[Submitted Question]

My little girl is almost three months old and so far I have been exclusively breastfeeding her. Now my mother-in-law said that she doesn’t think my milk is enough for the baby, especially as I am pretty thin myself. I think my little girl is still too small for baby cereal. However, I am wondering if eating richer food would make my milk more filling/nutritious.

[WombToBloom]

If mothers-in-law only knew as much as they thought they did! Do you think that your daughter is growing appropriately? Does she seem satisfied after nursing? Is she peeing and pooping a appropriate amount? Has her pediatrician indicated any concern? If not, she’s probably getting plenty of nutrition from your breastmilk. Don’t let your MIL give you a complex.

Three months is now considered a bit early for cereal (although it wasn’t back in the day when your mother-in-law had babies). They don’t generally need it. As far as your diet, you should try to maintain a healthy diet (don’t start a crash diet while nursing). Get plenty of calories, calcium and water.

If your pediatrician does have concerns, ask him or her what should be done. I doubt the answer will be cereal. (Full disclosure: I did start my kids on really thin cereal between three and four months but not because I thought they needed the extra nutrition. I was trying everything I could think of to get them to sleep through the night!)