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?

Probably ARFID.
One of my children has this.

He's an adult now and lives on Huel, and occasionally some chips.

Agree. Some people just seem to want to be rude for no reason.

It's fine.

The salt you need to watch out for is the salt that is already in foods like UPF's, bread, cereals, etc.

Adding a sprinkle of salt to an otherwise freshly home cooked meal is no issue at all.

OP - A little salt is fine, in fact we need some sodium in our diet. It’s a flavour enhancer and better a little salt on vegetables than no vegetables. I shudder at the thought of all the bland food being served by some on here!

My mum never ads salt to veg either when cooking or afterwards and my siblings and I all grew up loving veg and still don’t add salt to it. I think people who do add salt get used to it then can’t eat it without. I’ve never found veg to be bland at all.

The same with sugar in fruit. I don’t put sugar on any of it, including strawberries. I did work with a lady who said when she was a kid her mum would add sugar to her fruit to get her to eat it and she still couldn’t eat it without sugar… including bananas which I watched her pour sugar onto her plate then proceed to dip her banana into. I’m not saying you are adding sugar to her fruit, but you can see how adding stuff when a child transfers to an adult.

Having said that, I do agree that eating veg with a small amount of seasoning is much better than no veg at all.

Another thread talking about ‘seasoning’ when ‘adding salt’ would do. Seasoning is so much more than sprinkling salt.

I can’t believe a dietician would recommend a diet so high in ultra processed, salt laden foods.

The dietician did not recommend this diet at all. Ds was previously tube fed and these just happen to be the foods he has accepted (prior to the tube the only things he consumed as a baby were aptamil and mashed banana so those foods have always been acceptable to him). She has just reassured us that we need to think of calories only and not to worry about anything else at this point.

if you look at the link @ItsVeryHyacinthBucket posted
www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/salt-in-your-diet/

it states For 1 to 3 years old No more than 2g daily

so* *@amidsummernightsdream a sprinkle will be fine 🙂

A teaspoon is 5g, so to stay under 2g including snacks, bread, butter etc usually means additional salt takes you over. But sure go ahead 😅

There was a study a few years ago that suggested adding salt and butter to veg increased consumption to such an extent, overall it was healthier (because the greater veg consumption outweighed the detrimental effects of the butter and salt).

It was just one study (and I don’t recall checking who paid for it), and I don’t know if that would be true of a 3 year old because their bodies are smaller, but you could consider trying low sodium salt alternatives and see if that works.

I wouldn’t on the basis that if you start seasoning things you get used to the taste such that you need everything to be salty to taste good and that’s not good for you.

I don’t think it’s the end of the world though.

I wish adding a bit of salt to my 3 year oldest vegetables would make her eat them.

My mum never ads salt to veg either when cooking or afterwards and my siblings and I all grew up loving veg and still don’t add salt to it. I think people who do add salt get used to it then can’t eat it without. I’ve never found veg to be bland at all.
Same. Has never occurred to me to add salt to any food other than chips and I've never met a vegetable I didn't like.

people still cook separate foods for their 3yo? Mine just ate what we ate.

I think if two medical experts are ok with it you can calm down with the judgement.

Salt is a flavour enhancer

I wouldn’t put salt on vegetables at all, even for adults, as I don’t think they really need them. Maybe I’m a bit odd but I love the taste of vegetables just by themselves! I do think when people get used to that salty flavour they need it on everything so maybe best not to get her into that habit if possible.
Butter fine, other seasonings like pepper, paprika etc fine but not pure salt. Like others have said there’s enough salt in foods like bread, ketchup, cheese etc without adding more onto veg!

Rubbish - old wives tale - salt makes things taste like salty versions of themselves. You wouldn't season a raw carrot which is already delicious. It would only occur to you to put salt on a cooked one because you'd cooked lots of the flavour out of it

Ive just used salt from weaning for dc2 and 3 tbh, they just started on bits of our food and we eat salt. I was pissed odd that dh gave dc3 a sausage for one of her first tastes at 6m though! I try not to overdo it, but she eats salted pasta, rice, any stew or bolognese or sauce or gravy or soup. They have salt in when cooking, I don't add salt. She also eats chips.
I don't tend to salt veg anyway if it's 'plain' e.g. just Broccoli, peas, carrots - they have their own flavour that's enough. But if I'm stirfrying veg or making braised red cabbage or something I cook with salt.
Me and the dc always add vinegar to cabbage and they go mad for it on other veg too - particularly peas for some reason. You could try that? Adds a lot of flavour!

I think salted butter is a good compromise...

I season our food ever since DD started eating, I used salt-free stock cubes and didn't add salt but otherwise herbs, pepper, spices, everything.

Unseasoned food just taste awful.

I bake my own bread and it contains a lot less salt than shop bought and I make most of my pastes, sauces etc on my own so if I really add salt to my veggies than it's still a lot less than the NHS recommends.

I'm so completely confused.

All my children except the 5 month old have ate seasoned food from the age of 1. Meaning my cultural foods, rice, biryani, curries, kebabs etc that have all been cooked with salt and many different seasonings :/

All fine athletic and healthy :/

The meal sounds really flavoursome anyway. I personally like salty foods, and I don't think it was restricted by my parents when I was young. But back then salt wasn't publicised as unhealthy so do keep it to a minimum. I think it's one of those things your palate gets used to and then you kind of are addicted?

I think that's pretty normal
It's only on here I've come across curry etc made without salt. Pepper I don't even really count as I put that in everything

I'm not talking pouring table salt into everything or making things taste salty but a few flakes of sea salt make a big difference to some foods

I would cook it just like you cook your own. Why expect kids to like something bland? I'm assuming you don't use a crazy amount of salt on your own food.