A newborn senses all of these tastes except one: Experiments suggest that babies can’t taste salt until they are about 4 months old (Beauchamp et al 1986). But newborns love sugar solutions--the sweeter, the better. In fact, when babies are given a sugar solution immediately before a painful procedure--like a heel prick--they cry less. Newborns also seem to like the taste of glutamate, which is found in breast milk (Beauchamp and Pearson 1991).