To wonder why most parents don't give their toddlers any spicy food?

[laweaselmys]

I understand not giving tiny babies jalepenos.

I understand (when they are confident with eating solid food say over one at least) giving them some plain options and a bit of moderately spicy stuff to try.

I don't understand waiting until they are 5, making a big fuss about it, then being surprised when they don't like it.

I do get that this is a sensitive area. And blithe comments about kids eating everything can hurt people who are struggling with their kid's fussiness.

I'm lucky, I have a healthy NT daughter (albeit a 9th centile tiddler, so I do want her to eat and not miss many meals) and we eat a very varied diet. I am lucky to have DH around all the time so we can cook the meals we like. And we like to eat everything apart from gefilte fish and kidneys.

I seem to have the gene missing that gets nervy if my daughter doesn't eat and I've never equated grumpiness or lack of sleeping to lack of eating X amount of dinner. So it doesn't bother me if she eats.

She's also a terrible (ie inveterate) snacker and that's not great either.

I may be lucky in the food department FOR NOW. But I am not lucky in the sleep department (although we have turned a big corner)

Good luck all of you.

Do you think there's a possibility that what you eat whilst pregnant effects what your DC will eat? I think I've read something before about babies being able to 'taste' some things whilst in the womb. I would think spicy food would be one that could be transmitted because of the strong flavours.

I ate loads of curry when pregnant with DC1 and 2 and they both love anything spicy.. in fact I know if I'm serving curry or chilli there'll be empty plates all round.

This pregnancy I'm struggling with anything with a strong flavour, and haven't been managing curries, so I suppose I could test out my theory myself!

But this thread is not about 'kids who will eat everything', it is specifically about parents who avoid/or don't avoid giving their small children spicy food...

Most toddlers are finicky about something, and some will only eat a very small range of foods or appear to exist on air which can be hugely worrying and frustrating. But that's not what this thread is about.

I don't think there is any evidence.

But if you tend to eat a variety of foods yourself, that may (I use that word cautiously, and reservedly) eventually rub off on your children as they grow up.

I personally disproved that theory in my own amateur investigations LadyBaiter! I ate spicy, oniony, garlicy, full-flavoured food while pregnant and while BFing and neither of my DCs are keen on strong flavours. Actually, tell a lie, they do love garlic bread but don't like spicy food.

Not sure LB - I did eat quite a bit of spicy food while PG and BFing DD but then there were also things that I couldn't stomach (e.g. roast chicken) that she also likes.

Don't know what the research says but I think there is a study to show that babies who are BF are more receptive to a broader range of flavours?

One think I noticed in SE Asia, China (the hottest food in the whole world is in Hunan) - where I've lived, basically.

Kids don't get an opportunity to NOT eat spiced foods. I'm not talking Sechuan hot pot with 5 handfuls of Sechuan peppercorns and 40 chillies, but food with spices - peppercorns, lime leaves, cumin, coriander, fermented fish pastes of various kinds.

They may not like everything just like anyone but can cope with much of these foods and they don't seem to cause explosive diarrhea and vomiting. They do seem to be less fussy, for want of a better word. It just wouldn't occur to many a mother in Kuala Lumpur to cook some fish fingers because one of their kids didn't like aubergines, or a peranakan curry.

But that could be my 'confirmation bias'

My DS1 ate curry when he was 6 months old. Won't eat it now. Won't eat bloody anything that looks like it has vegetables or some sort of sauce involved which pretty much rules out everything we eat, so I do generally end up cooking two lots of tea, which is a PITA. I would love it if we all just sat down and ate the same thing but that only happens at the weekend.

He will still eat wasabi peanuts and chilli noodles, so it's not the spice he has a problem with.

DS2 ate something which I didn't realise was as spicy as it was when he was nearly 12m old and he was inconsolable for half an hour. I felt terible.

Good point bintofbohemia. My DCs were relatively adventurous when they were weaning but gradually became fussier during their toddler years. It's very common, as I understand it.

My DD1 used to eat spicy food. She wolfed down a load of chilli once, and I hadn't realised how hot it was until it was obviously burning as it came out the other end. Sorry about that DD1.

But then I became pregnant with DD2 and had horrible morning sickness and so DD1 didn't eat spicy food because I couldn't stomach spicy food (or much else). And now she won't touch it. Ho hum, there are far more important things to worry about. I didn't eat curry until I was 19 and a student (and then only from peer pressure, I didn't like it). Now I am a complete fiend for spicy food. DD1 has plenty of time for her taste buds to adjust again.

bintofbohemia - I've done that before, gave DS2 (16mo at the time) some fairly hot curry...mixed in some mango chutney to cool it down a bit. After each moutful he scraped his tongue with his fingernails, and only when I looked at the label on the mango chutney did I realise it was Hot and Spicy, ooops! (He still ate it all though, with tongue scraping in between )

We come from a Mediterranena family, dd 3.7 seems to love curry and spicy foods (not too hot). If possible children should try a range of foods to extend their plate furth to burgers and chips.

I should add that I don't know if those Malaysian/Chinese/Indian kids would turn their noses up at things they weren't familiar with. That said, the Maccy Ds and so on were always full.

YANBU - my DD is 3 and her favourite meal is chilli con carne - made mild as my DH can't take the heat! She's also partial to a rogan josh now and again. She basically eats what we eat (unless we want something we don't want to share and fancy some adult conversation, in which case we eat after she's in bed). If she doesn't eat it tough - I am not cooking three meals (as my mother did as dad only eats scrambled eggs and my fussiness was pandered to far too much).

My parents balk at the idea of giving her humous, cous cous, anything with garlic. My MIL thinks all she should be fed on fish fingers: DH was "weaned on the fresh fish in a fish finger. I took the coating off so that was okay".

Nowt wrong with fish fingers.

I like the odd fish finger sandwich. But let's face it, there's tastier food out there.

I've never avoided spicy food for DC.

And DD eats whatever. But DS has never enjoyed it. Offering early and regularly has not made the slightest difference.

I kind of know what the OP means. There is a presumption for some (the "older generation" ) that you don't give young children curry. I wish I hadn't listened to it, as when I DID give my very fussy baby boy some pasta with a bit of curry sauce on it, he positively gulped it down! However, it's quite possible that he would have turned his nose up at it if I'd tried it before then. After all, since then, he's gone off that sauce!

DS won't eat it. It must be very nice to have children who will eat anything but mine has preferences. I always offer him what we're having, but if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to have it. I ate plenty of spicy food when pregnant so I don't think that's the explanation. He does love garlic though.
Also true that he was less picky when smaller, main food preferences started around age 1. I think their taste buds develop.

It's pretty obvious from the replies on here that many fussy children aren't being pandered to and yet still remain awkward to feed.

So it would seem that a fussy eater is a fussy eater regardless of how they are brought up.

I think there's some truth in that bunbaker. Amongst DD's peers most were introduced to food in a similar fashion and yet they all have their own tastes, likes and dislikes.

Perfect example:

DD and a friend the same age are with a nanny together 3 days a week, they sit and eat all meals together. Last week they had spaghetti with pork meatballs and tomato & veg sauce for lunch. DD would only eat the meatballs, her friend would only eat the pasta...

My DD (2.2) is very fussy, but we have noticed that she will eat foods with a stronger flavour & has always hated bland foods! (Never seen a 6month old pull sucha face at a spoonful of baby rice, gave up instantly, it's disgusting so I don't blame her!)

She will not eat meat apart from sausages so if we give her curry she will leave the meat. But she does like dipping naan bread in the sauce. She also really likes spicy fajitas (will pick the meat out, just licks the peppers & eats the sauce & tortilla), and she likes most other spicy foods that we have as long as she has something to dunk in the sauce! She is another garlic lover, & has munched happily on garlic bread from quite a young age! Don't see the problem with giving it to them to try, if they don't like it, they won't eat it but they are never going to learn to try new things if you don't even offer them! She is very strong willed & this doesn't help her fussiness! But I keep offering things in the vain hope that she will at least try them!

Bunbaker that's clearly true (if it was all about what the parents feed them then why does my DD eat tomatoes but not cooked carrots, whilst DS will eat cooked carrots but not tomatoes - they've both had exactly the same diets).

But sensitivity to chillis goes beyond fussiness - a child can be the most adventurous eater in the world, but if something gives them pain then they just can't eat it. It's not quite as annoying as describing a gluten intolerant child as fussy (because you can desensitise to chillis with time and determination) but it's getting that way.