HV suggesting baby rice for my 16 wk ds2. I am confused.

[princessmel]

I thought guidelines were 6 months these days. I mentioned this and possible damage to his gut and she said 'we'll talk about that in 2 weeks' (she was busy and that's when I'm seeing her next)

She said he could start at 17 weeks...with baby rice. Which I thought had less calories in than breast milk anyway. I said I wasn't keen.
She said if he drops down on the chart any more then we'll review it again. He was born between the 91st and 75th centile and is around the 25th now. I thought this was normal with bf babies too. He is 14 lb 21/2oz. He put on 7 oz in the last 2 weeks. Btw he had a chest infection a few weeks ago with Ab's.

I told her he feeds 2 hourly normally.

She said 'has he ever slept through the night?' . I told her he has (in the past) gone from 8/9pm ish to 4/5am ish a few times but is waking at 2/3 ish more recently. But I also said I expect to be woken for feeds, he is a baby after all!!

She also asked 'is he looking at you when you eat?' and I said he is, but tbh he looks at me whatever I do.

So what do you think? I wasn't planning on doing food till 6 months and then giving blw a go..with a bit of mush thown in.

tia

Hi Yes still here.
ds2 slept from 8.30 - 1.30 then till 7.30am.

I bf dd till she was 2.4 years so not a novice

Right, I will hold on and tell her some of these things - although she should know that already.

As far as I'm aware I am not run down, or depressed. I am not on a diet. Just had missed a few lunches due to ds2 sleeping on me...
I am currently eating Foxes Vieneese chocolate melts...

Breast compression makes him gag a bit.
I don't always offer both sides as I always have milk left in the side he's on. I only offer the second side if he's fussing or has been on that side for a long time. I don't see how the second side will get him more calories or milk if the first side still has milk in it. Happy to be told different.

Well, he may just be not so keen on the slower milk. And offering both sides boosts your supply, he might have a bigger drink if you offer the other side, and then go longer before the next feed.

He might not, though, as usual, with babies, there are no guarantees.

I think he does like the slower milk which is why he gags when I press my breasts. He hates it when it comes out fast (you know when it squirts out all of it's own accord), so this is why I keep him on one side. Unless..he fusses which is not most feeds, just some.

Plus I have kept him on one side as I had over supply issues with ds1 and I am very keen to not make ott milk ....

Ok looked at my red book again and seen he's heading from the 50th to the 25th not the 25th to the 9th.
It was the hv that said he was dropping off and set the worry off in my head.

My DS is 19 weeks, and I've had exactly the same problem as you. He was born at 10lb2oz, and, though he lost a bit to begin with, he is now 16lbish. Exclusively breastfed.

I have seen two different HVs. The first said, "you do know you're not advised to give them solids until 6 months now?" A fornight later (bout a month ago) theother looked at me as if I was being a very bad mummy, and said, "what? You're not giving him any solids at all?" Doc also seemed very surprised that he wasn't on solids.

I had a period about a month ago where I though my milk wasn't enough for him. My friend is a bf counsellor, and she advised me to try to get him to suckle a bit more after the milk has finished (it annoys them that there's nothing there!). I didn't think it would work but it really stimulated my milk production and he is now getting full after a feed. Upping my water intake has made a massive difference to me too.

Trust your instincts- babies are not robots, they're all different, and having a big baby doesn't mean you have to start them early. My 1st DD was only 7 8 at birth, and he wanted solids at 4 months- they're just different.

BTW, re. breastfeeding, my milk supply doesn't seem to be bothered by how much I eat, only how much water I drink- that makes a HUGE difference. But just because my calorie intake hasn't affected my milk production, doesn't mean that is the case for everyone- think it's a bit rude for posters to basically say that people are lying when they share their experiences. Nobody knows everything, you know...

Actually it's not rude at all to correct misinformation about breastfeedng. There are enough myths already without repeating them. Someone will come on here and think oh I must drink more to get more milk or eat more and not be able to do this and so give up when actually you just drink to thirst and dont have to eat more to have an adequate supply or quality of milk.

I am always amazed how people actually know how much milk they are producign. I never did. How do you know??

i def feel 'fuller' when well rested and fed.
however, i have been 'dieting' but losing about 1 lb per week and have not experienced supply issues.

There's another interesting quote from Kellymom, which you can't see Rainbowinthesky (lovely name, BTW):

"A sudden drop in calories can reduce milk supply. Some moms notice this during an illness, although dehydration and/or medication use could also be a factor in reduced milk supply when mom is sick. It has been hypothesized that a sudden calorie decrease can cause mom's body to go into "starvation mode" and cut nonessential resources such as milk production."

It doesn't specify exactly what a sudden drop in calories actually means; it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to speculate that FrogetyFrog's body is more sensitive to a drop of X calories than another mother's body might be.

FWIW, I agree with FrogetyFrog. My milk supply also dried up when my calorie intake went down by a relatively small amount (through my own stupidity, and I fixed it very quickly as soon as I realised what I was doing by going OTT on dieting). But I also agree with BertieBotts - I was far more sensitive to liquid intake than calories.

Well, in my opinion it IS rude, Rainbow. You can't tell women that you know how their body works better than they do- Why won't you accept that they have seen a link ? If it affects the milk supply of a few women on here, it may too be the answer for someone who's looking at this thread- upping their calories may well help them. Who are we to say? It really riles me that just because something isn't part of the official advice, you refuse to believe the experiences of other mumsnetters. Very arrogant imo.

I started Weight watchers after xmas and lost 10lbs over 4 weeks. Bearing in mind the WW programme is supposed to take into account nutritional needs of breastfeeding mothers, and I made an effort to chhose filling foods. During which time, DS2 dropped a centile. I was told to stop dieting, which I did. DS2 went back up to 91st centile.