5 Help him connect to food
Hand your baby an avocado
and say "avocado." If learning and using any signs with your baby, also
make the sign for it. "Naming foods—and signing them—helps kids
recognize those foods really early on," says Dr. Greene. "And kids fall
in love with things they recognize." As your child gets older, play
"where's the avocado?" "If you ask kids, ‘Where's your nose?' or ‘Where
are your ears?' they're going to learn those things," points out Dr.
Greene. "It's the same thing with foods." Go to farmer's markets. Plant a
garden. Look at pictures of foods. One recent study found that toddlers
were more willing to taste unfamiliar fruits after their parents read
them books that included these fruits.
6 Keep her close in the kitchen
If you've ever felt
guilty for parking your baby in an exersaucer while you made dinner,
hear this: It may make her a better eater. She sees your relationship
with food; she smells the garlic roasting, the soup simmering, which
helps build that familiarity with foods. Get your child involved in
cooking early. Put your 6-month-old in her highchair and pull her safely
up to the counter while you blend her purées, suggests Tracy. (Of
course, be sure that knife used to chop the food is put away.) By 18
months, many kids can help scoop flour, spin-dry lettuce or stir
ingredients in a bowl. Jane Hahn of Newton, Massachusetts, began
engaging her daughter in food prep when she was about a year and a half.
(Her first project involved pouring and stirring ingredients for
oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.) Now at 4, she helps make dinner almost
every night: washing veggies, tossing them with olive oil, mixing
sauces. "I truly believe that because she helps to prepare the food, my
daughter loves.
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