How do parents get their kids to eat spicy foods?

[kambz72]

@abraham7777 Yep. South Asian too, one child likes a little bit of heat and the other child basically eats bread and butter.

 

[nebulamoon]

@keety My son (12) wants to be able to eat spicy food and he’s trying some, like a bite at a time. My daughter (9) can’t even handle black pepper. My wife and I both like spicy, but my MIL CANNOT tolerate anything remotely spicy. Her husband likes the makes you sweat spicy.

 

[keety]

@nebulamoon I’m a “makes you sweat spicy” kind of person while my husband is a “Taco Bell hot sauce” kind of person, my younger two brothers and my mom can’t handle black pepper! I wasn’t introduced to spicy foods until I was 11 because my mom was afraid of it! I don’t want to take the joy of spicy foods from my kid, but I also don’t want to traumatize them!

 

[nebulamoon]

@keety My wife had never had spicy food until we got together, because her mom always cooked such bland meals. I didn’t find out until later, but my wife only ate spicy food at first because she knew I liked it, and she didn’t want me to think she was a wuss.

 

[edmund81]

@keety I'm not sure you can force it. I ate lots of spicy food during pregnancy, and so our daughter ate some spicy food when she first started solids. Then sometime between 2 and 3 years old, she stopped eating them and cries if anything is spicy. We just leave spicy components on the side of our cooking now. So hot peppers are cooked separately or sliced raw on the side. I mostly sprinkle crushed red pepper or Sriracha on my plate of food only. It can be nice to have my food all to myself because my daughter doesn't want to take my spicy food.

 

[keety]

@edmund81 I definitely wouldn’t force it! And I’m open to cooking ingredients separately for each person in the family to have what they like! I just had no idea how to introduce spicy foods, since they were so strongly avoided when I was growing up!

 

[deacongirl]

@keety Slowly and mild, usually.

 

[kambz72]

@keety Look into baby led weaning, but essentially... offer whatever you are eating. (You don't have to go hardcore on BLW to incorporate some of those ideas and concepts.) If they want to try it, great. If not, also great. But it's as simple as that; they are allowed to eat what you eat, whenever you eat it (barring things like allergies or health issues like honey before age 1). Just make sure it's cut into child-appropriate sizes.

It's not so complicated. Just say yes to trying all things, at any age.

Also don't forget.... there are a lot of flavours and spices you can introduce that don't add heat. So definitely use those liberally. Diversity of flavour is a good thing.

My oldest child likes a little bit of heat, my youngest has zero spice tolerance. I make food with only the barest (nearly imperceptible) amount of hot-spices, and then add chili or hot sauce to my own later.

 

[katrina2017]

@keety Well ... just let them try it and see if they like it. Only one way to find out. If they don't like it, offer milk after as it will soothe them better than water to get that spice out of their mouth. My husband and I both love spicy food. I can't speak for all children but my youngest also likes spicy stuff...I mean the kid will eat just buffalo sauce or Sriracha if I let him lol. I ate a lot of spicy food while pregnant with him and while breastfeeding so ya maybe he got used to the flavor that way, who knows, but that's my theory. My oldest, well, he is more picky and does not do spicy at all. Each kid is different.

 

[seekinghope]

@keety I have identical twins. One loves spicy stuff. The other doesn't. I am 100% convinced it's not something you can train.

 

[keety]

@seekinghope I wasn’t introduced to spicy foods until I was 11, I don’t want to steal that joy from my kid, but I also don’t want to traumatize them either!! I just didn’t know how to introduce it!

 

[chriscomplex]

@keety Introduce slowly. When cooking, you might scoop out the kid's portion before adding the spice to the rest (I mean the chili pepper; other spices that don't burn are ok). But you might offer them a little dab/nibble of yours and see if they like it. And then after awhile, you might add a bit of spice to everything, but you make the adult portions extra spicy. It's a process that takes many years.

And like another poster mentioned, sometimes a toddler will accept rather spicy food. But that might be because they don't have the pattern recognition yet that the burning sensation is coming from the food. It's weird. And then they might get smarter and reject spicy food altogether. And then even later on, they are willing to have a bit of spice because maybe their friends/family are proud of their spice tolerance.

 

[keety]

@chriscomplex This makes a lot of sense! I was introduced to spicy foods at a friends house, they had a Louisiana hot sauce obsession and I started eating it to impress them, and then eventually ended up liking it! Come to find out my dad liked spicy foods too! It eventually became our “thing” he even bought me a hot sauce set for Christmas last year! Which I LOVED! But because it was avoided so strongly growing up I wasn’t sure about a proper introduction process, but your comment makes sense!!

 

[lands]

@keety My preschooler eats wasabi peas. He likes Indian food too, but he has had food of mine he thought was too spicy. Let them try your food as they grow but have some yogurt handy to dip so it can cut the spice level and over time they just won’t need it anymore

 

[iamorange]

@keety My son is 2 and was born with DS so he still has some odd food reluctance going on, but as for my own upbringing, I was just offered spicy food, enjoyed it, and kept eating it into adulthood.

I am so white my ass glows in the dark, but my Da was a journalist who’d traveled all over the globe (and a Scotsman), so curries and other spicy foods were the norm in our home growing up.

Just like anything else with kids, don’t force it but offer it and see what happens. Don’t let them know or act like it is spicy or different, just present it as something good to eat that they should try. If they don’t like it then don’t press it and keep offering bites. Congratulations on your baby!

 

[keety]

@iamorange Thank you!! This is a great outlook!

 

[shedrach90]

@keety My 4 and 5 year olds love spicy foods. They often cry about it, but still insist on eating more lol
I'm Hispanic and my mom says I was the same as a kid. In my experience, you just keep letting them eat it. Tell them what they're getting into, keep a drink on hand or a spoon of ice cream, and let them explore. I let them start eating it when they started to communicate basic needs like hungry, toy, or hurt. This way they know that spicy might equal hurt

*edited typos

 

[struggle101]

@keety Some kids take to it very naturally. I'm guessing they might just have naturally high tolerances, because I know some who at 2 years old got into a jar of jalepenos or hot sauce and just loved them.
MY daughter, however, nearly "died" at 13 years old on a bloomin onion from Outback! The black pepper was too much for her to handle. (Oh well, more for me then)

So my personal suggestion is just to dtart very slowly and just bump up the heat in small increments as they gain tolerance and appreciation.

 

[stewieisnotmyrealname]

@keety I'll keep non-spicy side options available with every meal. When my kids reached for new foods, I never stopped them. You'd be surprised what a 1 year old is willing to eat. My niece was 3 and refused to eat off her own plate. I warned her one day, "You probably won't like this. It's really spicy." I don't mind kids trying food from my plate, but she was used to being spoonfed bland foods. I finally gave her a bite of chorizo. It was spicy. She gasped. I told her to drink milk because it helps with spicy foods. She did. Then, she came back for more. She'll eat everything spicy in my house now. As soon as they started reaching for food, let them. My kids have all eaten chorizo, jalapeños, and lemons (I know it's sore and not spicy, but the point is still there) before their first birthday. My oldest son doesn't care much for meat, and my 3rd goes through picky phases, but other than that, they'll eat almost anything.

 

[puddintain]

@keety Slow introduction + having heat cutting foods available. Like for instance if we do spicier Mexican food one night we'll make sure to have sour cream available, Indian food is served with yogurt etc. Lets our kids cut the heat if they want it.

My 2 year old LOVES spicy foods as a result. She'll demand hot sauce if she sees it and yell "spicy!!!!" very excitedly. This one Thai place we go to can't believe she slurps down the spicy stuff.