Can you tell me what you think of this HV advice please?

[ChocOrange05]

We started weaning DS at 25 weeks and for a few days it was all going well with him happy and keen to eat. After a few days of constipation (cured by prune puree) he was then really fussy whilst eating - wanting to but also getting upset and really crying after mealtimes. He has always had reflux (not badly) and I think the food was causing him some indigestion/acid reflux pains. We had a couple of nights where he was up for 1 hour crying and he screamed every time we put him down in his cot, which is really unlike him (only slept after some calpol).

Since we stopped weaning a week ago he is back to his old happy self.

I told the HV all this yesterday and her advice was:

• as he is not sitting up a lot the acid may be getting stuck in his chest and causing him discomfort
• we need to wean him now as he is 6 months and its important for speech development (is this true?)
• I should give him ready brek as its very mild and shouldn't cause him pain (wouldn't just ready brek be really boring and mean he might not get "into" different foods?)
• I should just put it in front of him and let him play with it and eat it if he likes - its not important how much he eats just that he tries.

I am a bit reluctant to just go ahead with this on one HV's advice and wouldn't mind other people's opinions - and MN is the Oracle .

Thanks in advance.

The last point makes sense. They're all different, my ds stuffed his face from 4 mths on and my dd ate nothing until she was one. He'll eat when he wants to, let him choose.

The last point is important, I am pretty sure the second one is bollocks but I am sure someone with more experience will be along soon.

As for ready brek being boring (erm just try ordinary porridge oats - cheaper!), my DS favourite food is oatabix (he literally starts shaking when he sees the packet).

LOL Libra - my DS is the same when he sees yoghurt.

chocorange - the only point i think is helpful is the last one. That approach is called 'Baby Led Weaning' and there is info on it on MN and elsewhere online. We are two months into it and it is fab.

Thanks for comments - charity I was doing BLW to some extent (puree + finger foods) but he was getting really upset on those foods he was eating (rice cakes, oatcakes) that I don't want to allow him to have things that will aggravate him. I guess if I stick a bowl of ready brek/porridge in front of him and let him do what he wants with it, then that is BLW??

Yes but don't get hung up on it, what I did was load some on a spoon and let him put the spoon in his mouth. He could do this from about 7 months.
I also found a rice-cake smeared with Ellas kitchen would go down a treat!

I love the idea of BLW but it isn't ideal for us as I hardly ever eat with DS - I have lunch while he naps and we have dinner when he's in bed (IMO BLW is best for people who already have kids and so are making food at that time) so it won't be true "grab whatever I'm eating" BLW but I do want to let him do as much as possible himself. Will see how ready brek goes tomorrow and hopefully we can move onto something more exciting soon!

I think she's right. My baby has acid reflux (very very bad) and sitting up and eating bland solids has been great. Your baby may have learned food equals bad tummy and constipation, so best to avoid any risk that that happens again.
My 6 month old is eating finger food like soft brocoli (I cannot spell that word, baby brain), rice cakes, toast, asparagus, soft fruits, lots of purees and mashed food.
They need to eat now as they have the gag reflex that they lose if they don't eat, so soft for a month and then progress so that they learn not to choke.