Parents often ask whether there is anything they can do to prevent ending up with a child who will not eat vegetables. There is, and it starts in the very first fortnight of weaning.

Babies are born preferring sweet

Babies have an innate liking for sweet foods. We are born with it.

Milk is very sweet, and the preference dates back to seeking out the highest energy foods, which in Western diets are the sweet ones. So your baby is not being difficult about vegetables. They are starting from a built-in preference in the other direction.

The current advice

Because of that, the advice now is to begin weaning with a couple of weeks of bitter vegetables. One new different vegetable every day, for two weeks, when you start weaning.

The thinking is that if you start with the more bitter tasting foods, your baby is more likely to accept these different tastes going forwards.

It is a short window and a simple thing to do, and it works with the fact that around 6 months is when babies are most receptive to new tastes.

If you are already past that stage

Do not panic. This is not a window that closes permanently.

What matters then is continuing to offer vegetables and giving plenty of exposure. At lunchtime and at the evening meal, combine foods and always offer a vegetable.

Some babies need 10, 15 or 20 exposures to a food. Having it in their bowl, on their plate, watching you eat it, all of it counts. Pulling faces and spitting food out is very normal behaviour and does not mean they do not like it. At this age they are still learning.

So rather than looking at one day and concluding they did not like something, look across the week and the month. If you keep offering, they often come to it.

Role modelling is the other half

Your baby needs to be able to watch you or the family eating. If your baby is sat on their own in the high chair and you eat later, they have nothing to look at and nothing to learn from.

So even if you are not going to eat properly with them, have a very small plate yourself, even if it is just vegetables, at 4:30 or 5:30. Your baby can watch you, learn from you and see you eating, and you can have your own meal later.

At weekends, try to eat together. It genuinely matters, and it keeps mattering as they get older.

Be food neutral in front of them

If you say you do not like carrots, or that you hate them, your child will hear it.

Trying to be very food neutral around your children is really important, and it applies to your own preferences as much as to theirs.

Other things that help

• Food based play. Even if they do not eat the vegetable, making a face or a fruit kebab is a step closer to accepting it.
• Growing your own vegetables.
• Getting them involved in cooking.
• Choosing one new vegetable a week to try, with no pressure at all if they do not want to eat it.

Pairing works

One approach that helps is pairing a food they are less sure about with something they really like.

It does not need to be their absolute favourite, but offering something they will accept alongside something new tends to work better than serving only the new thing, particularly as they get older.

Why the early months matter most

Around 6 months is a perfect opportunity to offer lots of variety, because babies are much more likely to accept different tastes at this age.

By around 18 months, most children go through what we call a neophobic stage, where they start refusing certain foods. That is very normal too, but it makes introducing new things harder. Getting variety in early gives you a much better starting position.