NIDO for the win!

I have been very suprised to find out that Mexico isn't as pro- breastfeeding as I had assumed over the past five months of living here.

From doctors who say " Here in Mexico, breastmilk doesnt work after 6 months" and "She is almost a year,aren't you done nursing already?" and ( my personal favorite!) "She should only nurse three times a day now, and none at night. Give her camomille tea if she doesn't like water" . To family members or aquantainces who offer her soda ( "Just a taste!") , flavored waters ( Im talking Tang, the Mexican version of koolaid) and won't stop asking to give her water and tea.

My inlaws have a strange relationship with our nursing relationship. They brag and tell other people the baby drinks " botellas originales" or "puro pecho" . Then the next day they ask me why she can't drink aguas frescas because "tiene mucho sed " (she is so thirsty) and aguas frescas are "natural" ( just ignore the added sugar).

So with this in mind, I have been very hesitant to buy NIDO , a formula milk based kids drink, for my toddler. I hate to doubt anyone, but I can see someone giving the baby a glass because "con este calor, tiene mucho sed" ( with this heat she is so thirsty). However, as is the nature of toddlers sometimes they are picky (gasp!) and I wanted an insurance policy against gaps in my older daughters nutrition. ( This is not a sponsored post ;) )

When my mother in law saw I bought NIDO ( for 3-5 yr olds) she was happy. She gave all of her kids NIDO from day one, till they were 6 or 7 years old. She asked me if I was going to give NIDO to the baby, and I merely looked at her and smiled. Immediately she responded sheepishly with "when you leave the breast of course!"

This morning, I was reading over the back of the NIDO can, and on it is a dislaimer in bold :

"El Alimento NIDO3+ no es un subsituto de leche materna.... Este producto como la leche de vaca, no ha sido modificado para ser alimento de bebes y no debe ser usado como subsituto de leche materna"

Which roughly says that NIDO , like cow milk, is no subsitution and should not be used as a subsitution for mothers milk.

To which I say, NIDO, thank you. Because one day I will find my mother in law with a cup of NIDO in her hand and my youngest in the other.... And what better way to explain to her that the baby doesn't need NIDO and breastmilk, that breastmilk is sufficient, by turning over the NIDO can and showing her the writing?!!

Ahhh one battle down, 6521 to go.

(disclaimer: If you feed your baby NIDO or any other formula I fully support that decision and would never question it. I write on this topic because it has been suprisingly harder to breastfeed here in MX than it was in the US. And I was breastfeeding for a combined 21 months before we moved to Mexico. We have only been in MX 5 months. For this reason I blog about breastfeeding in MX, as there may be other mamas who are experiencing difficulty as well here. I heart all mamas, unless your choice to feed your baby is a strictly tequila diet. Then we should have a talk.....)