These are questions and the answers I had as a new mom about my baby’s feeding and nutrition. I’m honored to be a Similac Strong Moms Ambassador, a sponsored blog partner, this year.

If I scroll back in my computer’s history, I practically searched the internet on a daily basis trying to find answers to all of my questions as a new mom. Is this normal? What do I do in this situation? The questions were endless. While I had my mom to reach out to for the general motherly questions, there were some that she didn’t even have the answer to.

No mother in my family had had a baby that weighed so little, projectile vomited all day long and had such a difficult time going to sleep. Of course, we regularly visited Liam’s pediatrician to ensure he didn’t have a more serious complication, but the other moments in early motherhood, I turned to the internet for answers.

Feeding and nutrition normalities were a the top of the list of questions:

• Was it normal that Liam was spiting-up upwards of 7 times between feedings?
• It’s no wonder that he weighed so little, am I not providing enough breastmilk?
• How do I increase breastmilk production?
• Should I supplement with formula? If so, what kind?
• If I try bottle feeding, what bottle should I buy?
• What if he starts bottle feeding and he doesn’t want to breastfeed any more? Will it cause nipple confusion?
• When should we begin solid foods? What solid foods should we start with?
• When do you begin weaning off of breastmilk? Do you wean to formula or milk?

Here’s what I found from my pediatrician, the internet, my mother and my own experience:

• Was it normal that Liam was spiting-up upwards of 7 times between feedings?
  This isn’t normal. I ended up taking him to the pediatrician and they did a series of tests to rule out that he didn’t have any intestinal blockages, that he didn’t have acid reflux and to make sure he was getting enough breastmilk. Thankfully, he was fine and he was indeed getting enough breastmilk…just spitting most of it up.
• Am I not providing enough breastmilk? How do I increase breastmilk production?
  I tried everything from daily doses of fenugreek supplements, eating oatmeal, pumping between feedings and at night and cutting back on exercising. Nothing seemed to be increasing my milk supply. The pediatrician ended up setting up an appointment with a specialist where she weighed Liam before a feeding, watched him breastfeed and weighed him after the meal. This ensured that he was indeed getting enough milk. Of course, he spit up a few minutes after the meal and the specialist understood my concern right then and there.
• Should I supplement with formula? If so, what kind?
  Every afternoon around 4-5pm, Liam would always get upset. I finally determined it was because he was hungry. At that point I was beginning to ‘dry up’ and not have enough breastmilk to feed him another meal before his final meal at bedtime. That’s when I broke down and had a giant heart-to-heart with myself and decided to supplement this meal with formula. “There is no right or wrong way to supplement, it’s really what works best for the mom and baby.” says Dr. Sue Hubbard. I can’t tell you how much this helped our family’s happiness. Liam was happy because he wasn’t hungry, I was happy because I now had enough breastmilk to feed him a nice meal before bed and my husband was happy because he got to experience feeding Liam a bottle. Here are some tips for choosing the right formula.
• If I try bottle feeding, what bottle should I buy?
  I asked my fellow mom friends what bottles they used to make my decision on bottles. We ended up settling on a 3 pack of Dr. Brown’s bottles that worked like a charm all the way until we weaned Liam completely off of the bottle.
• What if he starts bottle feeding and he doesn’t want to breastfeed any more? Will it cause nipple confusion?
  I was quite nervous about this and never really did find an answer. I just had it in the back of my mind and accepted that I would be okay if he decided to not breastfeed any more. We started slowly and only offered him one bottle a day. Liam never had any issues with switching back and forth. “Also, you may have to help your baby adjust to the taste of formula. One tip is to mix some of your pumped breast milk with the already-prepared formula. Just make sure that you don’t use breast milk in place of water and always follow the package directions when preparing formula.” – Dr. Sue Hubbard
• When should we begin solid foods? What solid foods should we start with?
  Since Liam was underweight and only at the recommendation of my pediatrician did we start solid foods at 4 months old. Typically the rule of thumb is to begin at 6 months old. “Be sure to wait 3-5 days between introducing new foods so that you can observe any potential reactions to foods.” says Dr. Sue Hubbard. Despite beginning two months early, we started slowly and it helped tremendously with his weight gain and also helped the number of spit ups. “I typically start with infant cereal, which is iron fortified. Spoon feeding is initially about teaching your baby to put the spoon into their mouth and to begin experiencing new textures. Once your baby is enjoying spoon feeding it is easy to start adding pureed veggies, fruits and meats. The most important point about spoon feeding is that babies will typically eat almost any pureed or “mushy” food that they are offered, so now is the time to start healthy eating habits with a diversity of foods. Don’t be afraid to try new foods (kale, avocado, apricots, prunes), even things that you may not typically eat.” – Dr. Sue Hubbard We begin Liam on the rice cereal, but soon transitioned to trying different fruits and vegetables every week.
• When do you begin weaning off of breastmilk? Do you wean to formula or milk?
  My goal was to always begin weaning Liam off of breastmilk around the one year mark. It just so happened that we were down to just a couple feedings a day and I had to go on a blogging trip for three days. I just knew I was going to be completely engorged and Liam would be upset, but it turned out that our bodies had weaned enough by that point that my milk completely dried up during those 3 days and Liam was perfectly fine having transitioned to a solid food and formula diet. “The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of your baby’s life; breastfeeding in combination with solid foods through at least 12 months; and continued breastfeeding thereafter for as long as mutually desired by mother and baby.” – Dr. Sue Hubbard

I’m thankful that I could share my questions and answers with you. Thank you to Similac who encouraged me to share and to also include the wisdom from the nationally syndicated pediatrician, Dr. Sue Hubbard within this post.