To season my 3 year olds food?

[amidsummernightsdream]

Dd has just turned 3. Eats the same as us and generally eats well. Up until now I have always plated her serving up without salt and then seasoned ours after.

Recently she’s been a little more fussy around certain foods including veg but tbh a lot of things taste bland and unappetising without salt, particularly veg!

When I have added (a small amount) of salt with butter she is more likely to wolf it down.

Tonight we’re having pan fried fish, asparagus, broccoli and new potatoes done with garlic, herbs and butter.

It’s 50/50 if she will eat this but I imagine if I seasoned it like ours (nothing crazy!) she’d eat it. Butter, salt, whats not to like?

Would I be unreasonable to lightly salt some of my 3 year olds food on a semi regular basis to encourage her to eat I wider variety of nutritious food she would otherwise likely not eat?

If you can get Celtic salt even better :)

@PeloMom this is exactly my view on it

Prooerly cooked veg is the food of the gods. Badly cooked veg is rank

and by properly cooking I dont mean salt necessarily but timings and method etc too but for me salt plays a part in that

Why not make veg as appetising as possible so kids enjoy it so they dont want the processed crap or plain pasta alternative

and just to reiterate again im talking about tiny amounts amongst an otherwise balanced diet

Yes, that's why she said 'generally' *sigh.

@loverofalmonds I didnt say for all. I said generally

To put some context on salt - a slice of bread contains around 0.5g of salt and about the same in a slice of cheddar. So if you regularly feed your 3 year old a cheese sandwich, you're easily giving them the equivalent of a pinch of salt on some veg.

It's not a big deal but people get weirdly pearl clutching about it

Why are so many people completely ignoring what foods OP has posted? She's not saying add salt to a Happy Meal, she's saying add salt to some fish, veg and spuds!

Yes I would absolutely be offering her foods that have been cooked properly, with a little salt. Unsalted foods taste of basically nothing, salt is needed to bring out the flavour. And butter without salt is just fat. Unappetising fat.

And don't add after. Add while cooking. Pasta, veg, potatoes should be cooked in salted water.

PS I have three teen boys and have added salt to their food once they got to about 1. Two out of the three eat anything, but none of them have any allergies or health issues of any kind.

I see my view is against the grain but the reason most people eat too much salt is because they eat too much processed food. A child whose diet is almost entirely made from scratch likely takes in very little salt and in this case I think you can be a bit more relaxed about seasoning with a tiny, tiny bit of salt.

I don't either tbh.

I agree that salt in the water when cooking potatoes does improve the flavour. Without it it’s too bland, even with butter and milk added to mash. I don’t tend to use it on other veg. I also use it on poached and boiled eggs and tomatoes. Not everyone likes garlic.

@loverofalmonds i can totally accept and i did clarify to say that.

Yes i understand that you dont like salt on your veg. Happy now?

Butter yes. Garlic yes. Herbs yes. But why are you adding salt to your own vegetables, let alone a child's?!? If they aren't overcooked, they don't need salt.

Here's the thing. Boiled plain vegetables uk style really don't taste great so no wonder kids don't eat them. I do broccoli stir fried with garlic, chilli, ginger and a bit of soy sauce (salty) and the kids wolf it down. Same with things like cabbage and kale.. stir fried with salt and pepper and garlic. Or roasted veg, again a bit of olive oil, sea salt and garlic. I'd much rather my kids ate vegetables with a bit of seasoning than didn't eat vegetables at all.

Asd and ARFID unfortunately

This, definitely

Four packets of crisps a day for a three year old seems like madness.

I don't add salt to my food, so I wouldn't add it to my kids.

That said, I'd be happy to add things to encourage them eat it (butter, ketchup, mustard, chilli etc). I'm just not a salt fan.