what are you being told by health professionals?

[*happy*]

we had our 7-9 month check up today. i left totally confused & baffled! the doctor told me milk (am fairly sure she meant all milk even though she knew i was BFing) is now looked on as secondary to solids....ie milk should just be to quench thirst etc, and DD2's main source of nutrition should be coming from solids. her recommendations were to give red meat 3 times a week, give ready brek/weetabix ("healthy" shop-bought cereals) for breakfast and an egg or yoghurt for tea....all of which sounds fine to me & is what i try to do with my toddler....but with DD2, we are still exploring different tastes, taking it slowly & introducing a new food every 3 days.

i was so shocked i didnt question her on anything, which i now regret.

what are ye being told? i was under the impression "food before one is fun", but perhaps i am out-of-date? this doctor told me she had just been to a seminar & gotten the latest info.....i'm not sure why i'm questioning a doctor but i am!!!! if solids are more important than milk, then that will ease my bottle-dramas greatly, but.....i don't know....it just came as a bolt out of the blue!!!

[snowbird]

what are ye being told? i was under the impression "food before one is fun", but perhaps i am out-of-date?

I personally would carry on doing what I was doing in this situation! Solids before 1 is just for fun! Milk is all that LO needs before 1 imho! I did baby-led weaning with LJ from 6 months and she was obviously exploring food for a long time and eventually trying it. We went through stages of her eating loads and then not so much and sometimes very little - but we always trusted that her body knew what it needed! Tbh, we still do go through these stages and LOs really only need very small portions.

this doctor told me she had just been to a seminar & gotten the latest info.....i'm not sure why i'm questioning a doctor but i am!!!!

I think it's a good thing to question the doctors. They really don't know it all! I don't want to get into a debate about this, but it really is good to do your own research and make decisions from an informed basis. E.g. I don't agree with a lot of the government's recommendations regarding 'healthy eating' and have done a lot of reading around this myself. I feed LJ according to that information and am confident with my decision to do this.

So how has your introduction of solids gone so far? xxx

[TB9]

In Canada they have started recommending meats from 6mo on to replace iron fortified cereals, like rice cereal.  I *believe* the reason is that when babies are ebf there is the risk of their iron becoming low after 6months of age.  It may be that the doc is emphasizing meats, eggs and fortified cereals because she is concerned that LO may not get enough iron otherwise.

[*happy*]

the solids intro....?that's part of my problem! DD2 is not a big fan of food or bottles!!! so at the moment, i'm giving the time to the bottles and if i get a few spoons of puree in, i'm happy!

see tink, she didnt mention any of that....just literally that solids are 100%  more important than milk!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

We are told exactly the opposite - bm or formula as main nutrition until one, everything else for fun & developing their palate. They do push meat as a first food over cereals now as the iron is more bio-available and apparently current research shows babies need as much iron as a grown man!

[Buttonbobs]

I'm pretty sure the standard here is that milk is of primary importance until one but that you should offer all foods from six months (following BLW or a purée/finger food mix from the word go) unless there is a family history of allergy or intolerance and then go for the introduce a new food every three days option.

This worked for us, but I would always say do as you feel is right for you and your LO - that's the BW way after all

[weaver]

Sounds a bit OTT to me, happy.  Did she give any references for this?  Perhaps she got the wrong end of the stick somewhere along the line.  I know neither of mine, both of whom enjoyed eating from the go, would have reliably eaten all that in a day.  I'd stick with 'food is fun until one'.

[weaver]

A quick google revealed this:
http://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/press_releases/infant_feeding_19112012.html

including a mention of concern that too many children are being weaned to solids too early...

[snowbird]

It may be that the doc is emphasizing meats, eggs and fortified cereals because she is concerned that LO may not get enough iron otherwise.

Meat, great. Eggs, fab. But fortified cereal? They contain so much sugar! From what I can see (in the UK), the only cereal that is worth offering for nutrients is Porridge oats or Shredded Wheat (100% wholewheat). I do believe that, but do give LJ Weetabix at times as she loves it. She will choose Porridge every time though if given the choice.


xxx

but I would always say do as you feel is right for you and your LO - that's the BW way after all

Definitely this!

DD2 is not a big fan of food or bottles!!! so at the moment, i'm giving the time to the bottles and if i get a few spoons of puree in, i'm happy!

In this case I'd focus on milk, provide solids and let LO decide what he needs. Trust your instincts xxx

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Fortified baby cereals here don't always contain sugar- I have some in my cupboard that is sugar free? Sure some of them are not great but they have varieties here that are just basic ingredients - oats & added vitamins/minerals.

[snowbird]

Fortified baby cereals here don't always contain sugar- I have some in my cupboard that is sugar free? Sure some of them are not great but they have varieties here that are just basic ingredients - oats & added vitamins/minerals.

Sounds good! xxx

[creations]

i was so shocked i didnt question her on anything, which i now regret.

Happy, you should be able to phone the HV office and speak with another HV for further information (write a list of your questions before ringing). I did that occasionally, they don't seem to mind at all.  Although having said that I trusted very little of what the HVs told me, like that DS didn't have silent reflux - yeah right 

She might well have got some of the information mixed up if she had only just been to the seminar and honestly in my experience people in any job can get things wrong. I check all prescriptions from the doctor too as I have more than once been told the incorrect (and dangerous) dose  They are only people after all.

I can well imagine changes in the advice and the lean towards offering meat several times per week and a move away from rice cereals in favour of other fortified cereals although I personally wouldn't be offering wheatabix because of the sugar content.
However, if you are interested in cereals:
Ready brek is fortified and so long as you get the original (not flavoured) it is sugar free.
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=254853914
Cow and Gate make a fabulous fortified baby muesli, the guidance is from 10 months but I started using it much younger with DS because the guidance is based on texture and we did BLW so I made this up with little milk and rolled into balls as finger food. He still has this muesli now either as balls or as slop eaten with a spoon (texture of porridge).
Cow and Gate also make a cereal very similar to wheatabix but for babies, I am pretty sure it is also fortified and sugar free.
Shredded wheat (which I doubt most LOs that age would manage to eat it is sooo dry, but maybe) is sugar free but not fortified.

I'm having trouble with my internet connection (it's raining again! uh!) so can't link the cow and gate cereals. FX this posts.

[creations]

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=262412440
there's also a banana variety

And this is for younger babies
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=270975193

Can't find the wheatabix type things though.

[Buttonbobs]

I'm a bit confused by your comment that weetabix is high in sugar. We've always given it to E as it's the second lowest uk available cereal for sugar content, after shredded wheat. I know porridge oats have very low too but they're not a branded cereal so probably aren't included on the comparison tables. Am I missing something?

[*happy*]

Interesting that nobody else has heard similar advice ..  ...on my phone and highly-drugged-up (all legal!!! ) so will be back tomorrow...