I’m a child nutritionist… my easy method will make sure your baby doesn’t grow up to be a fussy eater
A CHILD nutritionist has revealed an easy method which will make sure your baby doesn’t grow up to be a fussy eater.
Expert Charlotte Stirling-Read shared her “veg-led weaning” strategy for introducing your child to new foods.
Babies are born with a love of sweetness – but can find savoury and bitter foods off-putting because of their unfamiliar smells and textures.
Charlotte said that gradually building your child’s tolerance for vegetables is the best way to stop them being a fussy eater later on.
She told the Mail: “It is about starting the weaning journey with a variety of veggies to help your baby taste a variety of very new flavours.
“Once you have offered some single tastes of veggies, it is about broadening out and gently and gradually offering more variety, including some proteins, fruits and carbohydrates, while still providing plenty of veggies too.”
Vegetables, which contain carbs, fibre, vitamins and minerals, are a cheap and simple way to wean your child off baby food.
When your baby reaches 10 months, a typical meal should consist of a carbohydrate, protein, vegetables or fruit and some type of dairy.
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But kids’ appetites naturally vary from day to day, so you should still expect “food refusal” from time to time.
Research has found that force-fed children are actually more likely to become picky eaters.
Charlotte added that another way to encourage acceptance of new flavours is to eat with them yourself.
She said: “‘I am a big fan of trying to bring them into your family mealtimes and offer them similar foods and meals – albeit perhaps slightly adapted for the baby.”
It comes after a mum revealed her life-changing hack for keeping your kids safe when they use an iPhone.