A mum feeds her two-year-old seafood to make sure she’s not a “fussy” eater – and says the tot loves smoked salmon, mussels and haggis.<br /><br />Erin Archibald, 31, has been giving her daughter Hallie, two, her dinner to try since she was six months old.<br /><br />Erin and her husband, Charlie, 33, a SEO marketing contractor, use baby-led weaning – which involves jumping straight to finger food and bypassing purees.<br /><br />They give Hallie the same meal as them to try and let her have shellfish from 18 months.<br /><br />Now Hallie loves prawns, smoked salmon, gherkins, olives and haggis – and has even tried mussels and fish sticks.<br /><br />Erin hopes letting her try the meals will mean she doesn’t grow up “fussy” and will help prevent food allergies.<br /><br />Erin, a pharmacist, from Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland, said: “She loves fish – white fish and loves smoked salmon.<br /><br />“Prawn is her absolute favourite. She’d scoff a whole packet if we let her.<br /><br />“We plonked the mussels down in front of her and she scoffed the lot.<br /><br />“I was teaching her how to use the shell and pick the mussel out.<br /><br />“Fish is one of her staples.<br /><br />“She loves the fish from the chippy but doesn’t eat the batter. She picks out the fish.<br /><br />“Fingers crossed she won’t be fussy.”<br /><br />Erin started letting Hallie try solid foods from just six months old – giving her foods such as soft-boiled carrots.<br /><br />The family eat the same thing at mealtimes and Erin said Hallie was eating king prawns before she was one.<br /><br />Erin said: “We just offer her our stuff.<br /><br />“If you offer her something new with olives and gherkins, she usually tries it.<br /><br />“She has unusual taste buds.<br /><br />“We’re urging her to try unusual things.”<br /><br />At 18 months old Hallie tried smoked salmon after seeing her dad Charlie was eating it for lunch.<br /><br />She said: “My husband often has it for lunch.<br /><br />“He was eating it and she was like ‘where’s my bit?’<br /><br />“It was a hit from the start.”<br /><br />Erin often cooks with Hallie to encourage her to try things – such as eggs.<br /><br />She said: “She loves a boiled egg but she’s not sure on the yolk.<br /><br />“You get a lot of kids that only eat beige foods like chicken nuggets and chips.<br /><br />“We’re trying to make sure she doesn’t always have that.”<br /><br />Although she loves seafood, Hallie is not a lover of avocado or broccoli but loves peas.<br /><br />Erin said: “Lots of babies love avocado.<br /><br />“People think it’s dead strange that Hallie likes mussels.<br /><br />“They say ‘I don’t even like mussels.'<br /><br />“People say ‘I pray for her future boyfriends. She’ll be an expensive date’.<br /><br />“We got the mussels really cheap from Aldi.”<br /><br />Erin would recommend baby-led weaning to other parents.<br /><br />She said: “Shellfish is best to do really early on - where they can try them in a safe manner.<br /><br />“I’m hopeful she’ll go to a restaurant when she’s older and buy something different.”<br /><br />Erin is continuing to try different foods with Hallie to develop her taste buds.<br /><br />She said: “I want to try lobster next.”
