My first meal was chosen for me since I was obviously too little to get it for myself. I relied on a ready, free, healthy supply from my mother–breast milk. She was bucking a trend toward formula already taking hold in 1947 and may have been rebelling against her mother’s urge to be “modern.” It was a rounded diet, giving me everything I needed to grow and develop and was my only food for a few months. Then, much to my disgust, I encountered Pablum, a recently marketed cereal for babies. Later we would feed Pablum to our litter of puppies. They seemed to enjoy it.
My siblings were also breast fed until they had the treat of rice cereal added to their meals. By then Gerber had the market on that first baby food and promoted it widely. I remember my mother occasionally leaving a bottle, a can of evaporated milk and instructions to prepare it for the baby sitter for my youngest sister. No commercial formula ever entered our house.
Babies were expected to be pudgy. I remember my mother telling me that when she was young in the 1920’s children were praised for being plump. It was considered insurance against succumbing to any of the childhood diseases still prevalent. The main goal for my diet was that it allowed me to gain weight. Those were the days!
Saved By Words 
I’m pretty sure I was old I was mostly bottle rather than breast fed – born in 56 so maybe mum was on trend…
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A modern mom!
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I still like the phrase “pleasingly plump.”
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I go for “Rubenesque” myself.
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Oh yes, I like “Rubenesque.”
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💃🏻💃🏻
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If only we could look forward to gaining weight now!
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Sadly I have an underweight friend and apparently it is unpleasant to be told to gain weight. I guess you can’t win either way.
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I used to have problems with weight balance due to an illness. Getting to eat all the time could be great, but having to eat all of the time is a nightmare.
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That is what my friend said about having to eat.
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I was also a pudgy baby… and toddler… and beyond. At the age of 10 the doctor suggested my mum put me on a diet and that was the start of a lifetime’s wrecking of my metabolism. When my mum suggested I put my youngest daughter on a diet at a similar age, I said ‘no way’ (even though she did look like a sumo wrestler sitting on the edge of the swimming baths).
By 16, my dumpy duckling had turned into a swan.
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Yes I had a similar experience at 12. I will be posting about that kind of interference in kid’s development. I am sorry you went through that and grateful you intervened on your daughter’s behalf.
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I never liked milk. I don’t drink milk until now. Mom said when I was breastfed as a baby.
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I stopped drinking milk once I tasted coffee in high school. I haven’t touched it since.
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Heyyy!
This is so cutee first meal narration.
Loved it.
Oh btw,
I was browsing through the reader’s section and just dropped by this blog.
This is the first piece of content from your blog, was worth the read. Will look out for more.
-Akshay.
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Thanks.
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I once asked my Mum if I was breast-fed, and she replied “Only for a little while”. As I was chubby on and off as a child, I concluded that breast-feeding actually makes people grow better, and less prone to getting fat. No evidence for that, but it’s my theory! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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There is some evidence for that actually in terms of reduced childhood obesity. Apparently because the mother can’t tell how much milk the baby hastaken in, she can’t obsess about making her finish her bottle when she is already full.
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I think that plumpness in babies is still considered desirable. Both of mine certainly were, Elizabeth, and so is my cute little niece, Coco Rose.
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That is reassuring to know. I didn’t know how far down the thin message had gone.
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