wonderment at my baby again

[Clara]

I can see that well-made Kids Food is a good conscientious solution to the problem that exists (i.e. that some kids who come into your Dad´s pub will only eat that type of food), but I think as a parent it is probably best not to get into the distinction between kids food and adults food in the first place. If not for anyother reason than for having an easy life - why struggle with teaching your kids to eat twice? There is also a growing movement (and body of evidence) which suggests that it is also best not to get into feeding babies pureed food, then have the potential for problems when you try to transfer them to solids (i.e. kids not seeing the connection between the puree - no matter how healthy it is - and the individual components of a meal).

[Milims]

Despite the fact that my son was prem and hadn't developed the sucking refelx, I've never had too much trouble with my kids eating. I had one of those old fashioned hand herb grinders that I took with me all the time and simply mushed up - but not too finely, what I was having, at home and when out. Later on, when he was ready for bigger stuff, my son did have a bit of a hiccough with the chewing and biting thing so I just made him whole grain finger sarnies filled with things like cream cheese and apricot, or peanut butter and banana and left them where he could reach them and help himself. That way there was no pressure on him and he got used to it at his own pace. Now we have a rule - you try everything at least once and if you really hate it then I won't give it. So far DS still hates tomatoes - although he will eat tomato sauces, pizza and other stuff with tomato in, and DD hates mushrooms - bit in the scale of things that ain't so bad!
That said - I have a cat who is mad for pizza, chips, christmas cake and courgette and mint soup, another who would snaffle the olive from your mouth and third who doesn't like fish!

[Annpan]

I agree with Clara, that it is not the foods in them selves, it is the way that the market has manipulated the public into thinking that this is what Kids want.

You can get organic, sugar/salt free versions of these foods at supermarkets too. But it's the fact that they are 'kids' food, and the industry that represents - McDonalds not showing food in Childrens adverts, 'barney the dinosaur' shaped pasta bits, Happy faces and dino bites.... I don't even want to mention turkey twizzlers (but I did)

You end up with a generation of fussy eaters who are drugged-up (for want of a better phrase) with sugars, salts, E numbers and fats that their little bodies cannot process.

When we go out we take 'Cheesy Pieces' (cheese sandwich) for E it's not because she won't eat what we have, but because most of the regular dishes in cafes and restaurants have too much sugar and salt in them and we don't want to overload her tiny system with them.

OTOH John, your Dads pub sound great... What's it called? I bet all the food is delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it... does he do adult portions I totally agree that more eateries should attempt this, but for all their food, not just Kids Meals.

[Green Rosie]

My boys eat a wide range of things - most good and wholesome but a few fish fingers and shaghetti hoops have passed their lips . They love fruit and veg and are always willing to try new foods. Snacking is limited and when eating out we usually ask for an adult dish and an extra plate for them to share it.

They do not eat a lot of sweets but as they get older it gets harder and harder. Older son reacts very badly to certain E numbers, known to him as "nasty colourants". We just kept him away from these sweets when he was younger. However once he started school it became much more difficult. Every time a child had a birthday the parents thought it fine to send in bags of sweets for all the children in the class. I was furious and the only way I could stop my son having these nightmare sweets was to supply his teacher with suitable alternatives and she would substitute these. After all, you cannot tell a 5 year old he can't have something when all his friends are eating them, can you? Even this was far from ideal because at times the teacher forgot and anyway I did not want him having sweets on what turned out to be a regular occurence (28 kids in the class, all with birthdays between Feb and Aug meant a lot of birthday "Treats")

Thank goodness here in France the giving of sweets on birthdays does not seem to have hit their school.