Platter boy!

For the past couple of warm summer months, J has been waking up either thirsty, hungry or both. We have been awarding him gold stickers for every morning he doesn't wander into our room at 5.45am to announce this and, for the most part, it's working.

Not entirely however. It got to the point where I was leaving a glass of water and what he refers to as a "platter" covered in clingfilm, out for him the night before - I'm serious!

A platter can consist of any of the following; fruit (in abundance), cheese sticks, yoghurt, fruit bars and "special drinks" (any live probiotic drink). The picture below is a picture I took this morning of his fruit platter.

Ok, technically that's not the exact picture but you get the idea - fruit and lots of it. He loves it bless him.

Here's the educational part.

J has been eating fruit from day one of moving onto solids and has liked fruit since then; it's his number one choice of snack.

Is there a lesson to be learnt here?

Well yes, actually there is. The lesson is this; if you want your child to have a healthy diet in those important, early years as well as forming healthy eating habits in the long term, then introduce all the good stuff as soon as possible. No child needs burgers and chips. No child needs sweets or coca-cola. Parents and guardians choose to give it to them - at their peril!

Whatever you give them at the start of their lives is what they will continue to eat.

So, now you know who to blame if your child is sat on the sofa watching tv stuffing pizza into their face.