Hmm - about pre and probiotics. I did a little project on these a long time ago (so things may have changed since) but at the time they were recommended to avoid/treat diarrhoe in children and adults but not in infants or the elderly. This is because these people are much more prone to overgrowths of bacteria - and "friendly" bacteria can overgrow and cause infection (rather than colonisation which is what you're after otherwise - if your gut is lined with "friendly bugs then there's no space for nasties to grow, plus other stuff I won't bore you with now!!) the same way "unfriendly" bugs can. They are less likely to than "unfriendly" bugs, but it can still happen in the vulnerable (v old or v young). But I see you can now get baby pre- and pro-biotics so maybe the advice has changed in the last few years. At any rate, that's maybe what your GP was thinking of, MrsGP.
And as far as choking is concerned, v scary, but as a medium-term user of MN can I just let everyone know something I was totally unaware of until I started using MN - always cut grapes in half (if you give them at all - obv later on, not now!). They kill afew kids every year, they are the right size to get lodged in babies windpipes, and apparently there's something about the skin that makes them sticky when lodged and really difficult to get moving
Jodie - we eat Yeo valley too, much less scary ingredients! And much tastier IMO, find petit filous taste artificial in comparison.
Loosh I can imagine you mum's horror!! But (as a medium-term MN user, lol!) there are a few threads on MN about how peopel have been told by SCBU that sterilising is not necessary, far better to wash thoroughly in hot water. Besides, at this age, what's the point given what else they're shoving in their gobs (reminds me, really should clean the toys sometime ). 'sgood for the immune system a bit of dirt . Good tip about letting them drink from your glass too, even at 2yo ds1 still seems to think things taste better from our plates/cups, it's amazing what you can get them to consume this way!)
MrsC - aspartame is supposed to be carcinogenic, never give anything containing it to ds1, would rather they had sugar. Sadly, I love the taste of it myself and would drink diet coke til the cows came home ....dammit - this note pad idea is fine, but every time I type something, I scroll up a bit and find someone else has already typed the same thing!!
DH - I'm on facebook, and need lots of friends since I seem to have far fewer than everyone else (only 7 so far )
Right, off for a walk in the pissing rain, the things we do to amuse the kids