Is Baby Garlic Breath Really A Bad Thing?

I love garlic. I'm Italian, therefore I am required by the laws of genetics to exalt my undying adoration for the glorious little white bulb of deliciousness from the highest mountain tops.

However, garlic breath is not a pleasant scent anyway you slice it.



Our little Ian is a very picky eater. Without getting into too many gorey details, the little guy refuses to drink out of a bottle or sippy cup (I'm afraid that I may be nursing him until he heads off to kindergarten), he really dislikes store-bought baby food (he will occasionally eat apricots or peaches if he is famished) so I puree fresh fruits for him, and anything other than fruit is strictly off limits unless I'm up for contending with baby dry (and sometimes not so dry) heaves.

So imagine our surprise on Saturday night when he picked up a big garlicky breadstick at Pasquini's and began gnawing away. He was in a foul mood when we got to the restaurant, but with each additional gnaw his frown began to turn upside down. Yes, I am envisioning the kangaroo jumping on the frown and turning it into the smiley "U" in the Toys R Us commercials - circa 1983.

Ian has struggled with some serious teething issues the past few weeks, and smiles have been few and far between. Nothing we did really seemed to improve his mood.

We took him to "Create Playdate" at the Denver Art Museum and let him play with crayons and feathers and this is the face we got:



So we moved on to the blocks....



But oh the magic of a garlicky breadstick......



And tah-dah........smiles!!



See my teeth - it feels sooooo goooood on my teeth!



After dinner, I picked up my happy bouncing baby boy and smothered him in mommy kisses. It was very strange to get a strong whiff of garlic coming from that sweet baby mouth that usually smells like....well, baby's breath. It's kind of like biting into a piece of chocolate and rather than tasting chocolate you taste black olives (I've done that more than once).

But the question I pose is this: Is Baby Garlic breath really that bad if it brings a smile to the face of my sweet little teether?

In this case, I chose to go with the wisdom of the great philosopher Sheryl Crow - "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad."