are all over 4 months so just do it whenever you feel like it" ... I think definitely too cold! Our NHS antenatal classes were rubbish as well, it obviously depends on the area.

They won't see them without a red book, not sure why. MIL is just constantly asking how much he weighs and advising me to give him a bit of rusk!

bohemian I wasn't going to go today but DP was worried he wasn't getting enough milk (he is suspicious of bf because it is outside of his control ) so I said I would get him weighed.

OP posts:

bohemianbint · 04/02/2009 22:17

As fa as MIL is concerned just smile sweetly and tell her he's fine. Rusks are appalingly full of sugar anyway!

CandleQueen · 04/02/2009 22:23

At my weaning talk they said to start puree weaning no earlier than 5 months, 6 months was best. Then they had a selection of savoury and sweet mush for mothers to taste and work out what they were and whether they were home-made or jar.
Then they encouraged us to make our own mush not buy jars (good) but no mention of BLW (bad)
I have ignored everything and been BLW DS2 and he is healthy and happy and our dinner times are stress free. With DS1 I did everything HV suggested with weaning and found puree feeding and the transition to real food quite stressful.

wastingmyeducation · 05/02/2009 09:23

Ours was rubbish, it was the horrid NN who I can't stand! And it was all bottle-oriented, and puree-minded and contradicting herself 'It was twelve pounds or twelve weeks in my day'.
However, we got a free cup. So if your bus fare is more than the cost of a Tommee Tippee first cup, then I wouldn't bother.

tiktok · 05/02/2009 11:19

cherry - you don't have an issue with feeding, but issues with confidence.

The weaning talk is unlikely to help with confidence.

Stop weighing. If MIL asks how much he weighs, say you don't know. What's she going to do? Hit you?

MrsMattie · 05/02/2009 11:22

If you are satisfied that your child is healthy and have no worries, just stop going to the clinic. It's not compulsory. My DD is 3 months old and has been weighed once since she was discharged from the HV at 10 days old.

MrsJamin · 05/02/2009 12:11

Aren't those talks for mums who think wotsits are a good first food? I wouldn't go if I were you, if it's hassle for you to get to.

giantkatestacks · 05/02/2009 12:24

I think (and sorry if this is a bit boring) that for some people those talks may be useful - several of my school gate mums are weaning in exactly the same way they have always done (ie early) and won't listen to anything different and could do with some 'retraining' though granted this only works if the weaning talk is sensible and follows the guidelines.

Original poster

CherryChoc · 05/02/2009 15:53

I didn't go - too much snow . I think I might stop going to the clinic but might buy some scales or something since I quite like knowing his weight. For some reason I'm being all paranoid about not going to the clinic though. I'm not very good with this defying authority thing, even if I know I am right! It doesn't help that I look about 16 either...

No tiktok, but MIL knows how to text! And she has exactly the same texting habits as DP - ie no punctuation, and will send the same message several times if I don't reply. Very annoying.

OP posts:

tiktok · 05/02/2009 15:57

She texts you repeatedly to check on his weight and whether he has started to eat solids??

What planet is she on?

This is unreasonable, CherryChoc!

Habbibu · 05/02/2009 16:00

switch off your phone and tell her it's broken. Or text back, saying "sorry - I have absolutely no idea what your message said".

BennyAndJoon · 05/02/2009 16:04

At my weaning thing they gave out free spoons and talked about the consistency to make baby rice or porridge up to.

The literature had at least been tippexed to say 6 months, not 4.

Original poster

CherryChoc · 05/02/2009 16:09

It's not that bad - sorry didn't word it very well. It tends to be every time we see her she wants to know how much he weighs, whether he has been vaccinated yet (we are delaying but still not sure how long for) and last time attempted to give him custard! For some reason we kept seeing her before the end of the month, clinic is at the beginning, so I would say he hasn't been weighed yet but I think (weight) which is what prompted her to text me asking.

She did things very differently to how I am doing them and I know she's just excited (first grandchild) but it feels a bit aargh too much pressure!

Habbibu, DP has a fit if he can't get in contact with me. Which doesn't stop me ignoring him if I can't be bothered to reply...

OP posts:

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