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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Adult and child foods? A British thing?

717 replies

StandardRussian66 · 27/01/2018 16:15

I got bitched at yet again today by the group I meet with for lunch occasionally.
They find it very strange that my 3 year old eat “adult food”.
I have lived in 4 countries and have only ever come across this in Britain.
It is very strange?
Why would child’s only eat plain food?
My DD had calamari, for reference, incase that is odd. I am part Japanese so she is no stranger to fish.
Aibu to find it equally strange that some toddlers were still being fed mashed food?

OP posts:
Unihorn · 27/01/2018 17:00

I work in a restaurant and someone accidentally put shrimp in front of a child instead of chicken they ordered. The mum was horrified and tried to suggest that under 3s can't have seafood and that he could've died. I had to explain that unless he had a seafood allergy, he probably would've pulled through Confused

thegreatbeyond · 27/01/2018 17:01

It seems a bit peculiar (not to mention pricey) to give a three year old Hipp pouches. Would find it racist if someone started commenting on my toddler eating squid/spices, though, it is quite common to do so in South America, where DH is from.

PrincessoftheSea · 27/01/2018 17:02

See I have a different spin on this. For me UK restaurants are brilliant in catering for families. Most have a kids menu which makes it easy for the family to go out and enjoy. When we were in Russia there were so many places I wanted to try, but couldn't because there was no kids menu and the food would have been too provocative for ds2. So for me this is a positive and just child friendly. It won't stop you from ordering calamari or children from trying foods from their parents plates.

Original poster
StandardRussian66 · 27/01/2018 17:03

great
It could indeed be a dig at my race. I didn’t think of that. I do live in an area where foreigners aren’t hugely welcomed.

OP posts:
IamClaire · 27/01/2018 17:04

I think the problem starts with all the Amanda karmel(?) type weaning as it is all about weaning as feeding children a completely separate menu rather than a suitable version of whatever the family meal is. This then sets the precident of children needing a separate diet. I was given a great book when the kids were young which had recipes for meals with versions of each recipe for babies, toddlers and adults and I thought that was a really good way to approach it as it would naturally lead to children eating 'grown up' food alongside 'kids food'. Ultimately though if at the end of the day a child is getting a balanced diet I don't think it really matters how adventurous or exotic their tastes are.

taskmaster · 27/01/2018 17:05

yeah, annabel karmel invented kids menus. they didn't exist before 2008

[hmm

thegreatbeyond · 27/01/2018 17:07

Could be, but more likely just ignorance rather than deliberate racism. I've had various remarks I'd associate more with just blurting stuff out rather than actual malice.

crunchymint · 27/01/2018 17:07

Totally agree OP. Even when I was growing up in Britain, you weaned kids on a version of what the adults were eating.
I get that kids menus are often much cheaper than having a small adult version, so financially it makes sense. But it does not make sense to have kids food and adult food. Yes some kids only like bland stuff,other kids like curries. But any decent menu should have a range of stuff anyway.

MsGameandWatching · 27/01/2018 17:08

There's always been children's menus. I remember my Mum bristling about them in Happy Eater and Little Chef, or Little Thief as he was known by many.

Alittleconcerned1980 · 27/01/2018 17:09

bitched at

Really?

Either
A
You’re exaggerating for the purpose of starting a thread. Not the first and won’t be the last.
B
You’re highly sensitive and they werent bitching at all, just commenting

C
You meet this group for lunch, why? They sound awful

crunchymint · 27/01/2018 17:09

Little Chef was the Mcdonalds of its day though. Not really comparable. And all the food in there was unhealthy and unadventurous

bakingaddict · 27/01/2018 17:10

I'm an excellent cook and as a family we love travelling, kids have been to so many countries including S.E.Asia and our next holiday is to Vietnam and Cambodia but you know what my eldest will not attempt to eat any new foods while out there. He'll have the same breakfast of pancakes and croissants wherever we go and will only eat plain food such as meat and rice, noodles, burger and chips or nuggets and chips or plain pasta with a bit of bolognaise sauce. I let him eat wants he wants and don't force any particular foods onto him. I detest this show-off parenting look my kids are eating steak tartare or whatever, I think most parents are just like myself and order food their kids will actually eat

IamClaire · 27/01/2018 17:10

I did say that style of weaning not her specifically. I remember weaning puree recipe books before 2008.

Vibe2018 · 27/01/2018 17:10

My children eat the same food as the adults at home - just smaller portions. Plenty of vegetables etc. When we go out to eat I view it as a treat for them and happily let them order some chicken nuggets and chips or whatever off the children's menu. Parents are happy and the children are happy.

crunchymint · 27/01/2018 17:10

I remember about 40 years ago getting taken as a birthday treat to what I saw as a posh restaurant. There was a kids menu, but it was basically smaller plates of cheaper food off the main adults menu. It was not different kinds of food altogether.

Original poster
StandardRussian66 · 27/01/2018 17:10

I am the least sensitive person in the planet.
They were bitching. I am not stupid, I know what this means. I don’t care. I just find it very weird that there are some sort of line where one side is food that is for adults and the other side is food for kid. When surely food is just food.

OP posts:
TinklyLittleLaugh · 27/01/2018 17:11

yeah, annabel karmel invented kids menus. they didn't exist before 2008

Well, certainly in1994 I wouldn't have dreamed of making special food for my toddlers. They had what we had, minus the salt and chillies. And I was a very over anxious, breast feeding, baby wearing, best practice type mum. If separate food for toddlers had been a thing, I'd have been on it.

taskmaster · 27/01/2018 17:12

FGS people, stop pontificating about what everyone does or did or do in other countries.

There have been kids menus and kids food for ever. They exist all over the world. Some people like them, some people don't. It doesn't matter. IT doesn't make you or your kid any more or less anything because they do or do not like chicken nuggets. Eating a kids meal doesn't mean the kid does or does not eat that stuff all the time, or that they are not adventurous. It doesn't mean anything at all.

taskmaster · 27/01/2018 17:12

FGS people, stop pontificating about what everyone does or did or do in other countries.

There have been kids menus and kids food for ever. They exist all over the world. Some people like them, some people don't. It doesn't matter. IT doesn't make you or your kid any more or less anything because they do or do not like chicken nuggets. Eating a kids meal doesn't mean the kid does or does not eat that stuff all the time, or that they are not adventurous. It doesn't mean anything at all.

MsGameandWatching · 27/01/2018 17:12

Of course it's comparable, someone said the child/adult food divide started with Annabelle Karmel. I'm pointing out it was way before that. What kind of food it was is irrelevant.

Cherrycokewinning · 27/01/2018 17:12

“Today 16:55 StandardRussian66

Russia, Japan, China, Germany and Iceland.”

Oh right. I thank my lucky stars my children live here rather than Russia or China. I’m sure yours will overlook the kids food in desperate gratitude you decided to settle here instead

Sirzy · 27/01/2018 17:12

Kids menus are generally much better now than they were when I was a child!

Cherrycokewinning · 27/01/2018 17:13

Tinkly- toddler food in has has been around for decades Hmm I used to sell it in Sainsbury at my Saturday job in 1990

crunchymint · 27/01/2018 17:13

Its not about showing off. Some kids like chicken nuggets, some kids actually prefer other types of food. Kids menus only cater for one kind of taste.

Alittleconcerned1980 · 27/01/2018 17:13

Unihorn

I work in a restaurant and someone accidentally put shrimp in front of a child instead of chicken they ordered. The mum was horrified and tried to suggest that under 3s can't have seafood and that he could've died. I had to explain that unless he had a seafood allergy, he probably would've pulled through confused

How old was the child? Presumably under 3.

Serving shrimp to under 2 is not widely recommended (certainly not under 1).

It’s because the consequences of food poisoning at this age can be so much more dangerous than the equivalent case of food poisoning in an adult.

Plus the child could have indeed had an allergy. The restaurant cocked up.

She had a point. You didn’t.