How Long Does It Take a Baby to Accept a New Food?

A baby’s journey into solid foods is rarely linear. Some may gobble up every new food offered, then limit their “accepted food” list to seven items around their second birthday. Another might struggle with textures as a baby, but blossom into a child who eats more variety than other kids their age. A parent’s job is to consistently offer a variety of foods and expose them to flavors, textures, and experiences that they’ll eventually accept as normal. In fact, beef is a great first food for your baby, especially since it’s so nutrient dense. Because so little of babies’ first foods actually make it into their bellies, it’s important to feed them foods that offer the biggest bang for your nutritional buck. Bite-for-bite, beef provides more iron, zinc, and choline which are critical for a baby’s healthy brain development and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Women Infants and Children’s Program (WIC), and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans all recommend introducing nutrient-dense solid foods – like beef – to infants and toddlers.

This post is sponsored by the Washington State Beef Commission.

Food is a multi-sensory experience. As adults who eat multiple times a day without giving it much thought, it’s easy to forget that. But for a baby who’s just beginning to eat solid foods, it’s important to remember that the experience of eating involves multiple new experiences:

the way the food feels in their hands
the texture in their mouth
the feel as they mash or chew the food with their gums
the appearance and colors of their meal
the smell of the food
the social interaction with others around the table
the choice of what to eat from multiple options
…and, of course, the flavor (which, if you’re feeding multi-ingredient table foods, can be an overwhelming experience in itself)

As you introduce new foods to your baby, keep the big picture in mind. It’s easy to get so laser-focused on your baby’s nutrition that you forget how valuable the whole experience of eating is for their overall development…and that rejection of a food one time (or even multiple times!) doesn’t mean rejection for life.

Research varies as to exactly how many exposures it takes for a baby to accept a new food but the bottom line is it’s far more than you think. Parents tend to give up and decide their child “doesn’t like” a certain food after about five attempts, but that’s nowhere near enough to determine true preference.

But honestly? I get it. It’s disheartening to throw away portions of the same food day after day. I loathe food waste and giving the same food to a little one over and over knowing it’s likely to end up in the trash feels wasteful.

But it’s time to change that thinking.

Take another look at the list above. Giving your baby a food they haven’t readily accepted yet – or continuing to serve your toddler a food they’ve recently rejected – is giving them a multi-sensory experience that has value far beyond what actually makes it into their belly. And if you give them that experience enough times, eventually it WILL find its way there. DON’T GIVE UP!

This is important to remember for all foods, but especially when exposing your baby to family favorites or heritage meals. Yes, even those that contain beef and other meats. Consistent exposure will help your child love the same flavors your family loves – just alter the way you serve it to them when they’re young to make sure it’s consistent with their appropriate feeding stage.

Want to learn more? Enter to win a spot in an exclusive cook along during a private Cooking Class E-Vent with me (Kristina from allmomdoes) and Jackie from the Washington State Beef Commission. We’ll cook together, from our own kitchens, and create a delicious healthy family dinner complete with a special dinner for Baby! The cooking event will be held on zoom. You’ll receive an official link if you are chosen. You’ll also have the opportunity to win 2 exciting prizes on the day of the event!

The event will be held on June 10th at 4:30pm so you will need to be available at that time to attend. The event will last 1 hour. You will have dinner ready for your family at the end of the event to enjoy!