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Flavor Training in Babies: What It Is & Why It’s Helpful
January 2023
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
About Kids Eat in Color
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Author:
Jennifer Anderson, MSPH, RDN
Coauthors:
Hyemyung Kim, RD, CDN, CNSC, CLC
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Inside: Flavor training is a new trend in which parents allow their baby to taste foods before 4 and 6 months of age to help them learn to like new flavors.
Most parents want their children to eat a variety of foods, including vegetables!
Flavor training is a new trend that can help reduce picky eating by exposing your baby to vegetable flavors before 4 to 6 months.
Below you’ll learn more about how your baby learns to like foods, how to do flavor training, and how to decide if it’s a good fit for you and your family.
Flavor training is exposing flavors of vegetables between 4 and 6 months of age to help your child accept more of these vegetables during complementary feeding.
Infants learn to eat the foods around them by getting used to flavors early in utero.
The flavors eaten by the mother pass into the amniotic fluid. (1) When the infant swallows amniotic fluid, they taste the flavors. This acts as a first step of exposure to foods through transmitted flavors in amniotic fluid.
Additionally, infants are used to sweet flavors because amniotic fluid is sweet.
Infants are much more likely to eat foods with the flavors that they tasted in utero than flavors they did not.
Flavor learning continues with the flavors of breast milk for some infants
Infants go on to learn flavors through the flavors of breast milk if they are consuming any human milk or extensive protein hydrolysate formula (ePHF). (1)
The flavors of foods eaten by the mother pass into the breast milk and then the nursing infant is exposed to the flavors. The flavor of breast milk varies from feed to feed. The more varied the mother’s diet is, the more varied the flavors of breast milk will be. (2)
Similar to breast milk, ePHF exposes infants to more free amino acids and aromatic compounds, which exposes infants to flavors they will experience with vegetables and savory foods.
Breast milk and formula are always sweet. Between amniotic fluid and breast milk or formula, infants readily accept sweet foods.
If your child experienced any breastfeeding, they may have already gotten to experience new flavors. (1) One study concluded that 1 month of flavor exposure in human milk beginning at age 2 weeks, was enough for them to become familiar with flavors.
As the infant is exposed to these flavors, their brain learns to accept them.
Eating foods during complementary feeding
When an infant begins eating solid foods, they are beginning the process of consuming less milk and more solid foods until the point that they stop drinking milk as their main source of nutrition and follow a solid foods diet.
Feeding your baby solid foods alongside milk is called complementary feeding.
Most infants start complementary feeding around six months of age, when they show signs of readiness that they can eat solid foods.
Once they do start solid foods, many infants reject the bitter flavors of vegetables. This is understandable, they haven’t had them very often.
But what if they had actually tried the bitter flavors of vegetables before they got to complementary feeding?
This is where flavor training comes in.
When can babies start tasting flavors?
Flavor training occurs between 4 and 6 months of age. This is not complementary feeding, this is just exposing them to flavors.
Many different researchers have explored the best times to expose infants to flavors, and between ages 4-6 months appears to be a very useful window of time. (3,4)
Of course families do not have to expose their infants to flavors during this time. Infants can still learn to eat vegetables and the entire array of family foods if they start when they show signs of readiness around 6 months.
Acceptance may be improved though, if flavors are started earlier rather than later. (5)
How to flavor train your baby
First, consider what foods you want to expose to your child. Various studies have looked at foods such as
Spinach
Broccoli
Kale
Greens
Carrots
Beets
Think about what vegetables your family eats and what strong flavors you would like your child to eat. Start with the more challenging flavors, as learning to eat vegetables tends to be trickier for some infants. (7) It can be helpful to start with vegetables with your baby.
Remember, flavor training is different from starting solid foods with your child. Flavor training is exposing flavors of vegetables between 4 and 6 months of age to help your child accept more of these vegetables during complementary feeding. You are only offering a smear of these flavors.
Steps to flavor train babies
If you want to try flavor training, you can prepare a simple puree.
You can take any of the aforementioned vegetables and wash and cook them thoroughly. Then puree them. Add breast milk or formula so that they are smoothly pureed.
Wash your hands and put a smear on your finger or on a spoon.
Then you can put a very small smear of the flavor on your baby’s lip.
That’s it!
You can do this as often as you’d like. The more often you do it, and the more flavors you expose your child to, the more likely they will be to accept the foods you give them later. (8)
More tips for flavor training
You can also think about the foods you are eating during meals. Is there a drop of liquid from a vegetable that you could offer the baby as a flavor?
Consider carefully before exposing your infant to salty flavors or flavors with added sugars. Your infant is already used to sweet flavors from amniotic fluid or breast milk/formula. They do not need any more exposure to sweetness during this time.
Babies also should not be given foods with added sodium during flavor training.
Formula feeding, picky eating & flavor training
Infants who only drank formula were exposed to few flavors during infancy, but early exposure to many different flavors of foods during the 4-6 month window can get them up to speed. (6)
It can be easy to worry that your child will be picky because you fed them formula. This is not true. Formula feeding was the best choice for your family. Formula feeding does not cause picky eating.
Picky eating is very complex and formula feeding is just one factor out of many factors. While your child didn’t learn flavors through standard formula (not including ePHF) when compared to breast milk, there are other things that will improve your child’s ability to learn to eat new foods.
They have just as good a chance as many other children who may have breastfed but didn’t have another factor that would have improved their picky eating.
If you want to compensate for the lack of early flavors, doing flavor training often and with as many flavors of vegetables as you can may help your child get used to bitter flavors.
Is flavor training safe for my baby?
There is no choking risk with flavor training. You are giving them a small smear of a puree on their lip or on a spoon.
Many studies concluded that exposure to flavors of vegetables between 4 and 6 months of age contributes to a child accepting more of those vegetables during complementary feeding. (3,7)
Early introduction of allergens
Many pediatricians now recommend early introduction of allergens such as peanuts, as early as 4-6 months. This is especially true of infants who are at risk of allergies.
Consider talking to your pediatrician about introducing your child to allergens during the flavor training window to see if it is a good fit for your child.
More expert advice about starting baby on solid foods
Created by experts, Kids Eat in Color is the leading resource for families seeking evidence-based information and strategies on child nutrition and feeding.
Jennifer Anderson is a registered dietitian and has a masters of science in public health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. In 2019, she founded Kids Eat in Color®, a public health resource that improves child and family nutrition and mental health. Prior to starting Kids Eat in Color® she coordinated youth nutrition programs at a food bank, performed research in inner-city food deserts, and consulted for the USDA national office SNAP-Ed program. Her academic background is in public health nutrition, cultural anthropology, and economics.
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Inside: Flavor training is a new trend in which parents allow their baby to taste foods before 4 and 6 months of age to help them learn to like new flavors.
Most parents want their children to eat a variety of foods, including vegetables!
Flavor training is a new trend that can help reduce picky eating by exposing your baby to vegetable flavors before 4 to 6 months.
Below you’ll learn more about how your baby learns to like foods, how to do flavor training, and how to decide if it’s a good fit for you and your family.
Article contents:
What is flavor training?
How infants learn to like flavors
Flavor learning and breast milk
Eating foods during complementary feeding
When can babies start tasting flavors?
How to flavor train your baby
More flavor training tips
Formula feeding, picky eating & flavor training
Safety concerns
Early introduction of allergens
What is flavor training?
Flavor training is exposing flavors of vegetables between 4 and 6 months of age to help your child accept more of these vegetables during complementary feeding.
Flavor training is different from starting solid foods with your child. You are only offering a smear of the flavors for your baby to taste.
How babies learn about flavors
Infants learn to eat the foods around them by getting used to flavors early in utero.
The flavors eaten by the mother pass into the amniotic fluid. (1) When the infant swallows amniotic fluid, they taste the flavors. This acts as a first step of exposure to foods through transmitted flavors in amniotic fluid.
Additionally, infants are used to sweet flavors because amniotic fluid is sweet.
Infants are much more likely to eat foods with the flavors that they tasted in utero than flavors they did not.
Flavor learning continues with the flavors of breast milk for some infants
Infants go on to learn flavors through the flavors of breast milk if they are consuming any human milk or extensive protein hydrolysate formula (ePHF). (1)
The flavors of foods eaten by the mother pass into the breast milk and then the nursing infant is exposed to the flavors. The flavor of breast milk varies from feed to feed. The more varied the mother’s diet is, the more varied the flavors of breast milk will be. (2)
Similar to breast milk, ePHF exposes infants to more free amino acids and aromatic compounds, which exposes infants to flavors they will experience with vegetables and savory foods.
Breast milk and formula are always sweet. Between amniotic fluid and breast milk or formula, infants readily accept sweet foods.
If your child experienced any breastfeeding, they may have already gotten to experience new flavors. (1) One study concluded that 1 month of flavor exposure in human milk beginning at age 2 weeks, was enough for them to become familiar with flavors.
As the infant is exposed to these flavors, their brain learns to accept them.
Eating foods during complementary feeding
When an infant begins eating solid foods, they are beginning the process of consuming less milk and more solid foods until the point that they stop drinking milk as their main source of nutrition and follow a solid foods diet.
Feeding your baby solid foods alongside milk is called complementary feeding.
Most infants start complementary feeding around six months of age, when they show signs of readiness that they can eat solid foods.
Once they do start solid foods, many infants reject the bitter flavors of vegetables. This is understandable, they haven’t had them very often.
But what if they had actually tried the bitter flavors of vegetables before they got to complementary feeding?
This is where flavor training comes in.
When can babies start tasting flavors?
Flavor training occurs between 4 and 6 months of age. This is not complementary feeding, this is just exposing them to flavors.
Many different researchers have explored the best times to expose infants to flavors, and between ages 4-6 months appears to be a very useful window of time. (3,4)
Of course families do not have to expose their infants to flavors during this time. Infants can still learn to eat vegetables and the entire array of family foods if they start when they show signs of readiness around 6 months.
Acceptance may be improved though, if flavors are started earlier rather than later. (5)
How to flavor train your baby
First, consider what foods you want to expose to your child. Various studies have looked at foods such as
Think about what vegetables your family eats and what strong flavors you would like your child to eat. Start with the more challenging flavors, as learning to eat vegetables tends to be trickier for some infants. (7) It can be helpful to start with vegetables with your baby.
Remember, flavor training is different from starting solid foods with your child. Flavor training is exposing flavors of vegetables between 4 and 6 months of age to help your child accept more of these vegetables during complementary feeding. You are only offering a smear of these flavors.
Steps to flavor train babies
If you want to try flavor training, you can prepare a simple puree.
That’s it!
You can do this as often as you’d like. The more often you do it, and the more flavors you expose your child to, the more likely they will be to accept the foods you give them later. (8)
More tips for flavor training
You can also think about the foods you are eating during meals. Is there a drop of liquid from a vegetable that you could offer the baby as a flavor?
Consider carefully before exposing your infant to salty flavors or flavors with added sugars. Your infant is already used to sweet flavors from amniotic fluid or breast milk/formula. They do not need any more exposure to sweetness during this time.
Babies also should not be given foods with added sodium during flavor training.
Formula feeding, picky eating & flavor training
Infants who only drank formula were exposed to few flavors during infancy, but early exposure to many different flavors of foods during the 4-6 month window can get them up to speed. (6)
It can be easy to worry that your child will be picky because you fed them formula. This is not true. Formula feeding was the best choice for your family. Formula feeding does not cause picky eating.
Picky eating is very complex and formula feeding is just one factor out of many factors. While your child didn’t learn flavors through standard formula (not including ePHF) when compared to breast milk, there are other things that will improve your child’s ability to learn to eat new foods.
They have just as good a chance as many other children who may have breastfed but didn’t have another factor that would have improved their picky eating.
If you want to compensate for the lack of early flavors, doing flavor training often and with as many flavors of vegetables as you can may help your child get used to bitter flavors.
Is flavor training safe for my baby?
There is no choking risk with flavor training. You are giving them a small smear of a puree on their lip or on a spoon.
Many studies concluded that exposure to flavors of vegetables between 4 and 6 months of age contributes to a child accepting more of those vegetables during complementary feeding. (3,7)
Early introduction of allergens
Many pediatricians now recommend early introduction of allergens such as peanuts, as early as 4-6 months. This is especially true of infants who are at risk of allergies.
Consider talking to your pediatrician about introducing your child to allergens during the flavor training window to see if it is a good fit for your child.
More expert advice about starting baby on solid foods
References