Babs and fellow pods, I am no expert but I don't think that giving the kids small doses of lightly spicey or hot food will do harm, and as a matter of fact, encourages them to explore new and different foods. My kids who are 4 and 6 love black pepper, fresh raw garlic and onions, poppers, fairly hot chicken wings, salsa, hot tamales (the candy) and use worchestershire sauce and other interesting tasting condiments, even a bite of our stuff with hot sauce on it. I imagine that it started with the fact that I only purchased regular baby food for convenience times but for the most part, just used a small food processor and gave them what we were having, therefore they got food with taste (seasonings, pepper, a touch of occassional salt, etc.). As they say, variety is the spice of life! Needless to say, the kids are not finicky eaters and have extremely healthy. Let their tastes guide you and let the experiment. I wouldn't say that there is any sort of magical time to start, as it is sort of a gradual thing if you use your own table food as their food. Best of luck and health to your family! Linda Mom of 2 budding chileheads