[CH] question of age

Linda Reynolds (lr21@cornell.edu)
Fri, 14 May 1999 14:12:07 -0500

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