"Baby's First Year" Survey Highlights
Perrigo® Nutritionals, the makers of store brand infant formula, conducted a nationwide survey of 2,000 moms with children between the ages of one and three to gain insight into mom's thoughts on baby's first year. Below are highlights of the survey.
Parenting Newbies
- While only 18 percent of new moms expected to introduce infant formula to baby during the first three days of life, 45 percent relied on infant formula during those first days.
- Surprisingly, infant formula was the last topic researched by new moms while pregnant, but the number one topic researched after baby arrives. 25 percent of new moms confessed their biggest fear before their baby's arrival was the fear of never sleeping again.
"Fed is Best" Trend
- 68 percent of younger millennial moms (34 years of age or younger) felt confident with their decision to use infant formula, while 79 percent of older moms (35 years of age or older) felt guilty.
- Three out of four moms used infant formula during baby's first year, with 75 percent of moms believing that infant formula is a safe alternative to breast milk.
- 35 percent of moms chose to feed their baby with infant formula so they could share the feeding responsibilities for baby with their spouse.
- One out of seven moms said that while they were pregnant they already decided breastfeeding wasn't for them.
- More than half of moms surveyed experienced issues when it came to breastfeeding baby, with low breast milk supply being the top concern.
Feeling #Bressure
- One out of three moms said they experienced situations where they felt the need to justify to others why they use infant formula to feed baby.
- One out of 10 new moms lied about breastfeeding baby to avoid criticism from family and friends.
- The strongest emotions a new mom felt when making the decision to use infant formula were guilt, followed by stress.
- 17 percent of moms planned to wait until their baby was 6 months old to introduce infant formula feeding; only four percent made it that long.
#BossMom
- It doesn't matter if mom is married, single or divorced, two out of five moms said their biggest fear before their baby was born was not having enough money saved.
- For moms returning to work, "convenience" was the number one factor for choosing to feed baby with infant formula.
- For one third of moms, not wanting to leave their baby to return to work was their largest fear before baby arrived.
- Most moms said that if they were offered a longer maternity leave, they would have tried to exclusively breastfeed for a longer period.
- Single moms did not feel the same.
More about Mom
- 75 percent of moms with two or more children and used infant formula during baby's first year said they did so because of convenience.
- Moms sought advice from their pediatrician most when it came to feeding baby during the first year, but they also looked to get advice from relatives, friends and lactation consultants.
- Mom still knows best – two out of five moms said they turn to their own mother or mother-in-law for feeding advice.
- When it came to mom's favorite milestone during baby's first year, that sweet first smile rises to the top, followed by first laugh and first steps.
Survey Methodology