Hi everyone, my son has just turned 8 months and i would be really interested on your thoughts to introducing stronger flavours. I would like to include him in more family meal times but I'm a big fan of spicy food and lots of garlic. What age can you start experimenting? Does anyone have any ideas of what he could try at this stage?

Garlic is a good one. Chicken tomatoes and garlic was one of my dd faves. And garlic bread x

That sounds yummy thank you, will try it out this week and let you know. Did you use fresh tomatoes or  tinned? X

It was in a packet so must have been tinned. Maybe u cud try a bit of cinnamon with banana and porridge aswell x

I tried him on a little bit of my nans famous spag bol last night and he really enjoyed it. I love the cinnamon idea thank you, i have cinnamon on rice pudding so ill try him with that x

I gave my little one a taste of garlic mixed with sweet potatoe from week 21 and he loves it. He is now 8 months old and he often has garlic, ginger, a pinch of chilli, garam marsala, cinnamon, green cardamoms, fennel seeds, smoked paprika, curry leaves, mustard, cumin, lime in the foods he eats.

Also, I have seen an article that says that a baby's taste is developed my they are unborn and during breastfeeding. So depends on what you ate while pregnant and also when breastfeeding. In addition, it sometimes takes 15 attempts before a baby will accept and new taste, so don't give up straight away.

Tonight my lille lion had Salmon curry (had strong favours like cumin, ginger, garlic, curry leaves, garam marsala, lime) and he loved it.

Thanks for the great ideas, I'm having no problems at all with stronger flavours, he was off his food for a few days teething but is now back to enjoying his food and it seems the more adventurous the better. That's interesting what Harjeet said about diet while pregnant and breastfeeding as I'm still breastfeeding my son so mabey this is why he is taking to stronger flavours and spices so well.

My LOs loves spicy food always have! I sometimes make up little fresh pastes (garlic,coriander, lemongrass, ginger) and dry spice mixes to keep handy when cooking for them, and also marinade meats and veg overnight to get a better flavour. You can also buy paste pots specifically for LOs now if you are pressed for time and want to add a kick to their meals!

Thanks for the great tips so far. I've been cooking my LO sweet potatoe with corianda and garlic and he loves it! Its a good one to try as what ever stage you are at and if you are doing baby led or purees you can adjust the dish to suit your needs. 

This is a really good thread for me - definitely need to start adding stronger flavours, so thanks for all the suggestions!

I know this is a bit early (LO 8mths), but when can they start eating food that I have cooked for the rest of us, with seasoning (salt!)?