Friday 22 May 2015

Weaning Wednesday


I've lived in Ireland for 10 years this August and it never ceases to amaze me.

The love affair with mashed potatoes, well any form of potatoes really. If there was another potatoe shortage any time soon the Irish would need to ship in spuds by the tanker load to keep themselves fed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm partial to a bit of mashed potatoe, a few boiled spuds and of course Sunday roast isn't complete without roast potatoes. But the mountains of mashed potatoes they serve practically with every dinner is going a bit far.

What has this to do with weaning I hear you cry. I'll tell you.

It was easy to tell when Buddy was ready for weaning. We couldn't keep him fed. He was on the hungry baby formula anyway but the constant looking for bottles was getting a bit much.

Being my first I had no idea how to wean, when to wean, what he could and couldn't be given. Herself had weaned two already so was a bit of an expert. We started him on a small amount of baby porridge. He loved it. Then a bit of bread soaked till its mush in vegetable soup.

Things were going well. No need for aeroplane or train noises. I'd not stuck the spoon so far down his throat he gagged. He was eating it all and washing it down with some sugar free flavoured water.

Then a trip to Herself's mother.  All delighted, I told her the progress Buddy was making, all the wonderful foods he'd been trying and eating. You couldn't eat a banana around him, without mashing a bit up for him.

"Have you given him spuds?" She asked.
"Not yet" I said.
"Right, lets give him some"

Off she went, reappearing a few minutes later with a bowl of mashed potatoe mixed with a chicken cuppa soup. Well he hated it. Spat the first spoonful out, pushed the next away, and then whilst Nanny was wiping that up tipped the bowl onto the floor. Accidentally she thought. I saw the intent.

He didn't know there was more. She was soon back with a refill. This fared no better.

"He doesn't like it" I said
"Oh he'll soon get used to it. Just keep giving it to him."

Now that I have children and a lot of our friends and family have children, I've witnessed weaning a lot more. It seems that mashed spuds are one of the first foods given, and if the child doesn't like it. You just keep trying till they eat them.

#BabyPink seems a strong willed sort. I can't wait till her Nanny tries her on mashed spuds. It won't be just the floor that gets it if she doesn't like them.

  Potatoes via photopin (license)
P1030305 via photopin (license)

10 comments:

  1. Ha! Love this, I hated potaoes as a kid #weaningwednesday

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  2. Oh I hated weetabix and porridge nuns used to force me to eat them in the orphanage. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  3. I love this! My older two aren't keen on mashed potatoes and now the little one isn't too fond either. I'm not sure why though because I love them :)

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    1. Must be the texture or something. His brothers not keen on it either. Seems that every child in Ireland has to eat mashed spuds.

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  4. Ha I remember the weaning days, my poor floor used to take the brunt of it! Apart from with my youngest who was a piggy and wouldn't waste a crumb of anything! Stevie :)

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  5. So far none of them have thrown the food all over the floor. #BabyPink is a cheeky monkey so I think sh might be the one to re decorate the kitchen.

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  6. Oh haha I love this. Apparently as a baby I would eat everything that my mum had cooked when it was mixed together and then I would poke back out a piece of potato. No matter what she mixed it with I would find it and not eat it. Thanks for linking up to #weaningwednesday I hope to see you again this week x

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    1. Ha ha that's brilliant.
      None of the kids were as bad as that. I can't see the importance of getting children to eat spuds.
      We've already been asked when we are going to try #BabyPink with some!!

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  7. Mashed potato and carrot, classic weaning winner!

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  8. Mashed potato and carrot, classic weaning winner!

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