You Won't Ruin Your Kids by Feeding Them Sweet Potatoes

Don't Worry About What Order You Feed Your Baby Solid Foods

I just finished reading an article on how parents are supposed to introduce solid foods to their baby and it was quite ADAMANT that there is a certain order and if you don’t follow this certain order, you will be messing up your baby’s palate FOREVER.

You know what? That article made me mad.

It made me mad because it was using scare tactics and being a parent is scary enough. I can’t even count the number of hours of sleep I lost because I was just watching my sons’ chests move to make sure they were breathing and now there is the added pressure of introducing foods in a certain order or, oh my god, they will never eat spinach.

Or even worse, you swore off garlic while you were pregnant and your newborn will never like the flavour because she couldn’t taste it in the womb.

So, new parents, I’m here to tell you that if you happen to give your baby sweet potatoes before you introduce green beans, you are not screwing that child up forever.

I have two amazing sons who are now in the teen/tween years which means I had to take on a second job just to feed them because apparently part of entering puberty means you develop two hollow legs that need to be filled with every meal.

I introduced solid foods to both those boys in the exact same order. I know this because I kept notes on how and when I fed my first son and followed those notes to a tee for my second son. And yes, the food was homemade.

I know…. to be honest, today’s me would not be friends with the me back then either.

Guess what happened? I have one son who will eat absolutely everything and never hesitate to try something new, and I have one son who would live off of chicken fingers, hamburgers, and plain pasta if I let him, which I don’t because how else would I earn my World’s Meanest Mother sash.

What I’ve learned in my 14+ years of parenting is that introducing your children to foods is an ongoing journey and just because your baby wouldn’t eat spinach when they were young, it doesn’t mean he will never eat spinach. Kids tastes change over time. There are foods both my boys didn’t like when they were toddlers – olives, hummus, and lettuce to name a few - and they both eat these things now.

My best advice to raise good eaters is:

Always keep the conversation going about how food fuels their bodies
Try your best to introduce new foods (again, and again) at different ages and stages
Get them involved in grocery shopping and food prep at an early age, and
Try not to stress out too much.

Our house we have the 85/15 rule. We eat well 85% of the time and the other 15% I don’t worry about. Or, what I like to call "I'm so exhausted we're having appetizers for dinner night."

Here’s the thing…. there are going to be some kids who are introduced to green beans first and they will love green beans, and there are kids who will try other sweeter foods first, and they will also still love green beans, and then there will also be kids who will only eat green beans if they are slathered in melted Velveeta cheese no matter when you introduce them.

For the record, every single one of those kids is going to look at you with betrayal in their eyes when they finally get their first taste of chocolate cake.

So don’t stress about whether or not your baby is getting squash first and spinach second or they love every single fruit and only a few vegetables. Just remember to take lots of photos and video because this time goes by in the blink of an eye and the next thing you know your little darling child is going to be old enough to go places on his own and one day you’re going to pick him up at a friend’s house and he’s going to get into the van drinking a Slushie that is bigger than his head.