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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:
Cherrycokewinning · 27/01/2018 17:13

In jars, not in has

Original poster
StandardRussian66 · 27/01/2018 17:13

What is wrong with Russia and China?

OP posts:
cushioncovers · 27/01/2018 17:13

At 3 my youngest would eat anything. Baby squid, smoked mackerel, rare steak, avocado etc but by the time he was ten he wanted chips n chicken nuggets. He's nearly 18 now and is beginning to eat anything again.

DullAndOld · 27/01/2018 17:14

I suppose English is not your first language but do you actually understand what 'bitching' means?

taskmaster · 27/01/2018 17:14

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

oh well, you should have said. If you've never heard of it it must not have existed, and anyone who remembers it is wrong.
Nursery food, kids eating separately from adults has been the thing for hundreds of years. Kids menus were a thing in the 50's!

stoneagefertilitydoll · 27/01/2018 17:14

Dunno - I've lived a lot of places too, and each one offered something simple for the kids eg. we order dinner, and the waiter suggests something like pasta in tomato sauce for the kids - has happened in pretty much every country I've eaten out with the kids now that I think about it.

I have one who will have chicken nuggets or sausages every time, and one who's more likely to eat from the normal menu (and both love calamari.... one because it's basically a different shaped nugget, and one because he likes fish), so I don't think it's necessarily entirely caused by parents either.

At home I tailor food a bit to the kids - but we'd all eat the same thing, I'd just bung some sriracha on DPs and mine!

Tanith · 27/01/2018 17:14

I've seen toddlers with Ella's Kitchen pouches.
I think it's a convenience thing, though, as the children I've seen don't even have the food squeezed into a bowl: they suck it straight from the pouch unheated Shock

Original poster
StandardRussian66 · 27/01/2018 17:15

Yes I know what bitching means. I am not stupid.

OP posts:
Original poster
StandardRussian66 · 27/01/2018 17:15

Yes this girl had it straight from the pouch.

OP posts:
TinklyLittleLaugh · 27/01/2018 17:15

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

Baby food yes, but not toddler food. And not the concept of rustling up a complicated recipe specifically for your baby.

TheElementsSong · 27/01/2018 17:16

I detest this show-off parenting

How do we know the OP was "show-off parenting"? I mean, as opposed to, just ordering food?

crunchymint · 27/01/2018 17:17

Actually I think kids eating separately and different types of food from adults has been around for a long time in the upper class. And that was the result of nannies. It was not around for the working class. Mum made 1 meal and everyone ate the same thing.

stoneagefertilitydoll · 27/01/2018 17:17

Oh, but yes, if DP or I are going to be back late, it's not completely wierd to have different dinners - the kids eat earlier than we would by choice, so we might cook something different for us rather than have the kids stuff re-heated.. why not.

Vibe2018 · 27/01/2018 17:18

I think it's a convenience thing, though, as the children I've seen don't even have the food squeezed into a bowl: they suck it straight from the pouch unheated

So?

LivelyMummy · 27/01/2018 17:18

I am with you op. I grew up being a fussy eater because I was only offered plain food. My LO has been weaned on whatever I am eating and will happily have seafood, spicy food etc. I never order from the child menu. I either share my meal or order a starter size for LO.

DullAndOld · 27/01/2018 17:18

Obviously you are not stupid, i just wonder if you really understand what 'bitching' means.
I have been teaching English to speakers of other languages for years, and rude or colloquial words are among the first that people learn, but they rarely understand the true meaning behind them.

Lemonnaise · 27/01/2018 17:19

Why is OP getting disbelieved here when just the other day there was a massive thread about fussy eaters and many posters said they or their family members 'only like British food' ie don't eat that forrin muck

Shock I was on that thread and no-one said that. It was mostly people gutted that their child(including me) was a fussy eater. What you've said, did not happen.

SpiritedLondon · 27/01/2018 17:20

This is the second thread I've read in the last 10 minutes which is suggesting a negative experience is a British characteristic. I find it a bit irritating TBH. It's not a British " thing" it's a person thing. My DD5 has always had a very diverse tastes including some foods that I'm not very keen on myself like octopus, mussels, olives etc. I do agree that children's menus are expected now in restaurants and I do despair when they are completely different foods from the adults foods rather than just smaller portions. Lots of beige foods seem to feature as a matter of routine. I haven't experienced criticism by anybody around me when she's been eating although people have commented on how good she is so perhaps you need to trade in your friends or frequent a better class of restaurant. Wink

crunchymint · 27/01/2018 17:20

I posted that thread and it was about an adult who would only eat "English" food.

Eggzandbacon · 27/01/2018 17:20

At 3 DD would eat anything and at 9 not so much.
She's slightly better than just nuggets. She does not like any spice or herbs at all though which makes it hard. She loves garlic though.
I often make the same as we are having but a slightly blander version (plain chilli and beans etc).

I remember SIL freaking out when DN food had garlic in it - and they were eating it happily. That was bizarre.

taskmaster · 27/01/2018 17:22

It's not a british thing. Go to a restaurant in France and you will see a menu enfant with things like Croquette de Boeuf en Brioche avec frites or Blanc de Poulet Grille
it might sound a bit fancier but its just a hamburger and a chicken grill, same as in Britain.

SpiritedLondon · 27/01/2018 17:22

I would also like a link to the thread where posters commented that they don't eat " foreign muck".

NameChanger22 · 27/01/2018 17:23

Nobody in our house would even touch calamari, including the cat. Why put yourself through it?

Chienrouge · 27/01/2018 17:24

NameChanger22 funnily enough, because we like it Grin

TinklyLittleLaugh · 27/01/2018 17:25

oh well, you should have said. If you've never heard of it it must not have existed, and anyone who remembers it is wrong.
Nursery food, kids eating separately from adults has been the thing for hundreds of years. Kids menus were a thing in the 50's!

Where have I said if I don't remember it, it must not have existed? What an unnecessarily rude post.

Nursery food, as such, was only ever a thing for a very small percentage of rich people.