Seasoning Toddler Food?

[Anonymous]

I look after a 14 Month boy. We are trying to get him of pureed foods, and give him more regular food. MB doesent want any spices, seasonings, garlic or onions added to his food. She just wants bland food. Is there any benefit to giving a child bland foods? Does it help develop their palet for the future. Does any one have any advice in this area?

[Anonymous]

There is a good article in the latest parenting magazine that says you should use spices and seasonings because it expands their taste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a good article in the latest parenting magazine that says you should use spices and seasonings because it expands their taste.

+100000

Unless he already has extremely sensitive taste buds, which is unlikely and would manifest as a full on meltdown when asked to eat something with a bitter flavor like broccoli, adding spices and seasoning is a great thing and allows babies and toddlers to develop a taste for a wider range of foods. My charge is still an infant and we regularly add things like ginger, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garlic, etc. to his (pureed) foods.

[Anonymous]

14 months and still on purée? All my charges were off puréed food by7/8 months and eating finger food. After the first few batches of purée, everything was lightly seasoned. Hell my 10 month old eats sushi! Your boss sounds paranoid and your charge should be able to eat everything the adults eat by 14months, unless he has sever allergies. All his mom is doing is creating eating issues early. Food should be a fun, exciting thing that children enjoy and if its bland no one is going to enjoy it. I've helped raise 4 "foodies" who will eat or at least try anything up in front of them.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you're going to be able to change her mind, so you'll probably just need to do what she asks, but she is 100% wrong on this one. All the advice says to season food exactly like you do for everyone else in the family (with the exception of maybe lowering the salt content).

Both my sons (2.5 and 1) have always eaten food with spices. I even put nutmeg or cinnamon in their oatmeal when they first started eating.

She is setting herself up for a very picky eater who is going to be a huge pain to take out to dinner anywhere.

On the other hand, if there's a reason he's still on purees at 14 months (like a developmental problem), this may be a doctor-led suggestion for tranistioning him.