Child Car Seats - What does the law say?

The present legislation on child car seats is as follows:

• Under 3 years old - A child car seat is mandatory but may not be placed on a seat with a frontal airbag. If the vehicle does not have seat belts fitted, the child may not be transproted in that vehicle
• 3 years to 12 years or less than 1.35 metres tall - A child seat is mandatory in all vehicles fitted with seat belts. If the vehicle does not have seat belts, the child may be transported on the backseat
• Over 1.35 metres tall or over 12 years old - Use of a seat belt is mandatory, if present in the car.

These obligations apply in all European member states.

Why do we have Pumpkins at Halloween Mum?

I was a bit stumped for an answer but luckily Netmums were able to help me out:

The carved pumpkin - or Jack o'Lantern - is the most obvious symbol of Halloween and originates in Ireland. Its popularity spread with the first Irish immigrants to America who where able to use the widely available pumpkins to carve lanterns from. The tradition is based on the ancient Irish legend of Jack, a notorious ill-doer who turned against God and tricked Satan, thus being denied entry to both Heaven and Hell. Instead he had to stumble through eternal darkness with just a single ember glowing in his lantern to help him along the way.

So now you know!

Pumpkin Ideas

With Halloween just around the corner parents will be busy carving out pumpkins for the little ones to enjoy. Don't forget though that pumpkins are for eating too.

They are an ideal weaning food as they can be boiled and mashed. The easiest way to cook pumpkins are to halve them, scoop out the seeds and then chop into pieces and then either boil, roast or microwave. The skins are much easier to remove after they have been cooked. Some tasty ways to cook are:

Mashed Pumpkin Cook cubes of squash in a microwave with a couple of cloves of garlic, and mash with butter and a bit of cream . You can combine with carrots for a colorful and tasty mash.- very nice with fish, steak, chicken or sausages.

Roasted Pumpkin Leave skin on and cut up as you would for potatoes, add a crushed clove of garlic, drizzle with olive oil. Cook as you would for roast potatoes but won't take as long.

Pumpkin or Squash Risotto. Steam or microwave chunks of pumpkin until soft. Cook some chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil until soft. Add 150g of risotto rice and gradually add 3/4 - 1 litre of liquid (chicken stock, veg stock etc) stirring frequently until all the liquid has been absorbed. Mash the butternut squash and mix into the risotto. Add some bacon for a really tasty dish.

Pumpkin Soup. You can use butternut squash too for this recipe as it's sweet and therefore popular with children. Fry a finely chopped onion and a finely chopped clove of garlic in a small amount of olive oil. De-seed the squash with a large dessert / soup spoon. Peel and chop it into cubes.
Add the butternut squash cubes to the frying pan, add a teaspoon of turmeric (optional) and saute for a further 5 minutes. Season with black pepper. Add a litre of stock and simmer for half an hour. Puree in a blender.

Have fun this halloween!

Tips for Weaning

Since most babies are born with a sweet tooth (breast milk is naturally sweet), you should have no trouble in getting your baby to enjoy eating fruit. Fruit that is fully ripe is naturally sweet. Most fruits provide vitamin C and minerals and the yellow fruits contain vitamin A. At first a baby should have cooked purees of fruit like apples and pears or uncooked mashed banana, gradually introducing other mashed fruits.

The Wean Machine is a great little gadget to help prepare fresh baby food with no mess and no fuss. It can be used at home or on the go, so you always know what is going in your baby's food. Simply fill the bowl with the food, squeeze the handle to puree to the desired consistency and spoon feed your baby straight from the bowl.

Kiwi & Banana

Kiwi fruit are very good for your baby as they have more vitamin C than an orange! Make sure you choose a very ripe fruit, otherwise it can be sour.

Makes 1 portion

1/4 ripe kiwi, peeled

1/4 ripe banana peeled

Puree the kiwi and strain through a fine sieve to get rid of the black seeds. Mash or puree banana and mix with kiwi. Eat straight away or banana goes brown.

Courgette and Banana Puree

This may seem a strange combination but they complement each other well.

Makes 2 portions

1 small courgette, trimmed and sliced

1/2 small banana, peeled and sliced

Steam the courgette slices for approx 8 minutes and then puree with banana.

Avocado, Banana & Yoghurt

This was my favourite! Serve with or without the yoghurt and eat straight away before the banana turns brown.

Makes 1 portion

2 slices avocado

1/2 small banana, peeled

1 tablespoon natural Greet yoghurt

Scoop the flesh of the avocado from the skin and mash it with the rest of the ingredients. Yum!

Why not share some of your recipes with us. We would love to hear what has been successful for you.