by Stefanie Van Aken

Created on: April 14, 2010

The other day I was visiting with some family friends and they said, "At any party, your kids are sitting in front of the fruit and veggie tray.  How did you get that to happen?”  My immediate response, was, "I don't know, they've always eaten fruits and veggies."  But when I look back on both their feeding habits, and mine I suppose I did put some effort into creating that. 

 First Foods

As babies, when I could finally introduce them to jar foods, I did exactly what the doctor told me to do.  Feed them the greens first, as they are the ones kids dislike the most, fruits last.  Babies do not usually favor greens: spinach, green beans, peas, because of their texture and taste.  Let's face it, they are not sweet, and coming out of a jar, they taste even worse.  I was so paranoid with my first child, that I followed the doctor's instructions to a "T". My son liked them, so I moved on to the good stuff, carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, but always throwing in the greens now and again so he didn't forget what they tasted like.  I would even mix them up to hide the flavor of the greens and use sweet serenity like carrots, to mask their grainy texture and strong flavor.  In order for me to be persistent with the fruits and veggies, I had to believe in their nutritional value as well.  I had always been more of the health freak in my family, always reading up on the who, what, why of foods.  I love variety.  I love to try new things.  I eat all kinds of flavors and textures, and I was not going to live a life of boring bland foods smothered in ketchup and Ranch dressing because that is all my kids would eat.  So, I made sure they were experiencing all kinds of foods as well, in all colors, flavors and textures.

Teeth

Moving out of the jar food phase and into the gumming and teething phase, I found this amazing little gadget, the Baby Safe Feeder.  It's a contraption that holds food inside a net that is screwed on to a little handle for the baby to hold.  This was an amazing opportunity for my children to try the same foods I was eating in a safe way.  I put everything in there, steak, watermelon, carrots, strawberries, avocado, you name it, it went in there.  Clean up is kind of, well, gross.  The babies mash the net with their gums until they can suck out the food that is inside.  It gives them the opportunity to try what you are having,

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