First-feeding traditions continued

Hi Margie! I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season! I enjoyed the interview notes about Indian baby food traditions. I showed it to a colleague from Pakistan, and she reports that Sandra's answers are very similar to her own. She brought up two additional baby food traditions from Pakistan: ghutti and sooji (these are the spellings she gave me, forgive me if they are incorrect). Sooji is a semolina pudding that is a traditional first food in Pakistan, and very popular with young children. It seems quite similar to the "Cream of Wheat" cereal that I grew up eating.

Ghutti is a bit more complicated, and is in a similar vein to the annaprashan tradition that I posted about previously. My colleague described ghutti as a ceremony of first feeding, where a very young infant is given a taste of honey from a respected relative. She said she was so nervous about giving her newborn honey that she sent her husband all over the city looking for a pasteurized form. When I looked further into this tradition, it is actually described as part of a general family of "pre-lacteal" practices, meaning that the newborn is fed something prior to tasting mother's milk.

I found an interesting article for medical providers that describes the various ways Hindu and Muslim families observe these ceremonies. One example from the article is the Muslim practice of tahneek: "A softened date is rubbed into the infant's upper palate by a respected member of the family in hopes that attributes of this individual will transfer to the child". This hints at another aspect of this practice: the taste of sweetness is the goal -- I don't think anyone expects a newborn to swallow fruit. As with my prior reading on annaprashan, I was surprised by the variety and richness of the ceremonies worldwide that mark an infant's first feeding. From my reading, I most appreciated the general emphasis in all of these ceremonies that food is a way to transmit both values and health. How far this is from the day to day approach I witness in my community!

What is your son eating now? Any new discoveries into his likes and dislikes? I know you went to see family over the holidays...did you learn any new baby friendly recipes?

Abbie