First posted when my child was about 7 months.
Unbelievably messy, somehow. We are talking about a simple, friendly, almost smiley yellow banana after all. Honestly, this is best served to a naked baby, but if not I would seriously recommend a combination of fabric and pelican bibs. Banana turns a particularly revolting and utterly permanent black colour on clothes, so cover up well.
I find the best way to serve a banana to my little monkey is to chop it in half across the middle and then peel it down the sides as if it were two bananas. I try not to expose more than about an inch and a half of the fruit, because otherwise it breaks off, and I snip off the excess skin with scissors. If I don’t, the baby eats the skin and much as I buy fancy-schmantzy fair trade organic bananas I still don’t think the skin is that desirable for her to eat.
The good thing about doing it this way is that the baby can hold onto the dry skin and eat the flesh without dropping it. She loves banana, and looks unbelievably cute while eating them (see photographic evidence, in particular Miss G).
I have read that bananas can make babies constipated, but then I have also seen them touted as a cure for constipation so who knows? Ask your health visitor (pfffshaaahaahaw!) or instead use your cunning and well-honed maternal instincts to decide if banana has a detrimental effect on your wee one. The nappies are a big clue.
Post Script
About the nappies… someone posted in a complete panic on Mumsnet that their baby appeared to have contracted thread worms and that she had phoned NHS Direct. About fifteen people responded with a calm ‘er, did you give her a banana?’
I’d completely forgotten the shock of seeing your first banana nappy, when Babybear got hers I actually rang my mum. Vile, I tell you, vile. And wormy.
Also, just to let you know that Babybear has long since graduated from the ‘skin-on’ method of banana consumption and now that her grip and dexterity has improved she just takes half of it at a time.
Post Post Script or What I Have Learned about ‘Nanas.
1. You’re doing it wrong. Turns out monkeys open the banana at the blunt end. It seems to keep the stringy bits at bay. Who knew?
2. You can also serve them up by opening the banana, breaking in half and kinda poking your finger into the fruit so that it breaks into three long and perfect pieces of finger food. Which your child will then squash mercilessly into whichever garment or soft furnishing you like best.
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