Whether you are a seasoned mom of four children like I am or you just had your first baby, one thing that none of us can control is the reaction our baby will have to new foods. Will they love their veggies or hate them? Will they embrace new foods or turn away from them? We can’t predict their likes and dislikes or how they will react to new foods, but we can control how WE react to their reactions.
Babies need to get all of these essential vitamins and nutrients in their diets. Knowing this, how can you ensure that they get them even when they don’t like their veggies? Lucky for you, Beech-Nut has just come out with a FREE Guide To What Baby Eats Now that answers all of these questions and many more!
The Guide To What Baby Eats Now will help you navigate through when to introduce different food groups, how much and how often baby should eat and what to do when your baby doesn’t like a food group. As a mother of four little ones, I also have some tips to share with you!
With my first baby I was bound and determined that she would like everything. I was going to make everything homemade and it would be fantastic! Then reality hit when I offered her the very first bite of solids only to be met with a face that told me she didn’t think this was so fantastic after all. She wasn’t impressed with my homemade baby food and wasn’t interested in trying this new thing on a spoon. Luckily, we got through that and now she is my best eater at age 7.
Cue my second baby who was met with jarred baby food and whom I was certain would be a good eater. He’s still a picky 5 year old that doesn’t like his foods to touch. He’s a food analyzer to the fullest extreme. This too shall pass.
So what did I do when my kids made faces at me? Every child is different and there certainly isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” answer to this. I found that something that might have worked with my first child may not have worked with my fourth. My first child was introduced to rice cereal at four months old. My fourth child never ate rice cereal and didn’t begin solids until 10 months old because he hated them.
After having four children you would think I had seen it all, but with my fourth I found a new challenge in introducing solids. My baby just didn’t like solids. We continued to try introducing solids to him and were repeatedly met with his refusal. He just wasn’t interested in them at all. He cried and spit them out and hated them. Rather than try to force him to eat them we decided that we would continue to gently introduce them and follow his cues. We didn’t want him to think of food as a negative experience so we refused to make it a negative experience. We kept the environment clam and kept our expressions and voices calm and happy. Even if he didn’t like solids yet, we were going to keep it a positive experience for him. Follow your baby’s cues and be guided with some expert information on what to do when you encounter a situation like this.
It doesn’t matter if you start with fruits or veggies, but you should remember to begin with mild tastes, whether homemade or store-bought, like Beech-Nut’s just sweet potato, just sugar snap peas or just sweet corn. Work up to stronger flavors like spinach, broccoli and green beans. We fully trust Beech-Nut because they use only high-quality ingredients and don’t add anything extra! Read the label and you’ll see that when it says “just carrots” it really is just carrots with nothing else added!
What do you do when your baby spits it out in disgust? Try, try again! 10-15 is the magic number of tries that it may take before your baby likes a new food. Keep on introducing it to your baby, don’t give up!
You can also try to introduce stronger-flavored vegetables and proteins blended with a previously accepted food. Fruit tends to work well. Once your baby has accepted the blend, gradually reduce the amount of fruit mixed in.
Just like you and I don’t like bland food, neither does your baby. If your baby gets tired of his or her veggies, mix it up by adding in some herbs or spices. Cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, dill, rosemary, thyme, paprika, garlic, ginger, citrus (lemon) and chia seeds are all safe spices to add to your baby’s foods once they hit 6 months of age.
If your baby is balking at their veggies, don’t give up! It’s one of those things that may take some time. It’s a new phase for your child and they may need some time to get used to the idea of eating solids. Don’t fallback on serving them only fruits. They need to develop their tastes for veggies and proteins too! Set them up for a lifetime of healthy eating habits by feeding them a diverse line of foods. Beech-Nut offers up our favorites such as just butternut squash, black bean & cumin or just apple, kiwi & spinach varieties! Give their Naturals™ or Organic™ line a try for these real flavors, minus the additives.
There is an absolute wealth of knowledge in this Guide To What Baby Eats Now, so be sure to go download your free copy! It will answer all your questions about what, when and how to feed your baby solids!
*Consult your pediatrician for recommendations specific to your baby’s diet.
I loved Beechnut food when my boys were babies. The kids liked them, too.
Great tips! Each baby is always a new challenge so it’s good to have ideas for what may come. Beechnut does make awesome food for babies!
Oh baby food. Those days are behind me, but I still remember them well. It’s a lot of responsibility to make sure your kid is getting all the nutrients they need as well as staying away from unnecessary preservatives and such. And on top of that, they need to LIKE what they eat. 🙂
Never give up on the veggies! I have toddler twins that love so many different foods because I never give up!
We lived on Beech-Nut when my triplets started eating baby food. Your post brings back fond memories of those days so long ago.
My mother hid veggies in a lot of things, like sweet fruit purees, and even oatmeal. It’s important to make sure children are getting used to the flavors young so it doesn’t seem like such a fight later on. Great tips!
Hiding them is such a great way to get some veggies into those who don’t like them.
My daughter loved Beech_Nut fruits she could not get enough of them. We had issues with giving her the veggies though, we had to get fancy and hide them with other things, then she ate them up.
We started with veggies because once they taste the sweet they seem to prefer it. You can also try blends of fruit and veggie to make them more appealing!
The funny thing about my kids is that they loved veggies more as babies verses now! Getting them to eat squash is such a battle.
Ah, kids and food – it’s always a challenge isn’t it? With mine the biggest challenge was well after introducing solid foods, but they are all different. Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party.
They like to keep us on our toes for sure.
Those are definitely good tips. Luckily, my daughter likes veggies. She eats pretty much all vegetables and fruits. In my opinion, it’s important that parents ate fruits and veggies everyday too, so that a child could see a good example. Thank you for sharing @ Idea Box Link party. Your post was featured.
I agree that we have to be an example above all else.