9th centile at 5 months. HV wants to start baby rice, I want BLW.

[Illustrated]

My DD is at the bottom line of the 9th centile. She's only 13lb at 5 and a half months. I only breastfeed her and she feeds a lot (about every hour or 2)

Because of her weight the HV said she wants me to try baby rice twice a day. I was hoping to start BLW at 6 months. I've not heard anything before about going from baby rice to BLW or even having to give baby rice alongside BLW.

Does it make the transition harder? I don't think my HV would be happy for me to drop baby rice to then start BLW.

Advice please!

[worldgonecrazy]

Have you asked the HV what extra she is hoping baby rice will give that isn't in breastmilk?

Why is she suggesting a low nutrition bulk filler food which might make your baby take less calorific high-nutrition breastmilk?

I really don't understand what her thinking is on this, other than "solids are denser therefore must have more in them".

If you do want to get more calories into your baby, then you could start BLW now by putting chunks of food in front of your baby when you're having a meal. Avocado and banana are good first foods and very calorific. Ensure that you give a breastfeed first though.

[NotSpartacus]

9th centile means she is heavier than 8% of babies doesn't it?
What is wrong with that? It's hardly abnormal.
It's not up to your HV what you feed your baby, so if you decide to try baby rice and drop it in favour of BLW, so long as you and baby are happy and she is growing, it doesn't matter if your HV is not happy.

[Illustrated]

I wondered the same thing. The problem is dd is not sitting up by herself yet so I didn't think I could start with BLW yet.

I really worry about her weight, she's so thin but I didn't want to give her anything but breastmilk before she was 6 months. The HV has worried me more now.

[SuperSesame]

I don't think baby rice is any better than the babys milk for weight gain.
But if you wanted to try it, I did baby 4 grain rice from 5 to 6 months with some puree carrot and other veg and then gradually introduced BLW. By about 7 months it was BLW all the way. It won't interfere with BLW and it isn't one or the other. You can do finger food or purees or both.

[mrscog]

Unless there are other health issues you've not put here, I would be inclined to ignore your HV - if shes 9th centile and maintaining it then that's in the normal range. DS was 9th centile for weight and dead skinny as he was 91st for length but he gained weight steadily and didn't drop centiles and my HV didn't voice any concerns.

[EldritchCleavage]

Completely agree that baby rice is not necessarily the way to go. It has no nutritional or calorie value advantages over breast milk. It's only purpose is to be an easy way to get babies accustomed to more bulky foods before solids proper. It can be part of your early weaning before or alongside mainly BLW meals.

On the weight thing, the thinnest baby I have ever seen is my nephew. He was practically translucent. He's been slender all his life but is now a hulking great broad-shouldered Uni student. The message being, as long as your DD is healthy then the thinness needn't be a concern in itself.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Has she always been on the 9th? If so, she is growing just as she should be. As for the baby rice, have a read of this and you may want to print it off for your HV too

The NHS advise bfing or formula for the first 6 months only. If your HV thinks there is a concern then she should be referring you, not advising solids and undermining your confidence.

Have you spoken to a BFC? Try la Leche league or the the nct. They may be able to reassure you and offer another perspective

[Illustrated]

Ok. I don't think I will force her to have baby rice if she's not keen.

Once you start something like that do you have to carry on or can you stop again?
For example, if I gave her baby rice to see if her weight does improve but then stop if it doesn't work out and wait a few weeks until she's ready for BLW would that be a problem? Would the gap between solids cause more issues? I know it may take a while for her to actually start eating the solid food I give her.

[Illustrated]

Oh I missed some of your posts there. Thanks for all that info Jilted. I really am in 2 minds about what to do in this space before starting BLW.

She's been on the 9th centile for a few months now.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

So if she has been on the 9 th for a while, that is the right centile for her, whether its the 9th or the 99th. The important thing is she IS gaining weight and not dropping through the centiles.

You can offer baby rice now if you wish but I'd read the 9 good reasons not to, before you buy a pack. You will probably be able to start blw once she is 6 months but she may get confused. Before 6 months there isn't much you can give them anyway, apart from fruit and veg, most of which are highly unlikely to have more calories than your BM

I'd give one of the bfing helplines a call before you decide. It can be hard to ignore HCP nut in this case her advise seems a little odd and out of date.

[Illustrated]

Ok. I think I'm just going to carry on with what I'm doing and hope she will be ready for BLW soon. I read the 9 reasons, I cant believe the stuff they put in baby rice!

Thank you everyone for putting my mind at rest.

[GirlOutNumbered]

Whats wrong with being on the 9th? Both mine are, no one has every told me that I should be worried! I just have two wee boys.

As long as she is gaining weight it's fine.

[justine09x]

Thought I'd share as in similar position, my baby girl is 18 weeks, she was born on 91st and has dropped and settled on 25th, well she was also only gaining a couple of oz a week which was fine by me as she was healthy however when she started feeding every hour(even thru the night) and not taking naps I introduced cereal 5 days ago and since then she has been a different baby. Do what's right for u and your baby not what people/hv recommend. My little girl swallows all her food and sleeps 8 hours at night (something she stopped doing at 12 weeks). Anyway I have found this to be a positive move and she is still having 5-6 feeds of breastmilk a day and as she is not sucking me dry so to speak there is a full feed available when she does feed. I always offer breasts first and then top her up with cereal. Also in my opinion no baby really likes baby rice it looks and tastes like mushed up cardboard! Try cereal or a single fruit purée. Just my opinion like I say I have 3 children who have all weaned from 4-6 months they really are all different and one baby will last 6months others won't xx

[justine09x]

Oh and I took her to be weighed yesterday and told hv what I was doing and that I also wanted to do BLW and she said stick to cereal and fruit purée then when baby is ready at around 6 months stick her in a highchair give her lots of choice and textures and let her crack on so to speak and she will develop her own likes and dislike and learn to eat different foods xx

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

justine has your dd been checked for tongue tie?

[NameOfTheNick]

I don't understand your hv. My ds is 8.5 months and has been on the 9th centile since he was about 3 months old. So long as your dd hasn't suddenly dropped centiles then I dont see what the problem is? Milk is a lot more calorific than baby rice and veg etc so she's likely to drop rather then gain centiles at the next weigh in.y ds is only 16.6lbs at 8.5 months and everyone is happy with his weight and him still following 9th centile.

You're her mum and if you want to start blw at 6 months you do that.
so long as she is maintaining her centile roughly and still gaining weight and feeding well, tell the hv to bugger off!

[ceeveebee]

Very odd advice. Milk has far more calories than baby rice

My DD was 12lb5 at 5 months between 2 and 9th centile. I tried spoon feeding her some puréed veg at 6 months but she refused everything and just kept on with the milk. At about 8 months she started grabbing bits of toast, meat, fish etc from our plates and then carried on from there, at 14 months she feeds herself with spoon and fork and still won't let me put any food near her!

[LadyWidmerpool]

Surely 9th centile is fine unless there is some other cause for concern?

[SamSmalaidh]

Some babies have to be on the 9th centile, just as some are on the 91st! If your baby is happy, alert, settled and gaining weight then ask your HV exactly what the problem is.

If your baby's weight is an issue, then surely she needs high fat/high calorie additions to her milk, not rice? I'd have thought starting her on avocado would have been better.

[NeedlesCuties]

My 5 month old DD is 25lb (at 22 weeks)! She used to be a boob monster day and night, but recently only feeds twice a day and drinks me dry all night.

She has started to throw herself forward to whatever I'm eating, and has even stuck her hand in some casserole on my plate and whacked herself in the chin trying to get it into her mouth!!!

I started her last week on some veg and fruit. Bypassed the baby rice entirely as imo it's just powdered nothingness.

Do what is right for you and your DC, take the advice from the HV and then do whatever you think is best.

One thing is: the 6 month mark for weaning is a guideline, doesn't have to be right to the day of your child's 6th month.

[mrstowers]

Well said Needles. People seem to be so hung up on doing what they're told to do that commonsense seems to be taking a back seat.