I usually eat low-carb myself, yet I still throw a whole loaf of bread in my trolley every week. The reason? My twins Amy and Maisie are real bread monsters.
With seeds and grains
From around seven or eight months, it's recommended to offer your little one a slice of bread every day. As with every new food, I was ahead of schedule, and started offering pieces of bread just before Amy and Maisie turned seven months. No white bread, as I'd read about here and there, but nice fresh wholegrain bread - with seeds and grains. Both girls were sold from day one.
Ten minutes
I'll admit I was very cautious at first. With the mashed potato, veg, and meat they eat daily, they barely need to chew. How would Amy and Maisie react to something they can't just swallow straight down? Well, they eat their slice of half-wholegrain bread as if they've always done it. Amy in particular can't get enough: I've barely put one piece on her tongue before she's already looking at me with those big eyes, mouth wide open. Her slice is gone within ten minutes. Maisie takes a bit more time - she chews calmly and regularly pushes a piece back out with her tongue. Dipping a piece of bread in Kabrita follow-on milk, by the way, is also a big hit: nice and soft, and they love it.
Homemade fruit spread
Amy and Maisie now each have a slice of bread daily, at lunchtime. I tear off the crusts and save them for the afternoon. On the crustless bread, I spread a thin layer of butter (good for the daily fats your baby needs) and cream cheese, sugar-free jam, or apple purée. If they didn't eat their fruit purée well that morning, I sometimes dip the bread into the fruit, or improvise with a homemade fruit spread - a real winner, by the way, Amy and Maisie love it. Mix a bit of low-fat quark with mashed banana, and spread it on the bread. A guaranteed hit.
Nibbling on a crust
Thought the daily bread ration was over after lunch? Think again. For an afternoon snack, nothing makes Amy and Maisie happier than the bread crusts I've carefully collected and kept in a little bag that afternoon. I put them down in front of the girls, so they can grab the crusts themselves and pop them in their mouths - with a cup of Kabrita follow-on milk alongside, even better. Their clothes go straight in the wash afterwards, and I have to vacuum daily after this whole scene, but how they love nibbling on those crusts. I've recently swapped the mid-afternoon bottle around half past four for the bread crusts, and Amy and Maisie seem perfectly happy with the trade. Just as real bread monsters should be.
Carlijn (26) is the proud mum of twins Amy and Maisie. In everyday life, she works as a copywriter.