Theresa Kiene
Chief Executive Mommy

One of the coolest things about working in our baby food tasting room is that I get to feed and play with Babies everyday.

As my oldest turned 10 over the weekend (yes, I was a little weepy) working with other parents’ babies is a constant reminder of the joy and fulfillment I get as a mom every time I serve my family a healthy meal. Although every baby that I meet is different, the way they express the joys of eating is always the same. It’s now going on 10 years that I’ve been cooking and feeding fresh, organic baby food – and since I’m in the baby food business – that’s literally thousands of babies. I’ve noticed that when I meet moms most of them have already had the “First Foods” feeding conversation with their pediatricians – but they still have so many unanswered questions. There are so many topics to cover at the doctor’s office and there’s only so much time doctors have to give…

The question that moms always ask me the most often is: which first foods do they begin with, fruits or vegetables?

Some moms worry that if they begin with fruits, their baby won’t love veggies, since fruits are sweet and would spoil their taste buds. And really, what mother doesn’t want their kid to love vegetables?

My personal opinion is that after your baby has been introduced to iron-fortified cereals and you’re ready to introduce other solid foods, it really doesn’t matter what you begin with, either fruits or veggies. If you’ve breast fed your baby then they’ve already experienced the sweetest taste on the planet and no fruit can compete with that! Formula fed babies also experience sweet tastes even if not quite the same as breast milk.

So don’t worry when your child pushes away the broccoli because their first fruit was a banana. A variety of healthy, developmentally appropriate taste experiences are the way to go. If you want more info on appropriate first foods go to the “Nutrition” section of www.homemadebaby.com. Or better yet – bring your baby by our baby food tasting room – I’d love to meet them!

First Foods Can Create A Fruit and Veggie Lover!

Did you ever wonder why one child will only eat plain pasta while her best friend craves a steaming plate of broccoli raab with pine nuts? According to a new study, the difference between the friends may have to do with the way they were both fed during the first seven months of their lives.

“A baby needs to taste both fruits and veggies to learn to like them,” according to Julie Mennella, the study’s senior author and a Biopsychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. But only repeated exposure to fruits and veggies in infancy will get your baby to love them later in life.

In other words, if at first your baby won’t eat green beans, try, try again. Babies naturally grimace when tasting new foods. It’s innate, and not a sign that your baby hates the food and won’t try it again. Sometimes it’s just too much work and they don’t feel like it.

So how many times do you push the little spoon against those pursed lips before it’s time to reach for the pear puree?

Children might take 10, 15, or 20 tastes in as many meals before they learn to like a new food. “I’d encourage parents to try a small amount of new foods, offer with encouragement, and re-offer for at least a week before deciding if the baby likes it or not,” says Connie Diekman, President of the American Dietetic Association.

But don’t bribe.

Let them try the food on their own initiative. Preschoolers who’d been offered a new juice and allowed to experiment with it on their own were more likely to try the juice the next time they were offered it than the children who’d been rewarded for trying it with a trip to the playground.

So where do you start– fruits or veggies?

At Homemade Baby, that’s probably the most common question I’m asked when parents visit our baby food tasting room. I find that it depends on whether you’re breast feeding or formula feeding. A breast fed baby has already tasted the sweetest milk on earth which helps with their transition to fruits. Meanwhile, formula fed babies seem to transition well to vegetables. In either case, research suggests that moms who eat plenty of fruits and veggies while pregnant and breast feeding help pass the preference for these healthy foods on to their babies.

“The more variety a breast-feeding mom has in her diet, the more the infant is likely to accept a wide variety of foods”, said Lona Sandon, of the American Dietetic Association. This enhances the baby’s likelihood of trying and accepting new foods or flavors.

So eat the fruits and veggies you enjoy while you’re pregnant and lactating, because your baby is going to be experiencing those foods through you. Whether you’re breast-feeding or formula-feeding, as you introduce solids, make sure you’re offering plenty of variety of fruits and veggies and offer them often. And you may just hear “pass the broccoli raab please.”