Learn all about early taste training and how it can promote your baby's future eating habits. What does the research say? How do you get started? Here we go over everything you need to know to start practicing tastes with your baby.
You may have heard of words like “taste window” or “sensitive period”. This means that the child’s brain is extra receptive to learning to like new flavors when they are very young. Therefore, it is a good idea to take the opportunity to introduce flavors that are found in healthy foods. Especially bitter and sour flavors that are often found in foods such as whole grains, vegetables, root vegetables, berries and fruit.
Benefits of early taste training
The advantage of starting taste training early, between 4–6 months, is that there is more time to practice when the baby has a high acceptance of difficult tastes and new types of food. This increases the chances that the baby will learn to like healthy food.
However, taste training should never compete with breastfeeding/bottle feeding at this age and should therefore be given as small taste samples/taste sensations. However, it is never wrong to train taste later, the sensitive period lasts until about 10 months of age. However, after 6 months of age, more intensive taste training with more repeated training sessions may be needed.
What does the research say?
In the OTIS study (led by researcher Ulrica Johansson), taste training was started between the ages of 4–6 months. The children were given repeated small taste samples that were bitter and sour (e.g. lingonberries and turnips) alongside breastfeeding/bottle feeding. Breastfeeding was not negatively affected. When the children were between 9–18 months old, they ate 42–45% more vegetables and fruit than the control group.
The Swedish Food Agency and the National Handbook of Child Health Care emphasize that you do not need to start with food before the child is 6 months old, but also say that if the child is interested, you can start with small taste sensations as early as 4 months. You as a parent choose what is best for your child.
Taste button
A taste button is a great way to give children lots of flavor without the mess.
Our pacifier comes with a wide handle that is easy for the little ones to hold. It also comes with three silicone pacifiers in three different sizes, where the smallest works from 4 months, the middle from 6 months and the largest from 10 months. With a taste button you can introduce taste sensations to your baby from 4 months.
Which flavors are best for taste training?
The tastes that children generally need to practice are bitter and sour tastes. These tastes are found in many nutritious foods that are good for our health and climate, such as whole grains, fruit, berries, root vegetables, legumes and vegetables. However, between 4-6 months, it should be extremely small amounts (1 teaspoon/lick of the finger).
However, it is common to introduce taste sensations/taste samples from, for example, pureed banana, carrot and mango, etc. There is of course nutrition in these foods, but they are sweet and "kind" flavors that are easy for the child to like but unfortunately provide limited taste training. Children already like sweet, salty and fatty flavors.
Early taste training (with several repeated tastings of bitter and sour flavors) can provide additional protection by making the child also like other flavors found in healthy foods.
Tips on foods to focus on:
🫐Cranberries, lingonberries, gooseberries, currants, blackberries, sea buckthorn, raspberries
🥦 Broccoli, white radish, celeriac, cauliflower, turnip, kohlrabi, turnip
In the Swedish OTIS study (led by researcher Ulrica Johansson), the goal was for children to develop a wide variety of taste preferences in the brain. The children who underwent early taste training in the study as babies were then found to eat more fruit, berries, root vegetables and vegetables at 1 year and 1.5 years of age than the control group.
"The children who underwent early taste training in the study were found to eat more fruits, berries, root vegetables and vegetables at 1 year and 1.5 years of age than the control group."
Elins answers questions about Björn's taste training
When did you start training your taste buds?
- Björn is now just over 5.5 months old and has been taste training for about 1 month. It has been really fun so far and he really loves food. He is incredibly interested, which I have seen as a prerequisite for starting with taste sensations this early.
How often do I give taste sensations to Björn?
- Björn gets taste sensations about 1-3 times a day, depending on how it fits into everyday life. I don't feel any pressure that he has to have tasted something every day, he just takes it as it comes.
How much does he get on each occasion?
- I almost never give more than about 1 teaspoon in quantity, 1 krm is the general recommendation in Sweden. Taste sensations should not compete with breastfeeding and it is important to be kind to the little stomach. Sometimes I dip the spoon several times in the food if I notice that not much has ended up in the mouth.
How do I make the food that Björn gets to taste?
- I usually make my own puree for Björn from various vegetables, fruits and berries. I boil most of it and then blend it into a puree, sometimes with a little cold-pressed rapeseed oil and spices. You can also add a little breast milk. Sometimes he gets to taste something suitable from our plates. I like to freeze the puree and take out a small food cube for Björn when the rest of us are going to eat a meal.
Do you usually let him eat by himself?
- I'm a fan of letting children explore food themselves as much as possible, and if they want to. The great thing about children this age is that they are very inclined to grab things with their hands and bring them to their mouths. So you can take advantage of that! I therefore let Björn eat himself with a pre-spoon/beginner spoon most of the time, sometimes even a taste button (with a small pacifier). I see letting him eat himself as part of his picky eating journey.
Products for taste training
Source reference:
* Fewtrell M, Bronsky J, Campoy C, Domellöf M, Embleton N, Fidler Mis N, et al. Complementary Feeding: A Position Paper by the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) Committee on Nutrition. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 2017; 64:119–32. Harris G, Mason S. Are There Sensitive Periods for Food Acceptance in Infancy? Curr Nutr Rep. 2017; 6:190–6.
* Johansson U, Öhlund I, Hernell O, Lönnerdal B, Lindberg L, Lind T. Protein-reduced complementary foods based on Nordic ingredients combined with systematic introduction of taste portion increase intake of fruits and vegetables in 9-month-old infants: A randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2019; 11:1255.
* Coulthard H, Harris G, Fogel A. Exposure to vegetable variety in infants weaned at different ages. Appetite. 2014; 78:89–94.
As usual, there is also information about food introduction here:
* Swedish National Food Agency, good food for children 0-5 years, good food for infants
* National Handbook for Child Health Care, Food Introduction
Elin Oresten
-Lic.nutritionist
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