Breastmilk from a well nourished mother is actually fairly rich in polyunsaturated fats... Even in people who aren't eating SAD. If he is weaned already he might be craving it for a reason.

If you scroll down on my link to the macro/micro nutrient chart for breastmilk you'll notice that the average full day of breastmilk or raw milk formula includes about 5 grams of PUFA's a day and it's Actually mostly omega 6. So if you arent using much cooking fat or using mostly beef fat for your toddlers food, he might be needing more PUFA's as counterintuitive as that will sound to this crowd. Maybe let him have some canned sardines instead if you're really worried about it. He hasn't spent his entire life eating soybean oil so you're not having to fix any ratio damages. My son takes Cod liver oil (twinlab) and so he gets about a teaspoon of fish oil a day but he's also breastfeeding for about 80-90% of his calories

Mamas from a parallel dimension. My kiddo prefers fish oil to candy on occasion as a motivator too, usually to be lured out of hiding places for nail clipping or hair brushing, both of which he thinks are child abuse.

And to all of those people who are saying, "Be a parent, and just do what needs to be done," we are doing what needs to be done, and in a way that reduces conflict, I dare you to come and cut my kid's toenails when he doesn't want to have it done (which is always). We're dealing with 2-year-olds here, cut us some slack.

As long as the bottle is child proof and out of reach I think your strategy is awesome here, just think of the mind patterning you're doing for his future, he'll be conditioned to celebrate life's little victories with a big piece of salmon instead of a candy bar.

I think your worries about the dosage are founded though, you don't want a grumpy amped-up kiddo tearing around your house with serotonin syndrome. Our solution has been to start buying the non-concentrated fish oil (we get the Carlson stuff that takes 5 capsules for an adult dose). One of these capsules is a slightly lower (320mg omega 3--160mg EPA:100mg DHA:60mg other omeaga 3's) than the dosage in the more expensive kid versions (which I remember having about 400mg Omega 3 total, don't remember the breakdown). A couple of those per week doesn't seem like a big deal.

I follow the dosage instructions on the Nordic Naturals kids fish oil bottle. I have heard conflicting reports about too much EPA causing problems during brain development. This is something I would get to the bottom of before letting him eat them. Mine love it too because they see me take it.

I would think it is ok, after all inuit kids get a lot of fish oil in their diet naturally. However I think a better choice would be high vitamin cod live oil which he probably wouldn't like. Kids that age if not exposed to junk will naturally eat what they need. Their was an experiment done maybe 50 years ago that tested what toddlers would eat if they had free choice. A smorgasboard of food was laid out for them and they were alowed free range to eat whatever they wanted. They seemed to instinctively know what their bodies needed at that particular time and ate a balanced diet overall. I think the influence of unnatural foods skews that instinct though.

A child after my own heart... I don't know why but I find them yummy too.

A child needs fats and oils at this age, for brain and neurological development. If kiddo has been weaned & isn't eating dairy, these supplements might be an extremely good idea.

It looks like this children's DHA supplement is recommending 240-370 mg per day for your child's age group. So I would say one of your adult tablets daily. (I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice! ;) )

Too funny! You're not the first parent with this phenomenon to ask on paleohacks, even this year: parent of a five year old. If it's only a cap here and there, don't worry about it, but do keep the pills where little hands can't get to them-

There's no point in anyone taking fish oil. You should be balancing out PUFAs in general with stable fats, not with other types of PUFAs.

I would track how much he is eating, as too many PUFAs of any sort can be problematic.

I'd just keep it in moderation. ANother question to ask is if the child might be craving more fat in general. Maybe you should consider the child's access to fat from all sources, fatty chicken skins, fatty fish and fish skins, fat on steak, etc. Does the child eat until satiated on those or is he left wanting. Is the child eating all he she would prefer to eat of fat sources in general? Would the child enjoy more fresh fish? Just because the child likes the pills does not mean the pills are the absolute best healthiest source of that which he craves. Personally, I do not trust pills full of old preserved oils as being super healthy. But I would guess they are not harmful if taken in moderation and for many people eating a low fat diet in hopes of being 'healthy' those pills may even be a life saver. HOwever, for paleo eaters, I'd say the best is to eat fresh fish, not pills. Or in this case, don't eat to many of them. Remember that those pills are blood thinners! Some people have had to cut back on fish oil pills because of too thin blood and excessive bleeding problems. It's a mistake to assume that one ingredient (fish oil) taken out and preserved in an unnatural form would be superior or even equivalent to the same ingredient in its natural context (ie fresh fish). Yes, the innuit ate a lot of fish oil. They also ate (in the past) a lot of fresh foods and very little garbage food. And they ate a lot of fish oil because they had no choice. It's hard to say if all that fish oil was truly the very best diet ever for them. COuld be they just adapted to it over time and also lived healther than us in many other ways. Personally, I don't take fish oil pills as I don't see enough evidence that a person eating plenty of other healthy fats also needs pills of oil. But I suspect moderate dosages probably would not hurt. Moderation is a good way to go when you are not sure... -Eva