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Toddlers and peppers/hot stuff...

Wulf

Wulf

Do any of you have younger children that enjoy the heat? If so, when and how did you introduce them to it in a way that isn't actually a form of child abuse?

My son just turned two and I'm not silly enough to directly give him anything that would phase an adult, but he got into a bag of habanero peppered chips I'd left laying around the other day and didn't seem to freak out. I'm told he ate one, seemed upset for a minute and wiped at his tongue with his hand, then calmed down and repeated the process a few times. I don't think my fiance realized that this same bag of chips has caused a few of my friends to tear up and be speechless for a few minutes in the past or she'd have taken it away immediately, but it sounds like my son handled it pretty well.

His speech isn't quite at the point where I can make sure he understands exactly what's happening with spicy stuff. I don't think I'll be letting him have any more of those chips, but I thought I'd ask about your experiences with kids and hotness. (...No, not in that way...)
 
My grandfather passed away when my nephew was almost 1... My grandmother bought 3 mile island hooters hotwings for everyone after the service. As is often the case when a bunch of people are gathered with food, someone left their plate down where my nephew could get a hold of it...

He loved the hot wing for the handfull of seconds it was in his mouth...

Another time, he climbed up on the dinner table while my sister was cooking, and started sucking down a bottle of tabasco.

18 months ago or so, he was in the stroller, my dad was taking him for a walk... Dad decided to stop into a convenience store for a snack, and picked up some "habanero jerky". He said it wasn't terribly hot, but hotter than a jalapeno. My nephew threw a fit wanting to try it... My dad kept explaining to him that it was spicy, that he wouldn't like it... eventually he gave in, and gave him a tiny taste thinking that would be enough to change his mind... My nephew ended up finishing dads snack.

Now he's nearly 4. Won't touch the stuff. Says black pepper is too spicy.
 
Mine have been around it for years. As youth if they reached for it and it wouldn't kill or maim them I did nothing and then they learned. Either they liked it or they didn't. My oldest will play with heat but also knows his limit. The next in line prefers it to be no hotter then a thai fire covered in ice cream. My youngest loves the heat but will walk with the big dogs even more if there is an audience.
 
I can just see Jr. doing that BK, hahahahahahahah

I think that not enough credit is given.
Kids are just small people. Don't leave anything that can truely hurt them laying about for them to "discover" on there own.
Like Green Tea said... Bleach!
If they want to try something, let them. They'll freak out over Spinach, but if they see you doing something cool,
they might want to try it. I can remembers sucking on a Tobasco bottle when I was little, adults would always freak out
and take it from me. They didn't realize, I LOVED IT.

I guess just err on the side of caution, but by all means, indulge their interests!

My 2¢...
 
My two little ones echo what others have said. They're around it all the time and my four-year-old daughter knows better as soon as she hears the word "pepper". She knows a few names of her favorites to look at, too. Ask Cory_Huck about his daughter's semi-obsession with Morougas (I think that was the one, Cory, right?). lol.

Anyway, my daughter used to handle spices of all kinds in her food pretty well, but she avoid them now. Even black pepper.

My son, at 18 months, isn't bothered by spices, including black pepper, and actually seems to enjoy some light capsicum every now and then, too. Usually jalapenos in food so they aren't too hot. But he's occasionally got 'hold of some heavy stuff via our plates at dinner and his reaction is similar to Wulf's description above. Immediate spitting and tongue wiping, as well as a little grunt of discontent. Then, he usually declares "Hot!" or something like it, and moves along. No horrible reactions and he isn't put off by spice at all.

They're all different. He won't eat anything green except broccoli. At this age, my daughter refused to at animal protein but was a kale freak. Go figure.
 
Thanks for the stories, guys. When I was growing up, nobody in my family was into hot stuff so I don't have much experience myself with it as a kid.
 
I have very fond memories of "nacho night" with my dad and a bottle of "Hot" Pace Picante sauce. Which...don't laugh...was about all we could get back then in our neck of the woods.
 
Both of my children as toddlers seem to have always been into picking peppers off even the hottest of plants, eating them, sticking their tongues out, drooling, only to go back for more...lol They've been acclimated to them their entire life. Honestly it seems as they get older their tolerance actually goes down and they prefer milder varieties. Perhaps that has something to do with capsaicin receptors forming at a higher rate as you age? I can only assume in a few years time they will get better, but as it stands right now I even have to make them their own hot sauce out of hot bananas, jalapeno, etc. Anything hotter is a bit too much for them at this point. But they do love to have a kick in their food :)
 
i've always feed my babies the food we were eating (no jarred baby foods or purees) they never had an issue with spiciness and knew when enough was enough and how to handle it. (plus i also nursed them and i always ate hot and spicy foods, that may have something to do with them being used to it and liking it)
 
A friend of my ate as a kid the superhot peppers or hot sauces and had no problems with. Later his tolerance went down and he couldn't eat the superhots anymore. I think you are right Guru, kids could probably have a good tolerance but they can losen it.
 
If you read up on children's taste buds, its fascinating. I think probably some unknowns there still, but it appears that they have a LOT more than us and that tastes change over time (even for adults).
 
Yeah, I can only assume that babies and toddlers haven't developed all the complex receptors yet and therefore can eat the fire. As you age, I assume its a give and take for tolerance as your brain forms more connections/nerves. I'm no neuroscientist, but I have taken a ride through each and every synapse a handful of times. :)
 
When our kid was ---old enough to be eating chips and salsa but young enough to be sitting on the counter--- we had the chips out and a tub of medium salsa and a tub of Hot salsa. He kept dipping into the hot salsa, so we let him keep eating the hot salsa. The next day, poor lil' guy...he was crying on the pot, so we sat him in a tub of cold water......

fast forward a few years- He was game tasting all the hot chiles we tested when he was 11 years old.

And at 13, he keeps saying he's not a chilehead, but whenever I bring home "Bold Chipotle Crackers" or "Red Chile Snacks" or "Flaming Chips"... he always says....."That's not hot!". [sub][sup]([/sup]hope that means we're doing something right in the parenting realm...)[/sub]



I like Justaguy's attitude. Tell them it's spicy, let them have a small bit and if they want more, have at it!



OH! One More Story! I gave some peach-habanero salsa to some friends and their (3-4 year old?) little girl got ahold of the lid and licked it. She started jumping up and down and then started wiping her tongue on the carpet to try and get rid of the burn.

AND! my 20-year old niece is a hard core heat addict. She orders 5-stars in Thai restaurants all the time and complains cuz it isn't hot enough. The rest of the family complains about bell peppers and onions being too hot! :crazy:
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Yeah, I can only assume that babies and toddlers haven't developed all the complex receptors yet and therefore can eat the fire. As you age, I assume its a give and take for tolerance as your brain forms more connections/nerves. I'm no neuroscientist, but I have taken a ride through each and every synapse a handful of times. :)
Click to expand...

Seems to be the other way around, Guru. They seem to lose receptors over time. But I don't know how that affects cap reactions, though.
 
my daughter has been helping me grow my first season of peppers so she wanted to try one that was ready after i had one of my tai chillies she was bound and determin to do the same i made sure she had a big glass of milk and some honey near by. did realy good
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Yeah, I can only assume that babies and toddlers haven't developed all the complex receptors yet and therefore can eat the fire. As you age, I assume its a give and take for tolerance as your brain forms more connections/nerves. I'm no neuroscientist, but I have taken a ride through each and every synapse a handful of times. :)
Click to expand...

That's probably why people in cultures where they eat a lot of hots/superhots, can eat the hot stuff. They'be learned it on a time when they had no problems with it.....
 
Lilly said:
That's probably why people in cultures where they eat a lot of hots/superhots, can eat the hot stuff. They'be learned it on a time when they had no problems with it.....
Click to expand...

Except, again, they appear to have MORE receptors at a younger age. Doesn't mean they don't have a higher tolerance for cap., but CW would seem otherwise. May be other reasons. Dunno.
 
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