Starting Solids -- or as Ajay would say, "what is this mush?"

Oh my goodness, how the time sure does fly! Little Man is almost five months old already and at his four month check-up our awesome pediatrician, Dr. Dixon, gave the go ahead to introduce solids. I don't know, I was somewhat melancholy with the news, but Arvind was very excited. Once I got over the notion of exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months, it did get exciting for me. In the grand scheme of things we are close enough, right? So anyway, we started solids last week. Here's how it all went down.

First, about two days before we were set to introduce rice cereal, I gave Ajay a spoon to play with (of course, supervised). He seemed to enjoy this new "toy".He took it from my hand and shoved it in his mouth. And then pulled it back out and looked at it again and then mouthed it some more. It was quite cute -- I'm not just saying that because I am his mom, either.

Then, we decided Mother's Day would be the big day. Arvind really wanted to be home for this event and I mean really, can you blame him? So on the big day, I fed him some of Momma's Finest and then we presented the cereal to him. At first, Ajay was really curious.He checked out the bowl and seemed to really be into this new experience.

But it didn't take long for him to let us know that rice cereal simply was not his thing. At least not that day.

 

Are you thinking about getting started on solids with your little one? I found this article on the Dr. Sears website super helpful! I hope you do, too.

Choosing A Pediatrician

I read in the "What To Expect" book that you are supposed to go ahead of time and choose your pediatrician. Then, you are supposed to interview them before the baby is born and finally, take the baby for their first visit about 3-5 days after you are discharged from the hospital. Well...procrastinator checking in. We didn't do that. I did, however, ask a trusted friend  who had just had a baby recently for a recommendation. We went with her recommendation.

We were discharged from the hospital on a Saturday and told by the in-house pediatrician to make the first available appointment the following week. Ajay had lost more than 10% of his body weight and was slightly jaundiced, so they wanted us to keep an eye on him. Well, when we called our pediatrician, he wasn't available until Wednesday and we needed to get Ajay in, asap. First mistake. We took Ajay in on Tuesday and he saw one of the other doctors in the practice. Well, this doctor prescribed supplementing with formula and I was devastated. We'd been working so hard to get things going and I wanted to make sure that Ajay and I were able to continue breastfeeding. I knew that supplementing would not only hurt my supply but it was unnecessary. But with the doc not on my side, I had no leg to stand on. Arvind thought (but has since been re-educated) that formula was somehow superior. It was awful. We were supposed to bring the baby back in a week to get his weight checked, but we were snowed in and so had to actually wait an extra couple of days - I think it ended up being 10 days in all. We were supplementing with one feed a day. I hated it.

When we got our appointment with the recommended doctor, Dr. Dixon, I was so relieved. He checked Ajay out, thought he looked great. Told us we could stop supplementing and just let Ajay call the shots. Feed every 3 hours during the day and go as long as 5 hours in the night. He seemed to have no lack of confidence in my breastfeeding ability. It was then and there, that I understood why it is important to choose a good pediatrician. The pediatrician should act as the baby's advocate and should have similar beliefs and principles as the parents. I wanted to breastfeed, I did not want to supplement. I should have had a doctor who believed the same. Oh well, what's done is done. You can't turn back time, but you can make good decisions going forward. Thankfully, Ajay is now almost 7 months going strong and while we've had our hiccups, the breastfeeding relationship is also going well.

So I guess my advice would be to make sure that your pediatrician is on the same page with your parenting styles, i.e. breastfeeding, co-sleeping, cry-it-out, vaccinations, etc. so that together you all can make the best decision regarding the health and well-being of your child.

The Most Natural Thing Doesn't Come Naturally (at all)

Call me naive, but prior to giving birth, breastfeeding difficulty was the least of my worries. I just kind of thought, I'll have the baby, I'll put baby to breast and "voila!" Um, yeah, such was not the case. Why doesn't anyone tell you this? I mean, maybe they do tell you, at like a breastfeeding class. But why would I go to a class - it's got to come naturally, right?

Wrong! So, here's some advice that I have for first time moms to help establish a good breastfeeding relationship and also a good milk supply, in the hospital. Some are things I did myself and others are quite the opposite - things looking back, I would have done differently.

1. Breastfeed baby as soon as possible after giving birth. When the baby is first born, your brain releases chemicals and sends signals to your breasts to start producing milk. It usually takes a few days for your milk to fully come in, but in the meantime, the baby will receive your colostrum. It is full of nutrients and antibodies and it has everything your baby needs nutritionally. 
2. Throw out the notion of a schedule during the hospital stay, especially during the day. You want to make sure that you are feeding the baby at least every 3 hours. But if during the day, the baby wants to feed every hour, by all means let him. The baby's suckle stimulates milk production - so, the more suckle you can get, the better your milk making business is going to be. 
3. Ask to be seen by the lactation consultant  as soon as possible. These ladies are amazing! They will be there to check your baby's latch-on, help you achieve a good latch, give you tips, show you techniques, and answer any questions you may have (and even some you don't have)!
4. Bring your breastpump or ask to receive a hospital rental. They will hook you up with all brand new parts and lactation will show you how to use the pump. Getting started early with a pumping routine will also help your body to power through the stored up colostrum and start making milk! Also, your insurance may cover the cost of the breastpump, if you purchase it from the hospital. So, look into that, because pumps are pricey!
5. Lots of skin-to-skin is important in the beginning and will not only help you to bond with your bundle of joy, but will also keep the milk coming! So, plan to spend at least one day with naked baby on your bare chest and let the cuddles begin.
6. Opt to stay in the hospital for as long as insurance will cover you. I had a c-section, and was able to stay from Wednesday until Sunday. They would have released us on Saturday, but the option was there for one more night. I spent all day Saturday 
7. Limit visitors. Everyone will want to come and see you and the new baby in the hospital and that is great, but...baby comes first. People usually claim to understand this, but not everyone realizes how tough and demanding breastfeeding is. It can sometimes take up to or more than hour just to get a good feeding in for the baby and in the beginning, that's okay. 
8. Don't forget you packed a breastfeeding book in your hospital bag, so get that bad boy out to give yourself some extra confidence.

So, those are my tips that will help get you off to a good start. I'll add another post soon about maintaining a good breastfeeding relationship.

Also, if for some reason you are being pressured to supplement with a bottle, know that there are alternatives to giving formula. The hospital may have banked breastmilk that you can request be used for supplemental feedings or if your milk has come in, you should be able to supplement with your own milk vs. giving formula. I wish someone would have told me that.