First tastes

Surprise – babies love ice cream!

I was really careful about what I gave my first two babies. First food was puréed apple, painstakingly pushed through a sieve. But with my third child, I have to admit her first taste of solid food was ice cream – a nice big blob of 99 licked off my finger, to be precise. Not exactly what the baby books advise, but she seemed to like it!

Jackie, mum of 3

Flavour is always a winner

At first I followed the typical baby recipes and gave Joseph lukewarm puréed vegetables (yum?) and fruit. He didn’t really enjoy it, but one day his grandfather gave him some of his hot lentil and bacon soup. Joseph kept opening his mouth for spoonful after spoonful, showing me that he liked warm food with a little bit of flavour. Why should this have surprised me? I certainly wouldn’t want to eat tepid mashed carrot.

Kath, mum of 1

Broth and rusks, anyone?

When I started weaning, my mum told me we were weaned with Farley’s rusks – along with most of the nation at that time – and that my grandmother weaned with whatever she was cooking plus mashed potato. I wasn’t inspired. I tried baby-led weaning with my last baby – bits of banana and apple went down a treat.

Julia, mum of 3

Standards slip…

I’ve found that the more children you have, the less respectable baby food gets:

No 1 child – by the book, 4 months (as recommended then) organic baby rice (with breast milk) and homemade puréed carrots, parsnips and apples. I distinctly remember filling those ice cube trays...

No 2 child – baby rice (breast milk) and pots of carrots then quickly pots of parsnips (no blending or ice cubes here!)

No 3 child – fed chocolate buttons by no 2 child at about 14 weeks, resulting in emergency health visitor appointment (was fine), then ready-made rice with formula milk

No 4 child – refused everything at first, then very fussy so in the end let her have whatever she would eat which ended up being very milky rice, parsnips (pots) and puréed apple. That seemed to last forever – she was also fed inappropriate things by her sisters including quavers, Diet Coke and spaghetti in her first year!

Nicki, mum of 4

When big kids ‘help’

My first daughter had the typical first foods – baby rice and vegetable purées with things like carrot, squash and bean.

The first solid food for my second daughter, however, was at 2 months old when her sister put a blue Smartie in her mouth when my back was turned! One panicked phone call to my mum who said as long as it's gone down OK, she'll be fine. It had and she was!

Ruth, mum of 2