In the Gaonh (villages) of Pakistan it is traditional to let a close relative who so ever is present to feed a drop of honey to the new born child…
after that the child is always reminded who it was that gave them the first feeding…and the term used is …Ghuttee!
anyone keep track of who feed them first and what it was they gave them?
also this person’s characteristics are supposed to be influencing the child as it grows up…Right?
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
Your are right. My father gave it to me and people say I resemble my father the most in terms of habits out of my brothers.
Lucky You…:k:
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
My tayyah abu’s wife gave me the ghurthee on the day I was born. I am quite close to her and call her ‘Ammi’ too. She always defends me as she feels a close affiliation to me; I don’t know if that is because of the ghurthee or just.
Alhamdulilah she is a very kind hearted, generous, warm and affectionate person. I have never seen her raise voice/unleashed her temper at anyone and people are always full of praises for her. Her downfall is she is too caring and too soft. She restores my faith in humankind anyway. Some people say there are many parallels between us two. I hope I can be half the person Ammi is, mannerisms and traits wise, inshallah.
She also always says to me, not to do anything which would make her look bad too:hehe: because if I do something bad, she believes that it is due to a trait I have got from her:hehe:
On the other hand, my phupo gave my sister ghurtee and my sister is quite similar to her. They are both very intelligent (Alhamdulilah), very homely,outspoken, possess OCD- like traits, easily-angered and very ‘proper’, to highlight just a few qualities.
I think it is a beautiful tradition.
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
im mad because i was given my ghurtee by a stranger--i mean not really but it was given to me by my tayi jaan's brother's wife! a woman ive never met in my LIFE. im still mad at my parents for doing that lol
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
^that's strange but so is mine. My dads mamoo gave it to me and no one likes him!
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
I love the concept of ghuttee :k: I gave it to my nephew - and I seriously hope my characteristics dont affect the poor guy 
^ 
im happy that none of my parents gave me ghutee. my khala gave it to me and i dunno how she is but atleast im fine i knw that
When my first cousin was expecting , my nana jee insisted I visit Pakistan , coz he wanted me to give ghurtee to the baby .. and then he explained :
like how the christians have godfather/godmother for their kids .... similar concept for ghurtee.. which actually portrays that the next closest person to the parents is the person that gave ghurtee...
and the ghurtee giver feels a sense of responsibility towards that child , say if anything happens to the childs parents then he/she will come forward to look after the kids ...
Its so true actually , I feel so much love for the child now , he is 3 years of age and mashallah the apple of my eye... my nana jee said , in olden days people used to do this, all the more, to keep the bonds of love stronger between the cousins and families .. this was a way of honouring their family members ...
a touching tradition ... :@:
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
CB- I think that makes sense. I feel quite close to my tai and call her ‘ammi’ and likewise she feels she has a responsibility towards me and I don’t see that ‘extra-special’ bond that she has withe me, with my other siblings or my cousins. I was the first girl to be born on both sides of the family and there were plenty of other people who wanted to give it, but I am so glad that it was the person who ended up giving it.
Jaanwar and CB- You two are lucky. I hope both children have that special bond with you for many, many years to come. Aameen.
I don’t like honey, so good job they got me while I was unable to fight back:hehe:
I would be so honoured if anyone even contemplated letting me give ghurthee:cb:
DDR , you know when nana jee was insisting for me to come to Pakistan , i was seriously thinking … heck ,all the way from England for that drop of honey that the child will spit out in seconds .. ! I tried every possible trick to get out of the situation !
but am so thankful to my nana jee who pushed me to do it , the ghurtee giving feeling is a treasured memory now ,..
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
Unfortunately, my parents were alone in the US when I was born so there wasnt anyone they could rely on to do it. Im going to do it for mine though...Inshallah. :)
Inshallah … definitely do it .. I am planning to do the same and keep on thinking which cousin i am gonna get for the ghurtee .. … and then i keep changing my mind about them !
I guess i will get either of my sisters for the ghurtee …
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
my mamu gave me mine......he used to be a cool guy lik he was one of the kids..but he used to discipline us at the same time..and he was sooo good with all us kids..in our family i think hes been asked to do it lik 5 - 6 times to different children...
but he got married a few years back and TOTALLY changed..lol so not such a good ending.
Hum bolay ga toh bolo gay kay bolta hai 
who said you cant have the ghurtee in your 20’s … choose someone and get them to give you the ghurtee ..
Yes very fine tradition!
Yes…you have a right to be mad…so why didn’t you speak up at the time..
but look at it from their perspective…this Lady felt honoured on account of You …Right?
I bet they like you though!..
and neither your looks…:D…just kidding Jaanwar Ji
Mine did too!..Khala’s are the best…:k:
No Doubt!
Ahem…please don’t feed the baby “Chicken Biryani” instead of Honey!..
Yes indeed!
Insha Allah!
OK is it Ghuttee or Ghurtee?
That’s Life!
To each his own!..
What surprised me so far none of the Doctors on GS came forward and objected to giving Honey to a "New Born"**…*Like I have always heard them say…don’t feed honey to the baby!
That was one of the main reasons I wanted their opinion…what is with that???..
Honey is fed to newborns in the third World for ages…granted it is only a small drop of honey…and it gets them smacking their tiny little lips!..***
any one else notice that?
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
i believe on this tradition as in this way we give honour to our loved elders and they feel respected, afterwards the characteristics may differ but at times living in glasshouses is better...................
Re: Traditional First Food fed to new born Babies!
My nani gave me her ghurtee, and she was an alima (may Allah have mercy on her soul). Sigh, needless to say, I am far from being like her. 
BUT, people were very intimidated and scared of displeasing her - :halo:
I dunno .. I thought it was ghurtee .. but no am also confused , it might bhi ghuteee … which one is it?
just few days back , a friend had a baby and we were all over the baby , when her MIL announced it was time for the ghutee and apparently they were about to give him the honey drop , when the nurse wouldnt allow it !
infact the nurse took the honey away from the lady ! they ended up taking a bit of melted chocolate on their finger tip and got on with the tradition ..
I think , all it matters is that it should be something sweet .. or dont know .. maybe i need to refer to nana jee once again !