'I fed my six-month-old baby McDonald's food and don't see what the problem is'

A parent from Northern Ireland has defended her decision to feed her daughter chips and burgers from McDonald's when she was just a baby.

Jamie-Leigh Gibson, from Antrim, explained how she let her daughter Aniyah eat food from fast food chains such as McDonald's and Burger King from the age of six months old.

The 18-year-old parent claimed that her child "loved" the salty snacks and said she doesn't see a problem with her eating them ocassionally.

The mum, who is currently pregnant with her second child, has assured those who might be concerned that a doctor has confirmed her daughter is perfectly healthy.

Jamie-Leigh decided to speak out about her daughter's eating habits after seeing a story online about a mum who was shamed for letting her baby eat KFC.

She commented on the article on social media, saying: "My one-year-old was eating McDonald’s at six months… she loves herself a handful of chips and a burger."

She claims this comment was met with plenty of disapproval from "older women".

Speaking in more detail to The Sun's Fabulous Magazine, she explained: "No-one in my family and friend group said anything rude or mean but on the comment section of the KFC post a lot of older women weren't impressed that so many of us in the comments had given our kids fast food before they were toddlers but it didn't bother me as I don't know them personally."

The parent continued: "Me and my daughter's doctor know she's healthy and happy, if a child is happy and isn't showing any health issues I don't think people who don't know you should have a say in what your child eats."

Jamie-Leigh goes on to say how her family and friends weren't concerned about the food being unhealthy, but were instead more worried that the child could choke on it.

"She got her first tooth at five months so we gave her half of a plain kids burger and she was eating away at it.

"Everyone who knows me knew I gave her it and they did say feeding her it might be dangerous. They were more worried she could choke but I didn't see it as a problem as she eats vegetables and fruit too."

She added that McDonald's is "just a treat" and that Aniyah doesn't eat this kind of food all of the time.

The little girl, who is now 16-months-old, is also breast fed "so gets plenty of nutrients".

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