My 15 month old son LOVES black olives. He has a mouthfull of teeth, but I still slice them (1 jumbo olive= 4 slices). It started with him eating the olives out of my salad, but now I give them to him as a snack. He would eat them everyday if I'd let him! I just worry about how salty they are. I buy the low sodium olives (sometimes the store doesn't have them, but I try to get low sodium). Anything wrong with a baby eating olives?? He's a VERY picky eater so anything he likes, I'll give him... but not if it's bad for him. I didn't give it a second thought until my MIL questioned it...
@ Denise, I hadn't even THOUGHT of chick peas, and he LOVES hummus!! Thanks, that's a great idea!
My daughter (now 16) LOVES black olives. Her sandwich choice when we go to a sandwich shop is strictly, white cheese and LOADS of black olives.
She'll eat a can of them as well. I have her rinse them in the colander before eating.
She has loved black olives since she was a toddler.
You can never have enough olives! just kidding, I LOVE black olives... There is a meditteranean (sp?) pasta recipe that I use because my daughter loves them as well but she will eat the pasta with it, it's really good.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1635,158170-224206,00.html
I use penne pasta instead of spaghetti and put green and black olives in and I put 2 cans of sliced olives in and half a jar of green olives, but if he'll eat the olives with the other stuff could be a good median on some dinners.
LOTS of sodium (even the low-sodium ones)... not much nutritional value. They are okay as a snack, but I wouldn't let him fill-up on them b/c then he definitely won't eat anything else.
Maybe try the "eat a piece of chicken first, then you may have some olives" trick and use it to your advantage!
My daughter loved olives as a toddler too, but she liked the green ones. I would let her have about half of one of my hands full as part of a snack. She would have eaten the whole jar at once if I let her.
DS (5) has always loved olives. The big green ones, the bright green fresh ones, the crinkled up oily tiny ones, the ones with flecks of red pepper, the Kalamata ones, all of them. You might want to try out some new ones - check the salad bar at your supermarket. Most are sooo much better than the black ones that come in a can.
There are approx. 65 mg of sodium per olive. I'd slice up a few per day for him. He doesn't "sound" like a picky eater! Find some other similar things for him to try: chick peas, tofu chunks, golden raisins, grape tomatoes...
There's nothing wrong with it -although you're wise to pay attention to the sodium since most olives are extremely salty. My oldest is 5 and has been an olive fan since the age of 2. We were at the beach, and I LOVE almond-stuffed olives. I love to put a jar in the cooler and after sweating on the beach for hours, pull them out and have a snack. He wanted to try one, then he took the jar away from me -and he ate the WHOLE thing! Now I take two jars -one for me and one for him ;-) If he branches into green olives at any point, just make sure if you're somewhere and they're served that he doesn't get one with a pit while he's so little.
Just make sure you cut them up. Oh sorry, you do.
A baby/kid can choke on it, and can choke even on a pea.
Just rinse them with water... to wash the salt/brine off it.
Or, ask your Pediatrician.
But yes, too much salt, like with adults, is not good for kids.
What else will he eat?
If you never buy them again, will he notice?
Our 4 yo loves olives too. I think it's so funny because he also, is a very picky eater, but for some reason when he was about 1, just started loving olives. He would eat a whole can if we let him. I think olives are good for you and I usually don't put a limit on them, unless I need for a pizza or something. I figure, they are so much better for them, then chicken nuggets.
Similar to the pickle question for us! One of our daughters only eats pickles, raw onion and carrot juice as far as veggies go. One of them eats black olives, but the picky one eats the green ones! The pizza always gets ordered with black ones, with a side of the green for her sister. Olives are a healthy fat and I try to make sure they get some healthy fat every day. Neither will eat avocado yet, but they both eat hummus!
The salt would be what I would worry about too. But I think you are going to have to do a little math and look up how much salt he can have a day and how much salt he is getting from the olives as well as other foods. If it's too much maybe cut down or tell him olives are so special he can't have them every day. I smiled when I saw your post. He sounds like he belongs in our family. Olives are a favorite and we would have to cancel Thanksgiving or any holiday meal if there weren't olives ;-). Think kids (young and old) with black olives on their fingers like the Queens army! I watched once as my cousin ate a whole jar of the green ones (we were in college at the time).
Olives are quite nutritious, providing heart-healthy monounsaturated fat (per olive, the fat content is fairly low). Yes, they can be sodium-heavy, but rinsing beforehand can cut down on the sodium substantially. When I was a kid I used to eat whole black olives all the time - I called them "belly buttons." Just like anything, moderation is the key. Any food that's canned, pickled, brined, etc. will have more sodium than fresh foods, so subbing out canned chickpeas is an alternative but won't solve your sodium issue. Hummus is better, or try cut up grapes, grape tomatoes, frozen (thawed) peas and carrots - anything he can finger-grasp but still have a good veggie snack.
I feel the same way about pickles:) I don't offer them every day 1 or 2 times a week. And use them as a bartering tool--"O--you are out of pickles, eat something else on your plate and you can have a few more later..."
I have a black olive fan as well. It is funny even at almost 11 we have family members who make sure they have at least one can in their house when we come to visit. He knows it too and will run to check to see if they have them and ask for them as soon as he thinks he can get away with asking for them.
I think it's awesome! He could be snacking on far worse things than olives - and olives aren't bad. I know that the sodium is a little high, but the benefits of the antioxidants and just all around goodness of a vegetable are great. We loved olives as kids as well. I remember getting cans of them as birthday presents! I know. It sounds weird, but we thought it was awesome. I think that olives are fine.
mine loves them too. I rinse the salt off and limit her to 6-7 because of sodium. I disagree with Kristina P. that they don't have much nutritional value. They are a great way to get healthy fats and do have plenty of nutrients. Canned chick peas are going to have similar sodium. Keep up the olives, just don't let him eat the whole can!
