We received two separate e-mails this week from Mums whose little ones seem to have developed a sweet tooth already!
Connor only seems to like certain fruits
Mum Beverley told us…
and he’ll eat sweet potato for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But that’s all – if I try to offer him anything else, he either grimaces, gags or won’t open his mouth at all.
Well, Beverley, this is actually a very common problem – and it’s not surprising when you consider that infant milk (breast milk in particular) has a very sweet taste. If milk has been your little one’s sole source of nutrition for much of his first 6 months, then a little resistance to an entirely new flavour is natural!
That being said, we DO recommend trying to nip this in the bud as early as possible. Tempting though it may be to keep your baby happy by indulging his sweet tooth, in the long term it may limit the range of nutrients he receives and lead to very picky eating later on.
In our experience, the best way to get around a preference for sweet foods is to serve savoury ones in disguise!
Say, for instance, your baby has a passion for sweet potatoes but will steadfastly refuse to eat zucchini (courgette). Then try serving a meal of sweet potato, with just half a teaspoon of zucchini stirred in. Continue to serve this combination for a couple of days, then increase the quantity of zucchini to 1 teaspoon. Over the next few days, continue to increase the amount of zucchini you are adding to the dish, until it becomes the dominant flavour. Eventually, you should be able to serve it separately to the sweet potato!
Of course, we are using zucchini as an example and you can apply this technique of combining sweet and savoury flavours to any foods that your baby either enjoys of refuses.
Don’t always assume that a grimace means your baby doesn’t like a certain food!
Anxious to please their babies, some parents are quick to withdraw a particular food, convinced that a grimace means that their little one does not like the flavour. However, babies expressions at mealtimes are not always reliable indicators of their opinions – they may pull a face more in surprise at a new flavour than in displeasure! It may also take several attempts to get your baby to try – and appreciate – a new taste… so don’t give up too quickly and assume that your little one will only eat sweet potato!
Veggie recipes to tempt your baby
Take a look at some of our vegetable recipe pages – we have lots of ideas and delicious combinations to help your baby enjoy a range of flavours…
Don’t forget to leave a comment and share YOUR tips for helping a sweet-toothed baby appreciate a wider range of flavours!
Madonna
Friday 16th of November 2018
My baby only eat fruits and breast milk. She is 11months. Pls advice me on what to do.
Christine
Monday 19th of November 2018
Please visit this post - it contains lots more tips for encouraging your baby to try new foods. I do hope it helps.
Jo
Wednesday 28th of June 2017
Hi. Having the same sort of problem with my 7 month old. Things started out great. We began weaning at 4 months with a very small amount of puree. Since giving up breast feeding, I think this is when the "problem" began. He will have a few spoonfull of puree then refuses to eat anything else, unless it's milk or fruit. Our routine is: Between 5 & 6 am he has a bottle Around 8 some cereal. Between 11.30 & 12.30 lunch purée and some milk as he won't finish his food After his nap a little snack/bottle 7.30 his last bottle
mommyluna
Sunday 23rd of December 2012
I started my daughter off with Earths Best and she loved them, and her grandmother bought my a bulk pack of ellas kitchen and plum organics food which my daughter LOVED so we kept buying them, however, they are very expensive and i decided to go back to earths best, and now my daughter us refusing to eat them, unless they are sweeter tasting.. i wanted to introduce new flavors like meaty ones and i feel as if tho i just wasted money, she will spit it out, spit it up, or simply refuse to open her mouth. is this because shes only ever had fruity, sweet flavors and needs to get accustomed to meaty ones? please help me :(
Matt
Tuesday 20th of December 2011
Hey
My 7 month year old started loving all foods.. in fact she was an angel.. now she only eats sweet foods or those flippin ella's kitchen which cost a fortune.. even mixing foods she is too bloody clever to fool she knows what is going on.. i have a feeling she also loves the handheld food too much now and its destroying my wife as she spent 20 days filling the freezer up with food!!
someone suggested either starting from scratch and going back to milk, the other said no finger food at all.. i dont think either is right...
heeeeeeeeeeelp x
Christine
Tuesday 20th of December 2011
It really sounds as if she is an independent little girl - if she seems to be happy holding foods and feeding them to herself, then please do let her! There's no reason to withhold finger foods from her - we often hear from parents who are having trouble getting their babies to eat, and are then amazed to see how good their appetites are if they're left to feed themselves!
As for the purees your wife has already made - they can still be used! Try serving them as dips, thinning them and using them as gravies, or serving them over pasta as nutritious pasta sauce!
jen
Saturday 25th of June 2011
i love this article! thank you for helping me out!
Christine
Saturday 25th of June 2011
You're very welcome :)