Innosense until proven guilty…what do cats and baby feeding have in common?

According to the Wee Man, quite a lot. He has discovered the art of storytelling, and now whenever something goes as awry in our house, it is blamed on ‘the cat with giant whiskers’. 

For example: 

‘Why are there chocolate handprints all over the sofa?’ I exclaim in exasperation. The Wee Man, grinning at me with his chocolate coated smile, proclaims ‘it was the cat with giant whiskers. His whiskers got in the way of the floor so he jumped on to the sofa and landed in some wet chocolate’.

It might just be me, but I’m suspicious of this.

Likewise, the ongoing mystery of the disappearing sippy cup lids is attributed to this fiendish feline. ‘He has hidden all the lids’ the Wee Man states gleefully. ‘They are too small for his whiskers and he gets milk ALL OVER HIS FACE so he has locked them in a treasure chest in his secret cave’. 

Sadly, although the Wee Man seems to have incredible insight into the ways of the cat with giant whiskers, he unfortunately lacks the knowledge of the location of this secret cave. Which means that Bubby D, with a distinct lack of giant whiskers and a tendency to pour milk all down her front if not supplied with a lidded cup* is left generally looking rather soggy. 

My personal view in this case is that ‘the cat with giant whiskers’ is actually formed from a combination of mummy forgetfulness, toddler postyitis (you know, that thing where they take stuff and post it into other stuff, just because they can) and dishwasher gnomes.**

Luckily, whatever the explanation, there is a solution! Sitting at the lovely afternoon tea provided by Mothercare alongside a demonstration of their new Innosense range (based around a really clever new bottle with an angled teat which helps reduce colic, due to the fact that the teat always remains filled with milk and not air), I was amazed to see a simple and yet effective solution for my infant drinking utensil problem. Basically, it involves small net bags, and a cold water steriliser. 

The bags, which are a bit like the bags you get to put washing powder tablets in only bigger, are sized to take all the bits of one feeding bottle – and the bag can then be hung on a handy little tray which slots into the steriliser. Several of these little bags can be attached to the tray – which means when you need all the bottle parts quickly there’s no faffing around poking through the multitude of parts, frantically flinging bits here and there and muttering curses when you’re left with fifty three bottles, one unexplained unidentifiable plastic thingy and absolutely no lids whatsoever. Instead, you just lift out the bag, and there the bits all are. All the other bottles can be left in the steriliser too, so there’s a bottle there ready when you need one. And unlike many sterilisers, this one has been developed with actual kitchen use in mind, so it sits tidily on the side looking smart, instead of taking up half your chopping room and detracting from the general aesthetics of the area.

I’m pretty sure that opening the nets requires opposable thumbs, so that should foil the antics of the cat with giant whiskers. Now I just need someone to invent a time machine so I can rewind 3 years, armed with the knowledge I have now, and lay claim to all my bottle bits for good!

*the lidded cup does not guarantee lack of milk pouring. It’s just that it occurs at a much more manageable intervention-possibility-option rate.

**they’ve stolen all my knives. It’s the only explanation for my sadly depleted cutlery drawer.