toddler and japanese food

Hello.

I have a few questions so here goes.

1. Can toddler 2 years old drink green tea? I mean any type of green tea? What about genmai and mugi cha? Do Japanese mothers give a decaf version (well, I'm not really sure if there are such versions )?

2. At what age do Japanese mothers give miso soup to young children? Do they give a less salt version?

3. Can I use mugi cha for ochazuke?

Thank you.

1. Can toddler 2 years old drink green tea? I mean any type of green tea?

Yes, but green tea has caffeine so you may want to avoid giving it to your child if they are sensitive to caffeine.

What about genmai and mugi cha?

Genmai and mugi cha are naturally caffeine free, and are commonly given to children.

Do Japanese mothers give a decaf version (well, I'm not really sure if there are such versions )?

The most common tea that I see marketed toward small children is mugi-cha. Its probably one of the more widely available caffeine free teas.

2. At what age do Japanese mothers give miso soup to young children? Do they give a less salt version?

My wife began giving our daughter miso soup as soon as she was able to eat it. Not sure if there's a low salt version, but in our case my wife would water it down first. We do the same when we go out to ramen.

3. Can I use mugi cha for ochazuke?

Sure! Personally, I prefer dashi.

Unlike mugicha, which is 100% roasted barley, genmai-cha is normally green tea with roasted/puffed genmai (brown rice) in it.

You might want to avoid it just in case your child is sensitive to caffeine.

Whoops, the previous poster is correct. I think I'm mixing up Genmai-cha with Jurokucha (decaf), but really its probably just muji-cha that is commonly given to small children.

Thank you yllwsmrf and . for your replies :)

You can easily adjust the amount of salt in your miso soup by adjusting the amount of miso you put in it. In fact, each household has its favorite amount.

But commonly, parents feed infants the "uwa-zumi" which is the upper layer of the soup, meaning they can avoid most of the miso that is sunk below.

Also note that, when starting to feed your infant, you should begin by feeding him/her one ingredient at a time.

You can also update yourself by contacting your local public health center (hokenjo) or pediatrician. They're quite helpful.