Three simple ways to help your baby try new foods

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Do you find yourself offering the same food over and over and watching intently hoping your child might pick it up and actually eat it today? Don’t worry you’re not alone!

It may be time to take a step back and think about how you are offering that food. When offering a slimy peach they may have a hard time picking it up or when we put a piece of steamed broccoli on the tray it might feel odd in their little hands. It is very important to continue to offer these foods and expose your baby to them so that they too become preferred foods however, changing the way they are presented can help with quicker acceptance.

Think for a second about you typically offer food to your baby. Do you simply put it on the tray or a plate and let her self-feed with her hands? That’s great because it is allowing your baby to become familiar with those textures. But sometimes baby does not want to use their hands or they may be eating a food that requires utensils. In this case, try offering the food on a loaded fork or spoon that baby can use to self-feed. You can also try building a small baby size kabob that baby can eat off.

Another option to change the presentation would be offering food in a bowl or plate if you typically place food on the tray. This can work both ways, if you typically use a plate try placing the food directly on the tray or table. Here is one of our favorite plates for this!

Aside from using a new utensil you can also think about cooking food a different way as this could that change the way it looks. Try roasting a vegetable rather than steaming or fresh rather than canned fruits.

By changing the way a food is offered, it becomes a fun new food all over again! When you are thinking of ways to change the presentation we want to make sure the baby is still able to be independent because this too will increase overall acceptance.

Three simple ways to help your baby try new foods:

1. Use a utensil such as a pre-loaded fork or spoon to allow baby to self-feed.

2. Offer the food in a bowl or on a plate if typically presented on the tray.

3. Cook the food in a different format that may alter the look and taste.

As always, continue to change up presentation and increase independence with each meal to keep baby interested and excited in the foods you are offering!