you’re confusing taste sensitivity with experience and knowledge. little kids also grasp at broken glass and touch hot burners, but that doesn’t mean they prefer those things. they are trying everything for novelty, which is why we don’t neglect them because they would shovel spiders into their mouths and rub sand-covered-hands into their eyes.
but more to the point, infants have exceptional sensitivity to taste. it’s why most baby food sort of bland compared to adult foods. newborn to 3 months is likely the most acute sensitivity to taste one will ever have, particularly sweet/sour with a strong preference for sweet, which is why breast milk is, in fact, slightly sweet with some variation based on mother’s diet. not “terrible”.
as we age, our sensitivity drops and our preferences shift.
At birth, babies have about 10,000 taste buds. (You’ll have between 2,000 and 8,000 taste buds as an adult – they get replaced every few weeks. But as you age, some stop working or aren’t replaced.)
How will my baby’s sense of taste and taste buds develop?
Your baby’s sense of taste is well developed at birth, but their reactions to different tastes changes as they grow.
Newborn to 3 months At this stage, your baby’s sense of taste is very sensitive. In fact, as a baby they may have a wider distribution of taste buds in their mouth than you do as an adult.
The creatures that love to shove handfuls of sand into their mouths aren’t known for having a refined pallet
you’re confusing taste sensitivity with experience and knowledge. little kids also grasp at broken glass and touch hot burners, but that doesn’t mean they prefer those things. they are trying everything for novelty, which is why we don’t neglect them because they would shovel spiders into their mouths and rub sand-covered-hands into their eyes.
but more to the point, infants have exceptional sensitivity to taste. it’s why most baby food sort of bland compared to adult foods. newborn to 3 months is likely the most acute sensitivity to taste one will ever have, particularly sweet/sour with a strong preference for sweet, which is why breast milk is, in fact, slightly sweet with some variation based on mother’s diet. not “terrible”.
as we age, our sensitivity drops and our preferences shift.
My little sister once tried to eat her own poop (she was like a year old).
My sister used to snack on dog biscuits when no one was looking
You sure that was your sister and not your brother Shaggy?
Jinkies!
I used to eat like parrot food, when I was younger. It was like a cercal mix with dried exotic fruit seasoned with a subtle sweetness.