What Does Your Baby Taste In The Uterus?

Pregnancy is a wonderful experience. Even before you realize it, a little life starts growing inside you. Your body goes through a lot of changes in order to nourish and protect the precious little thing growing inside you. As the little one starts growing inside the uterus, your belly starts growing, the heart starts pumping more blood, your bones and joints prepare to support the increasing weight. A mom’s body provides her unborn baby with home, food, comfort, and protection. Ever wondered what does the baby tastes in the womb?

Can The Baby Taste Before She Is Born?

Yes, your baby can taste long before they are born. They can start tasting from the time they are in week 14 or week 16 when the taste buds are formed. Here is the stepwise process that leads up to this:

Week 1-8:

During Week 1 – Week 8 brain cells start spreading from the brain to various parts of the body, including the baby’s mouth (or the area where the mouth will eventually form)

Week 8

During Week 8 taste buds are formed in the area where the baby’s tongue will form. The brain cells (or neurons) that branched off in the initial weeks connect to these taste buds. These taste buds are essentially receptors for key tastes like sweet, salty, bitter, and sour.

Week 14-Week 16

During Week 14 – Week 16 taste pores are formed on the tongue. These are small pores or pits on the surface of a baby’s tongue that allow food molecules to come in contact with taste buds, thereby initiating the taste to reach brain cells

How Do Babies Taste In The Uterus?

They swallow the amniotic fluid around them. As the baby grows, they start consuming more and more amniotic fluid daily and this increases her interaction with taste. In fact, by the seventh month, they will be swallowed one liter of amniotic fluid per day!

What Can Your Baby Taste In The Uterus?

In short, the taste of the amniotic fluid is strongly linked to the taste of the food the mother consumes. When you eat something, you know that the nutrients (proteins, vitamins, and minerals) in your diet find their way to the amniotic fluid. Similarly, although your digestive system is different from that of your baby, food molecules find their way to the amniotic fluid.

Although the flavors will not be as distinctive as it is for us, your baby can still taste pungent meals, saltiness, spiciness, the taste of garlic, and most importantly, sweetness! The taste is not “distinctive” for the baby mainly because they do not have the sense of smell yet as we do.

Could This Be The Antidote To The Picky Eater?

Now, babies are naturally predisposed to love the sweet taste. This is nature’s way of making sure that your child likes breastmilk. But the important point to note about the baby’s prenatal tasting exercises is that by the time they are born, they will have a strong sense of taste and food preferences.

Of course, actual food consumption will not begin for months, but research shows that what you consume during pregnancy has a strong link to what the child will eat in the future. For instance, if the mother has consumed a lot of carrot juice during pregnancy, then the child is used to the taste and once she is on solids and juices, she is more likely to adapt to carrot juice faster.

The other side of this is that if the pregnant mother eats a lot of sweets and junk foods, the kids are also predisposed to like such food better. So, watch what you eat mommies!

What Should You Eat During Pregnancy?

Having said that, don’t worry about giving in to your unhealthy cravings occasionally. Your baby will definitely relish the variety of tastes you provide. here area few things you can do;

Educate yourself on good foods to eat during pregnancy. Refer to The Pregnancy Food Pyramid for more information
Make sure you have a balanced diet with a variety of fruits and vegetables that are safe to consume during pregnancy. Refer to 10 Foods To Definitely Avoid During Pregnancy
Just because a food item is healthy, do not overconsume it. Keep changing your food items so that you can broaden the taste palate of the little one.
Avoid salty, junk food and processed food items. Try to keep your diet as natural as possible.
Do not add sugar to everything you eat.
Indulge in food with distinctive and strong tastes – stronger the taste, higher the chances of your baby tasting it and remembering the taste when born.

So, in short, keep your diet clean and exciting – so that you create a healthy relationship between your baby and food for years to come.

Do you see any connection between what you ate while pregnant and your kid’s tastes? Or did yours contradict it? Please do share your experience in the comments section below.

What Does Your Baby Taste In The Uterus?