Studies show that the best way to encourage acceptance of new foods is to offer them early and often. The old adage “food before one is just for fun” is simply not true—we have those 6+ months to start exposing our kids to a variety of foods and begin to shape their preferences. But don’t despair if your baby is still spitting out cauliflower after the fourth try. Did you know that it can take 10-15 exposures to a food for a child to accept it? For some children, especially our more opinionated toddler-aged children, that number can go up past 20+ exposures.

Your baby might make some very dramatic or negative faces after tasting a particular food? Does this mean they don't like it? No, and it definitely doesn't mean you should stop offering it. Babies will squint, wrinkle their noses, and raise their eyebrows while eating new foods as a reaction to the newness of it all.

Your persistence will definitely pay off and you can expect to have a great eater on your hands if you remember to keep trying with ingredients that they aren't loving yet.