On Jul 10, 2004, at 11:15 pm, Michael Weis wrote:
> children who put objects into their mouths at the stage of development
> you are describing will put any object into their mouths whether they
> are
> hungry or not, whether it is good for them or not, whether it is
> edible or
> not. This is a well known-stage of child development and is not about
> food.

Is it not possible that the children just want to taste the objects?  I
had a similar experience yesterday when I gave a pistachio to someone
who looked like he'd never even seen one before.  He looked just like a
child when he put it in his mouth, and spat is straight back out.
Maybe children are trying to connect sight to taste, so that when they
do start eating solids, they have an idea what is safe to eat.

Ashley