12 January 2024 , 15:58
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Those early days of parentings are hard, and mistakes are inevitable.
If your little one is struggling to form a routine and subsequently keeps you up all night, you're probably sleep-deprived and grouchy. And while things will slowly improve with age, parents rarely get the amount of rest they need.
One pair of parents who haven't been able to get some much-needed kip have issued a warning to fellow parents after mistakenly feeding their baby ice cubes. The couple were so tired they misread the contents of a baby food poster guide they had been given, and want to make sure no other parents do the same.
Sharing their story anonymously last year, one of the parents said the poster they received had an ice cube to illustrate how much of a type of food to give them, such as one ice cube's worth of peas, two ice cubes worth of carrots. In a sleep-deprived state, they misread the poster and thought they were supposed to be serving their baby two to three ice cubes a day.
They only realised their error when they tried upping the amount as the baby grew. Sharing the story on Reddit, one of the parents said: "For six months it said 'veggies and fruit, smooth texture, two to three ice cubes twice a day'. Never heard of the ice cubes thing but it was a reputable company so we just went with it and started feeding our son fruit and veg with a side of ice cubes.
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"By seven months it said 'fruit, veg, dairy, eggs, grains and pulses, three to four ice cubes three times a day'. I thought, wow, he's hardly eating the three ice cubes we're currently giving him, he just pushes them around his high chair a bit and licks them, but whatever, we upped the ice cube portion."
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The post added that when their mother-in-law came round to visit, she questioned the parents on why they were giving the child ice cubes as she worried it would give him brain freeze. "It was only later that night, when I really thought about it, that I realised it meant portion size," the parents confessed. "All this time in our sleep-deprived stupor we have been serving our baby son ice cubes every day."
After sharing his story online, other Reddit users found the incident hilarious and flocked to comment on the post. One said: "I'm absolutely rolling from, 'he's hardly eating the three ice cubes we give him'."
While a second said: "I cracked up at the image of the kid licking and pushing the ice cubes around his high chair in confused disgust." And a third added: "As a fellow parent I can safely say this will only be one of many goofs you make. At least this one is harmless and funny."
According to BabyCenter, you shouldn't let your child have ice until they are around four years old, as they are a choking hazard.
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