ottawa foodies

For the past little while, our son has refused to eat baby cereal, or anything pureed. We're so happy and so proud. Just a couple of weeks ago, I made him his own pasta primavera, and he's had curry lamb burgers, and some other assorted delicious goodies.

I know there are a lot of other ottawa foodies out there with young kids. Did they continue eating your food? Or were you back to making two meals every time?

It's fun now because when I post in the what I ate last forum, I can say it's what "we" ate last, as a family.

Feel free to share some of your foodie kids stories.

Our friend has an 11 month old, who growls at them whenever she does't eat the same food as they do. It's like she's jealous. The look on her face when she tried bacon was priceless, as I understand it.

I think it depends on the kid, but the more you explore foods, the less picky they generally are.

How old is your son snoopy?

Our boys ate everything up until about 3, and then got very fussy and now at 6 and 8 are still somewhat fussy, but still eat far more than I did at that age. Just have patience and rest assured that it is a stage. Though it can be pretty frustrating for a pretty long time. We find that education on food and nutrition really helps with our boys.

snoopy, my guy loved everything until 2, now it is non-stop picky. it drives me crazy, but i haven't changed what i offer, he just eats what he likes and leaves the rest.

This sounds like really normal behaviour. Taste buds develop and change over time (ie even to adulthood - ask any pregnant woman or post birth - but I digress). Both my children (now 6 and 10) did this. They both ate a really wide variety of foods until about 3 then proceeded to get pickier (!). Both will eat a wider variety of foods now and my ten year old is willing to try lots of new stuff (doesn't mean they like it but will try). Even the 6 year old will try new things, but not quite to the same extent.

Our son is 9 months right now. From the sounds of it, they get pickier as they get older so we'll just have to enjoy it for as long as we can!

I think it was on "Quirks and Quarks" (CBC R1) recently that I heard that young kids are biologically programmed to avoid bitter foods so that they don't eat poisonous things which would explain why some kids have an aversion to broccoli, spinach, liver, etc. They grow out of the aversions (though the associations may stick around for some kids).

Hey snoop - it will change. The 11 month old is into adult food - but we've been a bit slow to offer it him because of the lack of chewing power. By now he eats almost anything. Our 3 year old eats pretty much anything, as did our twins at that age. By 6 my oldest son won't eat KD, soup, or whipped cream or cake, but will eat pickled herring, sushi, curry, etc. My 6 year old daughter doesn't eat much fruit, but will eat pretty much anything my son won't. All them eat pad thai and spring rolls. So as a social experiment, our household is pretty interesting - to sum it up, kids will eat what they want, no rhyme or reason, but I think it helps to keep them interested and try to get them to try everything.

One aspect of picky eaters found in toddlers/young kids is due to control.

See: earlychildhood.suite101.com

Kids learn that all of a sudden they have some control over what they eat (and when they can elimanate).

"EAT YOUR POTATOES !!!!" and "STARVING KIDS IN AFRICA ..." can can turn into a battle gound for some parents. (Control over elimation can lead to problems with toilet training).

Years ago my daycare suggested not only getting the kids involved with food preperation but to put a variety of foods on the table (and not on their plate) and let them choose what to eat (giving them some control).