BLW – advice/reassurance re baby weight please

[klmwong]

The hv has put the frighteners on me and I am so worried that I might stop blw and do the puree route.

I have a toddler and a baby. We did the puree thing with Thomas and blw with Bubs. Bubs had her 8m check a few days ago and the hv was concerned that she has gained no weight in 3w and has said that I need to bring Bubs to be weighed in 4w time. If she had still gained no weight we will have to discuss diet. Up until that point I had no probs with Bubs? weight. She?s just over the 50th centile in the red book and has just dropped to below it. She is alert, happy, looks healthy, poos and wees fine. But because the hv has threatened me with ?we will discuss her diet? I feel pressured to stop blw and do my best to shovel as much food as I can down her neck. I know hvs are trained in all things baby but as her mum I thought we were doing ok. In fact my only concern was whether Bubs was eating enough cos she only takes a few mouthfuls and then squishes and drops her food and loses interest. In comparison my toddler ate loads when he was a baby. When I told the hv my concern she didn?t respond and just carried on talking about other stuff instead. If her goal was to make me feel like a bad mum then she won.

While I am here can I ask how many times do you offer food to your baby? I think I need to increase the number of times. At the moment it can be anywhere from 2 times a day to 4 or 5. Bubs has been poorly lately so that?s when we?ve dropped to 2 times.

Anyway, best go and keep busy so I stop worrying!!

Bye,

MW

[lulumama]

she has lost weight becauase she has been poorly and not eating as much not beacause you are doing BLW..she would have eaten less puree too! if she is happy, weeing and pooing and settled, dropping to just under the 50th centile is not a cause for concern IMO.......please do not worry, and please do not think you are a bad mum x

[belgo]

well is sounds like the reason she hasn't put on weight is because she has been poorly recently. And that's totally normal. Going from just above the 50th percentile to just below it is rarely something to be concerned about! It's awful for your hv to make you feel bad about it - and your hv should learn to look at the baby in front of her, not just the charts.

It sounds like you're doing fine regarding BLW - I think at 8 months it's fine to offer food 3 or 4 times a day, and the rest of the time milk will still be her main source of food and calories.

From what you describe of your baby, she is doing jusst fine, and you have nothing to feel bad about

[DizzyBint]

don't worry. at this age things often level out as they're getting used to new food and learning no mobility etc.

you don't have to go back for weigh in, you only have to go if you feel you want to.

[kiskidee]

a baby just below the 50th is a normal healthy, happy baby. HV are not trained in all things baby as yours demonstrated by not discussing your issues further. I bet she has no clue what blw is about besides what you mentioned to her.

children get ill, their appetites drop off, then they start eating again. surely your hv knows this.

and you don't have to 'discuss' anything with her or even have your baby weighed. you're not starving your baby.

fwiw, my dd ate no solids, puree or otherwise till she was 10 months old due to a v. strong gag reflex and didn't take to any lumps till she was 13 months old when she went straight to grabbing bits of food off my plate. she still eats less than a lot of children under a year old but has followed the 25th percentile dedicatedly since she was 2 months old. she's now 21 months old.

gah, hv's. rant over.