I think my main top tip is ‘Try It Out’ - you really don’t know if your baby will like a food unless you try them. Today, for example, baby Boomer loved some crayfish tails with pretty spicy sauce. Grandmaw was quite surprised especially as she drank quite a lot of water after her spicy crayfish salad.

 

Other surprising things Boomer has tried and liked are ;

 

Lovely juicy organic mint and lamb burger (eaten outdoors at a food fair)  – admittedly I held this while she sucked at a bit but she was peeved when I removed it.

 

Very, very, very mature cheese – this stuff was strong, the kind of stuff that even the smell makes you wince

 

Bit of Naan dipped in curry sauce – admittedly quite a creamy sauce , and before you shriek in horror it was only a tiny bit so she could join in with the social side of Mummy and Daddy’s Friday night take away binge.

 

Please don't judge me harshly , these represent only a small section of our diet, there is plenty of fruit and veg in a normal day - honest.

At about 5 ½ months I went to get Boomer weighed, I was instructed to immediately start feeding my undernourished baby (baby who is complete with bracelets of fat and double chin). I rushed home and started mashing everything in sight – cat escaped relatively unscathed. Over the next few days Boomer seemed nonplussed about any of the tepid mashed delights I offered her.

 

I then discovered baby led weaning, I instantly loved the idea unfortunately it left me with the slight issue of what to do with my ridiculous sized portions of frozen mashed carrot, broccoli, sweet potato  etc.

 

These are the few ways I have devised to use the frozen delights and still stay pure to my ‘waste not want not’ ethos

 

1. make that margarita interesting and almost healthy with a carrot ice cube
2. soothe those tired eyes with slices of frozen broccoli
3. be the life and soul of  any party with pre-frozen comedy vomit
4. have ‘conscience free’ playtime fun with you baby and biodegradable building bricks

 

or alternatively sod it and chuck it all out

A lovely word, that...stains. Really sums up the glamour of being a mother, I find. Anyway, I am most flattered to have been asked (by a real live person called Jenn who I don't even know) to start thinking about how to get food debris out of clothing, bibs and soft furnishings. Hmmmmm.

I can tell you what NOT to do, for a kick-off... under no circumstances spray Vanish onto sofas or carpets, as it bleaches the colour right out of them. I am now forced always to sit on the same cushion to conceal the fact that it is markedly paler than the rest of the couch. My husband has pointed out that it also affords the best view of the television but he is just being needlessly critical.

As far as I can make out, banana is indelible. You could use it to write protest graffitti  on council buildings and it would be there until your baby is old enough to vote. I tend to dunk banana bibs in water as soon as she's finished eating. In fact, I think that's perhaps the secret. Make sure that you scrape any actual food off the bib and dunk it in water. After a few days in the laundry bin they start to smell, which I find to be a handy reminder that I need to put another bloody  washing on.

And I do use Vanish for other things, such as peach and pear, with some success, but I'd be very interested to see if anyone has any tips which don't involve me burning my Fairy-soft hands with an industrial solvent.

So come on Mysterious Jenn, whoever you are, or anyone else... can anyone help?