A varied, healthy diet is crucial for a child's development, so it's important to introduce new flavours, ingredients and textures from as early as possible. But encouraging children to try new foods can be quite a challenge.
Your child may be even more willing to try new things when you serve very small quantities at the beginning and then gradually add more as they accept the food more happily. It's always best to pair new foods with old favourites - seeing a favourite on the plate will make the new food feel less scary.Studies have shown that babies who were fed a variety of different textured foods seem to like a greater range of textures as toddlers, compared to babies who were mostly fed smooth baby-food purees.
For instance, get your baby to experience different forms of apple - slices of raw apple, a few pieces of dried apple, a few spoonfuls of canned apple etc.Don't rush to wipe your child's face or discourage them from playing while they eat. Unfortunately, most of us will give up after the first failed attempt without realising that it's too soon.