Feeding children 'weird' food

mhe

My DSs aged 7 and 9 like - potted shrimps, duck, lobster, steak, salmon, chilli, curry and all veg (except broad beans ). Also very partial to ribs. They've tried venison and pheasent and wild boar too. DS2 loves homemade green pesto with extra garlic smothered on fillo pastry then baked with cherry tomatos and cheese. MAkes it quite expensive when we go out to eat as they wont eat the stuff from the childrens menu!!

vixtress

my 3 year old always wants olives and cooked, cold sprouts in her lunch box and my 6 year old was eating raw japapenos from his dads sandwich yesterday

they both love liver, prawns, pickled garlic and haggis (not altogether)

my 3 year old will eat most things other than chips and the 6 year old doesnt like anything too sweet (jam etc)

most of my friends think its bizarre, i think its great

gairlochgal

Great thread. I find mine change their tastes all the time, but I have a strict rule that you have to eat stuff whether you like it or not. Am not utterly strict about clear plates but they have to have a good go at everything.

I watched one of those "freaky eaters" programmes with my 8 yr old this evening and she was getting really angry about a man who would only eat crisps and pizza. I asked if she can imagine herself working as one of the advisers on the programme and she said she'd get sacked after her first episode as she would just yell at the fussy eaters!

looby-loo_2

meester wrote: »

Mussels are cheap, so is offal, not sure about where to get snails from

You're welcome to collect some from my back garden:D

competitionscafe

I loved things like roquefort cheese and anchovies (not together) when I was a kid and I still do - I think it's great when kids will willingly try most foods instead of just wrinkling up there noses and refusing to try anything.

I used to horrify other kids at school by pretending the cheese in my lunchbox had gone off (it was roquefort) and then happily eat it and amazingly they all fell for it - I guess they had not come across blue cheese before. Loved crayfish, lobster etc when I was a kid too (not that I had them very often)- still enjoy them now just can't afford them very often... Expensive tastes me, I can remember Dover Sole and veal being another 2 foods I loved as a kid. (On my birthday I could choose a 'special' treat for dinner and I always went for Vienna Schnitzel or sole - it was only a once a year event though!)

purpleivy

My ds is 15 and gets teased about the contents of his packed lunch...pate, tongue, leftover stuff from dinner, cold left over hm pizza or pasta. sardines..... and really some ordinary stuff, all in home made malted, seeded loaf. I asked what the others have, white bread and plastic ham or cheese. 'Pretty much' was his reply.

JoolzS

I don't have children, but for the little while that I thought I might I read a lot of child-rearing books (possibly the reason I'm now childfree ). One thing that stuck with me was that here in the UK babies tend to get weaned onto food that is either completely bland or very sweet (even mashed bananas or pureed carrots are very sweet). Children in other parts of the world are simply weaned onto adult food so that's what they learn to enjoy. If an Indian baby is weaned onto spicy food, why are we, in the UK, so scared of giving anything spicy to very young children - this never made any sense to me. I remember at the time looking at the whole world of food and wondering how I could puree any of them into "baby" food. I hope that if I wasn't childfree then my child/ren would be open to new flavours.

My mum remembers that when I was about three or four years old I had never tasted melon or cucumber because she absolutely hated them (even the smell) so had never offered them to me. She made a point of giving them to me and I immediately loved them and still do.

Julie

Kaz2904

My 2 were weaned on chilli! I was really skint when I had them so we used to eat a lot of chilli because it's cheap and filling. I was aware that they shouldn't have too much rice because it would be too filling so I used to do some frozen veg for them and blend it with the chilli. MIL was horrified when she realised what I was feeding them but she can't believe it now that they eat so well.
DS eats like a sparrow but he will eat a wide variety of food. He got fixated on olives and garlic cloves at one time but has put himself off them. He's not overly keen on cheese but I'm not mad on it either.
When we go out for a meal they generaly have an adult meal and we get an extra plate so we can split one meal between the two of them or (more often than not) split mine and theirs between the 3 of us.
We always get surprised looks but people are always happy to oblige and generally look really chuffed when my 4 year old DS is umming and ahing over salmon or a pasta dish!

phizzimum

I remember people being amazed that my girls would eat olives as toddlers. - I didn't think olives were that exotic anymore in this country! To us they were something we ate regularly so my children had no idea that toddlers weren't supposed to like them.

I get really annoyed with the concept of "children's food" in restaurants, and even now ready meals in supermarkets. why do people think food should be segregated? ooh it makes me crazy that some people think kids will only eat something with a cartoon character on the pack! :mad: :mad: ok ok, I;ll go and have a lie down (actually I;ll go and cook dinner!)

OrkneyStar

My DS is going through a slight fussy phase (and not gaining weight that fast just now :rolleyes:)- we weaned him on HM stuff, some purees, some finger foods (toast, cheese sticks, potato wedges, HM biccies, cooked carrot sticks etc). He used to love his chilli, mince, mango chicken, etc etc now he wants to do everything himself so he is getting more and more finger foods as easier to eat (basically cut up versions of things we have), he does also get HM soup- his once varied tastes are definately reducing though- anyone any ideas of high fat finger foods (or dips)- is humous a hit with babies ?
I may try olives (I do't like them but DS likes beans, peas, corn etc so might well like them ?)
Thanks
PS I wonder if he would like mussels ? there is seafood around here- what is to be avoided at 15 months sea food wise ? Are prawns ok ?
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