Introducing solid foods to your baby can be stressful, especially if you have a fussy eater. Learn my no-stress method of offering breast milk or formula first, and get a sample feeding schedule here too.

Transcript:

Hi everybody, Melissa here. So a couple more thoughts on feeding and a technique that you might consider adopting when you begin to introduce solid foods to your baby so when I had my first baby back in 2004 I tried to introduce solid foods to him when he was 6 months old. And he was a very fussy eater. He really had no interest and it was a big battle. I tried applesauce and sweet potatoes and squash and everything and he really just didn't seem interested and it took a long time.

So I was waking up in the morning 6am trying to give my baby these spoonful's of food that he wasn't interested in, it was a quite a battle, then I would try to nurse him, he seemed kind of not so interested. I didn't feel as if I got a full feeding in, it took a very, very long time and I was worried as I got dressed and headed out to go to work that I hadn't fed him enough, my breast milk was going to go down, it was very anxiety ridden thing for me.

And I didn't feel like I had a really good way of dealing with his fussiness. So what I started to do and it's something you might consider doing if you do feel that your time is limited or you feel like that you have a very fussy eater is the following: Consider giving the milk first, not only when you first feed your baby for that first feed in the morning but after the other feeds as well so consider giving the milk first.

So for example in the morning you might wake up and your baby is screaming with hunger, you breast feed your baby or you give a bottle, then take a few minutes, take 20 or 30 minutes, take your shower, get your bag ready, do what you need to do, come back and give your baby that little meal. So 3x a day after this first morning feed at 7am and also after the feed your going to do at 11am and after the final feed at 7pm you're going to give this little meal.

So here is your schedule: 7am, 11am, 3pm, and 7pm. After each of those feedings other than the 3pm you give your little meal 20 to 30 minutes or so after the baby has gotten his milk.

Now I have found this technique to be really super valuable for two reasons. Number one my doctor told me at this point that the most important thing at this point nutritionally is the breast milk or the formula. So with this technique you really have a good solid sense that your baby is getting the milk that your baby needs. And secondly, if you have a fussy eater, and I've had them, once that really severe hunger has been taken care of you have a little more time and can be a little more relaxed about trying to introduce new foods. So the edge has been taken off of his hunger and you can take your time and try to play around and get your baby to eat new foods.

So if you're in the situation I was in with fussy eater or feeling very stressed by the notion of giving your baby the food first consider this technique of giving them milk first and see if it works for you.