Actress and vegan, Alicia Silverstone, pre-chews food for her 10-month-old son, Bear Blu. Bear Blu is being raised as a vegan as well.
On her blog, The Kind Life, Silverstone shows us a glimpse of how Bear’s feeding time goes at the Silverstone/Jarecki residence.
From her blog about the video:
I just had a delicious breakfast of miso soup, collards and radish steamed and drizzled with flax oil, cast iron mochi with nori wrapped outside, and some grated daikon. Yum! I fed Bear the mochi and a tiny bit of veggies from the soup…from my mouth to his. It’s his favorite…and mine. He literally crawls across the room to attack my mouth if I’m eating. This video was taken about a month or 2 ago when he was a bit wobbly. Now he is grabbing my mouth to get the food!
There has been no explanation made by Silverstone as to why she pre-chews her son’s food.
What do you think? Would you feed your child like this? Have you? Do you think it’s healthy?
I think it’s over the top to chew your child’s food, for sure. However, I don’t like the implied connection with veganism. Why does Silverstone being a vegan have anything to do with her pre-chewing her child’s food?
I totally agree! Every snippet I’ve seen about this throws out there first that she is a vegan. Who cares? Don’t make everyone who eats a vegan diet seem like some crazy person who chews up their kids’ food!
No one called her crazy or implied craziness for chewing the food or being a vegan. Never happened.
Her food choice absolutely has something to do with how she feeds her son. She is chewing these veggies and mochi for him.
Being a vegan, she has exposed a wider variety of foods with her baby. She writes about this on her blog and has even written a book about it.
Personally, I think it’s awesome that her baby is eating a veggie packed miso soup breakfast. It seems a lot healthier than store bought jars of baby food, doesn’t it? And that’s what my children ate at that age.
I didn’t say YOU called her crazy, I’m saying that this video being all over is causing a lot of criticism of her and then being linked back to her veganism. Furthermore, I also think she and her approach to feeding him her vegan diet is awesome. Her book inspired me to cut 97% of all meat, dairy and eggs out of my own diet. AND, I also made my daughter’s baby food.
My disagreement would be with her method. Does she not own a food processor? There is all kinds of gross stuff in people’s mouths. Certainly if dentists advise that you not use your mouth to clean off your child’s pacifier (http://www.doh.state.fl.us/family/dental/materials/MCOH_brochure_final.pdf), you probably shouldn’t chew most of your kid’s food for him/her.
I’m not saying I’m perfect, I would bite a piece of apple off for my daughter when she was smaller. But, I stick to my feeling that this is a pretty gross way to feed your kid. It doesn’t make me any less of an Alicia Silverstone fan.
It is shared because she is chewing a radish for him. Also, there is a lot of speculation that she is doing this so he CAN eat some of these foods that she is offering that most babies have not been exposed to.
Her entire website is about veganism if you check it out. She has also written a book about it. They grow a lot of their foods, and she wants her family to live this “kind life”. I did not report even an inkling of personal opinion in this piece, but to be truthful, I think she is really cool.
Her choice on food ABSOLUTELY has something to do with a story about how she feeds her son.
ShelleyMarch 29, 2012 at 1:09 am
I would be interested to really know what she means by pre-chew…. When my kids were little I would break big pieces of my own food using my teeth all the time. I didn’t slobber on it or saliva it all up into mushy gunk but technically that is pre-chewing. And I see parents at restaurants doing that all the time.
I think its weird…I understand babies can’t chew veggies and stuff the way they are, so breaking it into tiny pieces is perfectly normal…but just dropping it into his mouth like a bird is gross. I feel that if he can’t chew it he needs to stick with baby food.
The recommendation here is that parents don’t even use the same spoon with their babies or kiss them on the mouth because that might expose the baby to dental caries bacteria. This however has not really been proven, I think, but it’s still an official recommendation. So this seems funny, and if this was in here people would def throw the caries card at you.
I’m a vegetarian (although I do eat seafood every now and then), but my kid eats also meat. It takes a lot to live that kind life their family does and I think it is awesome and something I would love to do but never really could. The feeding from mouth to mouth like birds part is somehow a gross thought though if what it means is sucking balls of food with saliva on them. If she, say, bit a piece of a carrot and the kid took it from her teeth to his own it would feel just normal fun jokey thing to do to me.
My kids are lucky if I cut up their food for them! There’s no pre-chewing in our house.
I think it’s something different (read: disgusting) so of course people are gonna freak out on her. But I’m the first one to say I so don’t have this motherhood thing figured so who am I to judge her and her really, gross and timing consuming ways…ICK!
“Quit your crying, you big baby!” That’s how I nurture my flock. HA!
She does seem like a great Mommy when you read her site. And what she is doing to live a “kind life” would take a TON of work. Maybe the two are related. Who knows.
Doesn’t she own a food processor? Or even a fork to mash things up with?
I’m sorry, but the human mouth is dirty. That’s why human bites can get infected so easily.
I’d have to disagree that veganism has anything directly to do with Alicia Silverstone pre-chewing her son’s food. Perhaps as a vegan she chooses to include certain foods in her son’s diet that are not easily chewable, but I’m sure there are plenty of vegan parents that steam or blend or mash or dice foods that are hard for their children to chew.
I have no issue with veganism but I do think it somewhat unhygenic to pre-chew a young child’s food. And by pre-chewing I mean completely masticating the food until there is just pulp or mush in your mouth and then transferring it to your child’s mouth. I don’t mean biting off a piece of fruit or something to share with your child.
My almost nine month old has no teeth but can chew and eat plenty of things if I mash or dice them and he isn’t getting the bacteria from my mouth and from between my teeth when I use a clean kitchen utensil to do it.
Point being, she’s a vegan, she chews her kid’s food, but she does not chew her kid’s food because she’s a vegan.
And I agree, most vegans probably do not chew food for their child. But maybe, just maybe (certainly not for certain), the food choices (especially for more raw choices, although miso soup probably doesn’t seem that raw to me) are the reason SHE (in particular) is chewing the food.
I didn’t chew my children’s food. But they also weren’t eating as healthily as her child (read: I LOVE TO GET THEM TO EAT MISO SOUP! I SHOUDL HAVE INTRODUCED IT SOONER!). Not that store bought baby food jars aren’t healthy, but in my mind, they aren’t as healthy as freshly prepared food. And while I would have whipped it up in the blender, maybe she just whips it up in her mouth.
But, we really can’t say. She hasn’t released anything (that I know of as of right now) to indicate why she chews his food for him.
Great comment! Great point! Thanks!
KrystleMarch 29, 2012 at 9:55 am
Veganism has nothing to do with this in my opinion. The story is that she pre-chews her son’s food. What difference does it make if it’s a radish or steak? it’s about the method of eating, not the food selected.
I think it’s a little odd, but it doesn’t’ make me any less of a fan either!
I love the discussion about this piece so far! It’s an interesting topic for sure. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about everything, and keep them coming!
What wonderful readers we have at Curvy Girl Guide!
Hannah LaffertyMarch 29, 2012 at 10:01 am
Do you know how many bacteria live in a healthy mouth? Your natural oral flora is different than mine, and our bodies respond differently to each bacteria. What causes gingivitis or periodontitis in my mouth may be fought off by your host response if placed in your mouth.
On top of just diseases of the oral cavity bacteria which cause periodontal disease also can cause heart disease and other systemic complications. Bacteria linked to the oral cavity is often found in the plaque like build up in the arteries which causes blockages leading to heart attack or stroke.
So, mixing your childs food with your saliva is not only absolutely disgusting, but quite possibly dangerous to their health.
Being a vegan is a personal life choice. So is pre-chewing your kids’ food. One is reasonable and, done correctly, is nutritionally sound. The other is just a little strange.
Even though both choices are made in this instance, they are definitely not related. She could be pre-chewing chicken and I’d still wince at the thought of mouth-to-mouth food transfers and grimace at the idea of the tot chasing his mother around to get the food out of her mouth.
I am sure she is a great mom, doing what she thinks is best. I just think it’s odd and more than a little gross.
SarahMarch 29, 2012 at 11:48 am
I realize this woman is wealthy and could well afford all the little gadgets and doo dads out there to soften food for her little one. Consider how they might have done it back in the day….sure there’s a couple rocks to mash food but it’s more likely that ancient peoples chewed the food the younger ones would eat. It’s not a choice I would probably make, but I can understand where she is coming from. Each step of “granola” seems weird or like unnecessary work, but I think it’s okay to keep an open mind without agreeing with her particular choice. I would however be interested to hear if there is more behind this choice to chew the food besides just the softness.
I had a friend tell me she knew a mom that would suck the snot out of her baby’s nose when the kid was sick. Nasty. To each her own.
Wait. She sucked it with her… mouth? I need to know more about this snot sucking.
SarahMarch 29, 2012 at 11:32 pm
OMG Right?!?!?! I was a new mom at the time and that sounded crazy to me….since then I have found myself doing things I never planned on in single-hood.
Once I was so grossed out by my son’s pukey bed, I just threw out the whole bed set rather than deal with my own weak gag reflex. No regrets whatsoever.
That snot comment made me puke a little. Ew ew ew!!!!
NicoleMarch 29, 2012 at 12:49 pm
I’m sure Alicia Silverstone is doing whatever she thinks is best for her child, and more power to her. Personally, I think it’s rather gross.
My question is, how long is this going to go on? Surely she’s not going to be doing this when the kid is 3 or 4 and can chew things on his own. I wonder if it’s going to be a hard habit to break.
Meh. I wouldn’t do it, but I could care less if she does. She seems to be a great, loving mom and, so long as she isn’t doing it when he’s like 13, who gives a shit how she feeds her baby. None of my business.
P.S. As for the bacteria, when I’m carrying a ton of things, I carry my baby’s bottle with my teeth. So, you know, they are exposed to bacteria everywhere. IT’S CALLED LIFE.
Personally, I think it’s kind of gross. But whatever. Celebrities have done WAY WORSE to their kids and we don’t go making a big deal over it every time. Heck, supposedly the Jolie-Pitt clan is force-fed Coke for breakfast sometimes, so they’ll have enough energy to keep up with Brangelina. At least Alicia Silverstone’s son is getting super healthy food to eat!
Side note: I’m so glad to know I’m not the only mom who’s broken off some food for her kid with her own teeth, then handed it over. I’ve done it in restaurants before, and I always feel like a nutcase. I’m happy to hear that people see it “all the time”!
Actress and vegan, Alicia Silverstone, pre-chews food for her 10-month-old son, Bear Blu. Bear Blu is being raised as a vegan as well.
I think it’s over the top to chew your child’s food, for sure. However, I don’t like the implied connection with veganism. Why does Silverstone being a vegan have anything to do with her pre-chewing her child’s food?
I totally agree! Every snippet I’ve seen about this throws out there first that she is a vegan. Who cares? Don’t make everyone who eats a vegan diet seem like some crazy person who chews up their kids’ food!
No one called her crazy or implied craziness for chewing the food or being a vegan. Never happened.
Her food choice absolutely has something to do with how she feeds her son. She is chewing these veggies and mochi for him.
Being a vegan, she has exposed a wider variety of foods with her baby. She writes about this on her blog and has even written a book about it.
Personally, I think it’s awesome that her baby is eating a veggie packed miso soup breakfast. It seems a lot healthier than store bought jars of baby food, doesn’t it? And that’s what my children ate at that age.
I didn’t say YOU called her crazy, I’m saying that this video being all over is causing a lot of criticism of her and then being linked back to her veganism. Furthermore, I also think she and her approach to feeding him her vegan diet is awesome. Her book inspired me to cut 97% of all meat, dairy and eggs out of my own diet. AND, I also made my daughter’s baby food.
My disagreement would be with her method. Does she not own a food processor? There is all kinds of gross stuff in people’s mouths. Certainly if dentists advise that you not use your mouth to clean off your child’s pacifier (http://www.doh.state.fl.us/family/dental/materials/MCOH_brochure_final.pdf), you probably shouldn’t chew most of your kid’s food for him/her.
I’m not saying I’m perfect, I would bite a piece of apple off for my daughter when she was smaller. But, I stick to my feeling that this is a pretty gross way to feed your kid. It doesn’t make me any less of an Alicia Silverstone fan.
It is shared because she is chewing a radish for him. Also, there is a lot of speculation that she is doing this so he CAN eat some of these foods that she is offering that most babies have not been exposed to.
Her entire website is about veganism if you check it out. She has also written a book about it. They grow a lot of their foods, and she wants her family to live this “kind life”. I did not report even an inkling of personal opinion in this piece, but to be truthful, I think she is really cool.
Her choice on food ABSOLUTELY has something to do with a story about how she feeds her son.
I would be interested to really know what she means by pre-chew…. When my kids were little I would break big pieces of my own food using my teeth all the time. I didn’t slobber on it or saliva it all up into mushy gunk but technically that is pre-chewing. And I see parents at restaurants doing that all the time.
It is hard to tell!
I think its weird…I understand babies can’t chew veggies and stuff the way they are, so breaking it into tiny pieces is perfectly normal…but just dropping it into his mouth like a bird is gross. I feel that if he can’t chew it he needs to stick with baby food.
The recommendation here is that parents don’t even use the same spoon with their babies or kiss them on the mouth because that might expose the baby to dental caries bacteria. This however has not really been proven, I think, but it’s still an official recommendation. So this seems funny, and if this was in here people would def throw the caries card at you.
I’m a vegetarian (although I do eat seafood every now and then), but my kid eats also meat. It takes a lot to live that kind life their family does and I think it is awesome and something I would love to do but never really could. The feeding from mouth to mouth like birds part is somehow a gross thought though if what it means is sucking balls of food with saliva on them. If she, say, bit a piece of a carrot and the kid took it from her teeth to his own it would feel just normal fun jokey thing to do to me.
My kids are lucky if I cut up their food for them! There’s no pre-chewing in our house.
I think it’s something different (read: disgusting) so of course people are gonna freak out on her. But I’m the first one to say I so don’t have this motherhood thing figured so who am I to judge her and her really, gross and timing consuming ways…ICK!
Me either!
“Quit your crying, you big baby!” That’s how I nurture my flock. HA!
She does seem like a great Mommy when you read her site. And what she is doing to live a “kind life” would take a TON of work. Maybe the two are related. Who knows.
Doesn’t she own a food processor? Or even a fork to mash things up with?
I’m sorry, but the human mouth is dirty. That’s why human bites can get infected so easily.
My thoughts exactly!
I’d have to disagree that veganism has anything directly to do with Alicia Silverstone pre-chewing her son’s food. Perhaps as a vegan she chooses to include certain foods in her son’s diet that are not easily chewable, but I’m sure there are plenty of vegan parents that steam or blend or mash or dice foods that are hard for their children to chew.
I have no issue with veganism but I do think it somewhat unhygenic to pre-chew a young child’s food. And by pre-chewing I mean completely masticating the food until there is just pulp or mush in your mouth and then transferring it to your child’s mouth. I don’t mean biting off a piece of fruit or something to share with your child.
My almost nine month old has no teeth but can chew and eat plenty of things if I mash or dice them and he isn’t getting the bacteria from my mouth and from between my teeth when I use a clean kitchen utensil to do it.
Point being, she’s a vegan, she chews her kid’s food, but she does not chew her kid’s food because she’s a vegan.
EXACTLY.
Good point!
And I agree, most vegans probably do not chew food for their child. But maybe, just maybe (certainly not for certain), the food choices (especially for more raw choices, although miso soup probably doesn’t seem that raw to me) are the reason SHE (in particular) is chewing the food.
I didn’t chew my children’s food. But they also weren’t eating as healthily as her child (read: I LOVE TO GET THEM TO EAT MISO SOUP! I SHOUDL HAVE INTRODUCED IT SOONER!). Not that store bought baby food jars aren’t healthy, but in my mind, they aren’t as healthy as freshly prepared food. And while I would have whipped it up in the blender, maybe she just whips it up in her mouth.
But, we really can’t say. She hasn’t released anything (that I know of as of right now) to indicate why she chews his food for him.
Great comment! Great point! Thanks!
Veganism has nothing to do with this in my opinion. The story is that she pre-chews her son’s food. What difference does it make if it’s a radish or steak? it’s about the method of eating, not the food selected.
I think it’s a little odd, but it doesn’t’ make me any less of a fan either!
SO TRUE! Great point! Steak IS hard to chew! Thanks!
I love the discussion about this piece so far! It’s an interesting topic for sure. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about everything, and keep them coming!
What wonderful readers we have at Curvy Girl Guide!
Do you know how many bacteria live in a healthy mouth? Your natural oral flora is different than mine, and our bodies respond differently to each bacteria. What causes gingivitis or periodontitis in my mouth may be fought off by your host response if placed in your mouth.
On top of just diseases of the oral cavity bacteria which cause periodontal disease also can cause heart disease and other systemic complications. Bacteria linked to the oral cavity is often found in the plaque like build up in the arteries which causes blockages leading to heart attack or stroke.
So, mixing your childs food with your saliva is not only absolutely disgusting, but quite possibly dangerous to their health.
Being a vegan is a personal life choice. So is pre-chewing your kids’ food. One is reasonable and, done correctly, is nutritionally sound. The other is just a little strange.
Even though both choices are made in this instance, they are definitely not related. She could be pre-chewing chicken and I’d still wince at the thought of mouth-to-mouth food transfers and grimace at the idea of the tot chasing his mother around to get the food out of her mouth.
I am sure she is a great mom, doing what she thinks is best. I just think it’s odd and more than a little gross.
I realize this woman is wealthy and could well afford all the little gadgets and doo dads out there to soften food for her little one. Consider how they might have done it back in the day….sure there’s a couple rocks to mash food but it’s more likely that ancient peoples chewed the food the younger ones would eat. It’s not a choice I would probably make, but I can understand where she is coming from. Each step of “granola” seems weird or like unnecessary work, but I think it’s okay to keep an open mind without agreeing with her particular choice. I would however be interested to hear if there is more behind this choice to chew the food besides just the softness.
I had a friend tell me she knew a mom that would suck the snot out of her baby’s nose when the kid was sick. Nasty. To each her own.
Wait. She sucked it with her… mouth? I need to know more about this snot sucking.
OMG Right?!?!?! I was a new mom at the time and that sounded crazy to me….since then I have found myself doing things I never planned on in single-hood.
Once I was so grossed out by my son’s pukey bed, I just threw out the whole bed set rather than deal with my own weak gag reflex. No regrets whatsoever.
I just laughed out loud!
I am the same way. I throw away clothes and sheets with puke/runny poop. Can’t deal.
I threw up in my mouth when you got to the snot sucking part.
That snot comment made me puke a little. Ew ew ew!!!!
I’m sure Alicia Silverstone is doing whatever she thinks is best for her child, and more power to her. Personally, I think it’s rather gross.
My question is, how long is this going to go on? Surely she’s not going to be doing this when the kid is 3 or 4 and can chew things on his own. I wonder if it’s going to be a hard habit to break.
Meh. I wouldn’t do it, but I could care less if she does. She seems to be a great, loving mom and, so long as she isn’t doing it when he’s like 13, who gives a shit how she feeds her baby. None of my business.
xo
P.S. As for the bacteria, when I’m carrying a ton of things, I carry my baby’s bottle with my teeth. So, you know, they are exposed to bacteria everywhere. IT’S CALLED LIFE.
Personally, I think it’s kind of gross. But whatever. Celebrities have done WAY WORSE to their kids and we don’t go making a big deal over it every time. Heck, supposedly the Jolie-Pitt clan is force-fed Coke for breakfast sometimes, so they’ll have enough energy to keep up with Brangelina. At least Alicia Silverstone’s son is getting super healthy food to eat!
Side note: I’m so glad to know I’m not the only mom who’s broken off some food for her kid with her own teeth, then handed it over. I’ve done it in restaurants before, and I always feel like a nutcase. I’m happy to hear that people see it “all the time”!
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