Oh for goodness sakes… you know what to do with a carrot.
Peel it, slice it lengthways into quarters, cut into two inch pieces and then steam it for as long as you feel. Start off by doing it for, let's say, 4 minutes, by which time it should be quite soft. Leave to cool or run under the tap, etc etc then give to the bub.
Apart from a peach which my baby grabbed from my hands, steamed carrot was her first food. To begin with she didn't have the knack of chewing or gumming her food so she would lean forward and bite a big chunk off which would promptly fall straight out of her mouth. It was only when I saw some tell-tale orangey 'material' in her nappy that I realised anything had gone in at all.
Carrots are great to take out with you as they aren't terribly messy, and as the babies' teeth start to come in they will enjoy chomping on some raw carrot straight from the fridge. Not a lot of the raw stuff goes in, so it's really for the teething.
Post Script October 2006
Actually, what I've discovered is that carrots are brilliant steamed for starting off, then great raw when those very first teeth start coming in. However, once Babybear began to get the hang of biting (by which I suppose I mean hanging onto the carrot and wrenching it hard out of her mouth) I began to get a bit worried about choking hazards again. So if she gets raw carrot I now give it to her in big fat discs. Although she's gone right off her former favourite so it's a moot point at the moment.
Post Post Script March 2007
And now she's back on the raw carrot again. I suppose it could be considered a choking hazard still, like everything else. But I wonder if the fact that she's eating it as if it's a sweetie outweighs the potential for a wee cough? Anyway, she never has so I'm not thinking about it just now. She likes the lengths quartered and just bites little bits off with great delight. Oh, and she also thinks it is delicious in spag bol, chilli, stir fries etc. It's weird how they go on and off things…
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