I had an appointment with Kyson's MCHN today and she got me a little worried. I'm pretty sure I'm needlessly worrying, but I just can't help but be a little paranoid.

Kyson has recently turned 6 months old (1 week ago), and one of the first questions the nurse asked was if he was having three meals a day. I must admit that I was a little shocked and probably looked it. Kyson generally only has one meal of solids a day (dinnertime). He's still being breastfed (no formula) and we have been using BLS techniques and letting him feed himself. Even when I've given him mashed potato or pumpkin from a spoon he generally holds the spoon himself. We started with broccoli because I read that it was fairly high in iron and he LOOOOOVES the broccoli! He's also had some zucchini, carrot, cauliflower, rice, pasta and sucked on some beef strips. I thought he was doing quite well....

The nurse asked me what time we get up and he has breakfast and I told her he has his solid meal for dinner. Then she said "yes, but what time does he have breakfast?". She was surprised that he didn't get any rice cereal in the morning and went on to tell me about how babies iron stores drop at six months and that they need the rice cereal. I started to explain that we are following baby-led techniques and giving him vegies that are high in iron, but she insisted that he NEEDS the cereal. She also told us not to give him pasta anymore because they shouldn't have anything with wheat in it until 7-9 months. Does the one month between six and nine months of age really make that much difference?

Anyway, I ended up just doing my usual "uh huh", "sure", "yep gotcha" responses just to get past the conversation. Everyone has an opinion on everything when it comes to babies and I find myself responding like that a lot and then just doing what we are comfortable anyway. For example "What do you mean he's still feeding at least 3 hourly during the night?! He should be sleeping through the night by now. Maybe you should book into a sleep clinic". Hmmm, no thanks. I think I'll just let him feed as much as he feels he needs to. I'm pretty sure he won't be 15 and still feeding throughout the night...

Ok, back on topic... I was feeling pretty confused and doubting our techniques, until I got home and started reading through this forum. All the information in these threads about BLS has made me feel so much more secure in our decision. Kyson is a very healthy and happy little boy who LOVES to feed himself and enjoys the food he is eating. He also still loves breastfeeding (although he recently discovered the joy of water from a sippy cup, lol!). I want to thank everyone that has posted information, and even those that have posted questions because I have had many of the same questions.