# Spicy Foods for Toddler?



## crunchy_mama (Oct 11, 2004)

Hey, I am wondering if/how/when you limit spicy food for your toddler. DS is 17.5 m.o. and has just now really started eating solids gung ho. He wants what we are eating and I tend to make things spicy- not like burn your mouth off, but with some kick and flavor. My thoughts are that if he cannot handle it, he will stop eating it. Also, I wouldn't even let him try something seriously hot like wasabi, or jalepenos. It honestly seems that a lot of his refusal of foods has to do with not liking things bland. Any thoughts/ suggestions?


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## mamamelia (Apr 14, 2005)

i wouldn't worry, especially if your not going to put in anything that is extremely hot. we use a HEAP of fresh garlic and onion and dried herbs in our dishes on a daily basis and dd is fine. in fact, she even has raw onion as a snack when we are prepping dinner. she loves to eat freshly mashed garlic too. she also hates bland foods (except yoghurt) and never accepted plain pureed baby food. she's 16mo btw.
i say feed your son what your eating. it's not like he's going to be eating toddler food all his life. one day he is going to adapt to your style of cooking and why not start when his taste buds are still sensitive and forming.
that said, stay on the side of caution for a while and pay careful note to any reactions he may have after certain foods - like satay or soy sauce based foods etc. thankfully my daughter doesn't have any allergies, and we don't eat things like soy or peanuts in this household anyway.


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

My husband eats hot stuff and hot sauces all the time. Zayla has always been a big mooch when it comes to his plate. At first he would be extremely careful to make sure that she didn't get spicy bites off his plate. But then slowly but surely he started introducing her to the taste. It never affected her negatively. Even the couple time that you could tell she had too much spice. She'd drink her milk and be fine. I on the other hand would cringe/freak out/yell at him to knock it off. I hate spicy food and was afraid that he was going to hurt her or something. Now at 16 months she can eat anything that he can. I guess it's in her blood (I come from NM where they eat extremely spicy stuff). So I think it's fine as long as it isn't giving them tummy aches or anything.


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## homemademomma (Apr 1, 2004)

my ds has always eaten whatever we were eating, once he really got into solids (around 15-18 months or so). he definitely doesnt like things as spicy as i do, but he does like spice and flavor, and has no problem eating, for example, tempeh sandwich with hot sauce or spicy black beans with cumin and garlic.


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## wurzelkind (Oct 8, 2005)

Just like the pp's said - as long as the food is not extremly hot from a jalapeno pepper there's nothing wrong w/it. My daughter had her first try of Chilli con Carne at around 14 months I think. She still used to eat mostly babyfood then since she had mild aversions against chunks in her food. After she had tried that Chilli we never went back to baby food and she has since been eating what we have.









I would just pay attention if he gets a rash (around the mouth or on the bottom) or a mild form or diarreah after having eaten spicy food as this indicates that his body isn't yet able to handle hot food.

BTW - now DD *loves* everthing w/ cooked(!) garlic like spaniakopita, creamed spinach, italian pasta sauces, fried rice, verggies and such, she loves her food to be lightly dipped in hot chicken chilli sauce, some freshly ground pepper on her scramble eggs.... The only hot thing she *really* dislikes is cayenne pepper, something my MIL used to use quit often and therefore had to stop or but in only over her food.

The funny thing is that *I* on the other hand couldn't stand hot food during pregnancy and was uber-sensitive during those nine months


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## Jadzia (Jun 7, 2004)

I give my 17 month old tatses off my plate and I am always amazed that he seems to come back for more of the spicier stuff.

Must be all that curry I ate while pregnant. He also probably has gotten a taste for spice in my milk.

I hate bland food and he seems to be the same way. My family was surprised he likes to eat green olives!


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## huggerwocky (Jun 21, 2004)

Children from other cultures eat it, I suppose as long as no one gets forced there's no reason why not!

I once met a 2 year old that loved food so spicy I couldn't even get it down.


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## princess buttercup (Jan 29, 2003)

I recently read some research that refuted the common belief that babies should be fed plain, bland foods.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tip.htm
http://www.ywpw.com/forums/child/pos...0/html/84.html
Whatever I'm eating is fair game. Pickles, peppers, curry, mexican, italian...etc.


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## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

We don't limit Qualia trying spicy foods; if she doesn't like it, she'll let us know.









Quote:


Originally Posted by *crunchy_mama*
Also, I wouldn't even let him try something seriously hot like wasabi, or jalepenos.

If he's really into spicy things, you don't necessarily need to rule those out. Qualia's 13.5 months old and likes both jalapenos (chopped up small and cooked in something else, like those "Health is Wealth" jalapeno and cheese bites) and weak wasabi in low sodium soy with her veggie sushi.

The only thing she's reacted to -- with a mild rash around her mouth for 1/2 an hour and no problems at the other end -- is this super hot Thai curry paste dh used to make coconut tofu curry soup, but that was full strength and almost too hot for me, too. With anything else, she totally takes after dh and likes it hot, hot, hot. I figure as long as she isn't reacting badly to it, we'll let her try the different spicy flavors and see what she likes.


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## TwinMom (Dec 27, 2001)

My kids have always liked spicy things, probably because I eat that way so they got used to it in utero and also through breastmilk. Also, I wouldn't worry about jalapeno unless you're feeding it to her raw, by itself. Cooked into foods it just adds a good flavor, not really much heat. I don't know, maybe it's just that I'm in Texas (though I was a Yankee until I was 15), but I throw diced jalapenos into most cooked dishes and we love it, even the baby!


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## broodymama (May 3, 2004)

My DS has always loved spicy foods. Chili with [email protected] hot sauce, tiny tastes of wasabi







, kimchi, mooching from my Thai, anything garlicky or with spicy red pepper. If it's really hot his eyes will water and he'll grab his sippy of water then dig right back in. He's never had a problem from any kind of spicy food. Maybe because I ate a lot of spicy food while I was pregnant with him and while he was exclusively BF?

Like some PPs, he won't eat anything bland. I baked some chicken last night that was admittedly a bit dull and he wouldn't touch it.


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## Mali (Nov 7, 2005)

For what its worth my 17 month old dd LOVES spicy food. We live in Thailand, my dh is Thai so it is definitely in her blood. Oddly, while usually I love spicy stuff out here I had a dislike for too much spice when I was pregnant. But, as dh claims that all western food is too bland, he has been waiting to try out the spice with our dd. She has been eating tastes of his curries and chili sauces for months now and often refuses her food with out it!
So far she hasn't had any reactions to anything but we keep everything in small portions the first time just in case. I definitely agree that the little ones will let all us mama and dadas know if they don't like what we feed them so if we listen to them, they are ususally right!


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## Owen'nZoe (Sep 7, 2005)

My DS loves spicy food - especially Indian. We've been letting him eat at our favorite Indian restaurant since he was just over a year old. At first we were careful about what we let him have, but now at almost 2 years old, we let him try whatever he wants. Only once did he try something that was too hot for him to enjoy - that's better than I've done!


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## crunchy_mama (Oct 11, 2004)

Thanks for all the input ladies. Seems that my gut was right. I think ds has developed a taste for the spicy as well.


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