BIRTH OF TASTE

(Thanks to model Marcus Wright - as above)

As a mummy, one of the hardest things is to give your child the best upbringing, teaching them right from wrong and having a healthy lifestyle plus much much more.

In my opinion, I gave Luke the best start in life by breastfeeding him until he was 15 months, he was introduced to solid food at 6 months and we made everything for him, I used organic products even though we never bought them for ourselves. I can honestly say hand on heart Luke only ever had 2 or 3 jars. I am not condemning jars, they are convenient if you're out and about but for me, personally, I wanted to puree my own food and know every ingredient going into his food.

By the time he was a toddler, he had an amazing appetite and ate everything in sight, he was a pleasure to take to restaurants as he enjoyed his food so much. He even eats olives, I know many adults don't even eat them!

However, it all changed when he started school last year, obviously I'm not blaming school and I know his tastes will have changed and peer pressure from his school friends, but he came home the first week saying he didn't like peas and other vegetables that he had always eaten. He had never said he disliked a food so it took us by surprise.

One day while I was surfing the net, I came across a post by Jo Dodsley mentioning her company 'The Birth of Taste'. She offers tips and advice and recipe ideas to give children a balanced and healthy diet, she also offers techniques and strategies to help with food challenges. I knew I had to get in touch with Jo to invite her onto Toddler Talk, I had to find out how to overcome these challenges with Luke and share with listeners who are also going through the same.

She gave lots of advice about how to win the food fight and we had a great rapport on air. You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link below. I'm sure all parents will find her tips and pointers useful.

http://www.mixcloud.com/sharon-burrows/birth-of-taste/