Eating for us and for babies is a sensory experience, which is often forgotten. I frequently hear that a food is rejected because of the taste, but it could actually be the texture, the temperature, the colour of the food and also the environment that leads to rejection. It is therefore important to take this into account when you feed your baby.
There is a “window of opportunity” when babies are more open to new tastes and textures, which is usually from (5)6-10 months. During this period, they will be open to trial new foods. It is therefore important when you start with weaning foods, to constantly introduce new foods and from 6 months on start introducing texture. Try to also change the temperature, that your baby is used to eating foods that are hot or cold. This may become very useful, for those days when you are out and about and can not heat the food up to the perfect temperature. Most babies will prefer sweet foods; as such you should not be disheartened if they do not like your green bean and broccoli mixture the first time you give it to them. It is important to repeat these foods and repeat them a lot…..it takes at least 15 x before some rejected foods are accepted.
When it comes to textures, whether you follow the baby led weaning approach or the traditional approach, texture is important and by 10 months ideally children should have a good variety of foods they can feed themselves by hand. Of course you are not expecting them to spoon feed at this age! Finger feeding is a messy affair, but good to let them explore and mess as this is not only a way for them to discover textures but also to enjoy the meal and feel independent.
Remember that babies look at colour as well and often choose their foods on how they look. “Mush” may therefore not always be as attractive as the food on your plate (which they may try to grab), which is colourful and plated out separately. So if they reject their mix, do try finger foods separately.
Finally, it’s a myth that babies like bland food. Of course that does not mean you are going to add salt to the food, but there is no reason for you to not use garlic, onion, basil, rosemary and all kinds of exiting herbs and spices. I often get parents that are surprised that their child likds olives or enjoyed some curry from their plate, but this is normal, depending on the mother’s diet they would have been exposed to flavours in the womb and through breast milk. Therefore, be adventurous and add herbs and spices that are normally part of your diet to their food.
Most importantly, let your baby enjoy meal times!