Feeding Your Baby - Who Do You Listen To?

For some reason, I just thought that when you had a baby you would automatically know what to feed them and on what schedule. Silly me! There were a lot of things that overwhelmed me at the hospital and those first few days after giving birth, but feeding was one of them. I was deadset on breastfeeding for starters--that is until I never got a supply of milk to feed the baby with. That sure changed things! I kept trying to feed her and she kept screaming, and it wasn't until her 5 day check out after I was released from the hospital that we found out that she was starving. Poor little thing, I felt so awful but I had no clue. So reluctantly we moved onto formula. There's absolutely nothing wrong with bottle feeding and I have come to love some of the fabulous features of it (such as sharing the responsibility of feeding), but I was just disappointed that my first attempt at feeding never worked out.

We were moving along just fine with bottle feeding, getting into a groove when the bottles didn't seem to be cutting it anymore. Silly me--she wanted more! Why didn't anyone tell me this? You'd think there would be a little fairy to tell you "hey crazy mommy, it's time to move the ounces up on the feeding". Yet again I felt as if I was depriving my child, and on the cycle went. I learned to just increase the ounces one at a time when it seemed as though the current feeding wasn't doing it. Okay, lesson two down!

I was even getting into a groove, when it seemed as though the current ounce total wasn't enough, I slowly moved up. Great, I was in business! I've found that none of the books have really helped me on the subject because they don't really convey the most important truth--every child is totally different. You read this and hear it, but it is the one truth that is universal. There are no two children (even twins my friends tell me) that are exactly the same, and that is never more evident than in their feeding needs. So we learned what worked for our little girl and moved along.

Now it was time for cereal. We had to put some in her bottle to help with reflux and I'm not exaggerating when I say that she hated it! So I thought, hmmm if I've been cleared to give it to her in a bottle why not try it on a spoon. I would of course urge you to talk to your pediatrician anytime you have questions come up on the subject, and sure enough I was given the all clear. (I have my pediatrician on speed dial!) She loved rice cereal, and then barley, and then oatmeal.....and we were on a constant evolution of growth spurts. I swear that these come just about every other week it seems, but as long as baby is healthy then everyone is happy.

And so it went for solid foods, she loved every single thing that she had in first foods. I didn't go with the organic, I had a lot of friends that took that road or even made their own baby food. I felt (and my pediatrician concurred) that Gerber has been doing it well for years and that I was confident they could work well for my baby. Same rule of thumb applied here--when the first foods didn't seem to be enough, it was time to move onto second foods.

She is now about to make the transition to third foods and I think that if I've learned anything it's to be in tune to your baby's needs, ask lots of questions, and sometimes do what works best for you and your baby. You may likely do things different than your friends or sisters did, but if you find a groove that works for you then go with it. After all, mommy knows best!