Hoping to raise an adventurous eater? Even though your little baby won’t be introduced to Biryani and Pani Puri until later, did you know you can begin exposing them to taste even when in the womb? Let’s take a deep look into the development of taste buds in babies stage by stage.

WHEN DOES YOUR BABY’S SENSE OF TASTE DEVELOP?

We experience taste through the thousands of tiny bumps on our tongue, called the taste buds. Our buds detect five basic flavors – salty, sweet, bitter, savory and sour; we use our sense of smell in company with taste to detect other complex flavors. By the end of second month of pregnancy (nine weeks), your baby in the womb already has tiny taste buds beginning to bloom.

Babies in the womb are surrounded by amniotic fluid, which they breathe and swallow. The flavors of the drinks we have and the food we eat pass through to our babies inside through the amniotic fluid. Babies can even smell the different food we’ve had.

NEW BORN TO THREE MONTHS

Newborns have around 2x more taste buds than adults and so are very sensitive. Combined with their sharp sense of smell, they can smell which way to turn to be fed. They can also tell the difference between their mum and others by their smell.

New borns also have a wider distribution of taste buds in the mouth. They have taste buds at the back of the tongue, in the throat and on the tonsils. Babies generally prefer sweet flavors at this stage.

THREE MONTHS TO SIX MONTHS

By three months of age, babies love exploring the world by squeezing everything they can into their mouth. At this stage, they are trying to explore different tastes and textures by chewing on their fingers and toys. Exploring textures through mouth generally fades away around the first birthday.

Babies can clearly distinguish between sweet, savory, sour and bitter at first, but around 5 months of age, they develop the ability to react to saltiness. Although they can now taste salt, it is not a good idea to give babies much salt at this stage.

SIX MONTHS TO TWELVE MONTHS

This is the right period to begin introducing new tastes and textures to your baby. Understandably, many babies push away the purees and will be suspicious of them at first. You may need to keep offering the same food over and over again in tiny amounts until they get used to it. Around the age of 8 months, babies develop the pincer grasp that allows them to hold finger foods themselves. This further opens up the opportunities to try new foods and explore a variety of textures.

You can try offering the same food in different forms and temperatures to see which one your baby likes best.

ONE YEAR AND ABOVE

Most children develop ‘Neophobia’ or the fear of new food at some point. This is a hard stage, marked by your toddler pushing everything away, refusing to try even his favorite food. This frustrating phase is actually a part of healthy child development. It can peak around 18 months and last till 2 years of age.

Toddlers who are more sensitive to taste, touch and smell may find it hard to handle new food. Contamination fear and disgust is also a common reason for toddlers refusing certain food. The neophobic response gradually decreases overtime as toddlers learn to handle the food stimuli.

Offering food calmly to your toddler when they are not tired, too hungry, distracted, unwell or anxious can help. Avoid giving excess fluids like juices, squash and milk as these can suppress appetite. Giving your child more attention when they refuse food than when they are eating well can make fussy eating worse. Model healthy eating to your child by eating healthy food with them.

WILL YOUR BABY INHERIT YOUR TASTE PREFERENCES?

Research has shown that infants tend to prefer flavors they are already familiar with, tastes that they have been exposed to while in the womb. Like amniotic fluid, mother’s breastmilk also continually keeps changing flavor based on what the mother eats and drinks. Training their little palettes with many different tastes sets them up to be open with accepting more tastes as they become older.

That said, babies can and do develop their own preferences, influenced by other factors, later on. They can learn to get used to new tastes.

HOW TO MAKE BABY ENJOY FOOD?

When first starting solids, opt for naturally sweet fruits and vegetables to appeal to their sweet loving nature. Veggies like sweet potato and carrots, and fruits like bananas and apples are great starters. The first few tasting of food might get dribbled back at you, but as you encourage and support your baby, they will get confident about trying new flavors.

YOUR ROLE IN BRINGING UP AN ADVENTUROUS EATER

1. Begin early and have a variety of healthy food when you are pregnant.
2. Babies breastfed for longer tend to be less picky than formula drinkers according to research, because of the broad array of flavors they are accustomed to.
3. If your child is formula fed, work gently with him / her to get them used to other flavors. Start with bland/ sweet food and slowly move towards stronger flavors.
4. Don’t get dejected if your baby pushes everything away. It can take up to 15 times for a baby’s brain to register a flavor as likeable.

We hope this article helps you decode your baby’s taste buds. Follow us on Facebook for more useful updates!