Posted by
yuy
16 yrs ago
Hi, I have a simple question.
My baby is 7 months old. In terms of solid food, I have only given him home-cooked meals so far and given him the food at home or outside in the park which is just minutes walk, which in this case I can heat up the food at home.
My question is how do I do this when I am out for hours and still want to feed him my home cooked food?
I guess, I can give him commercial food from a jar, but how do I heat this up? Ideally, I want to give him home-cooked food though.
Also, when heating up baby food, am I suppose to make it very hot first to kill all germs, then let it cool down till ready to eat or just heat it up enough so it is ready to eat? At home, I heat it up till hot and then let it cool down, but when I am out surely there is no microwave. Perhaps just a container with hotwater?
I am sure this are very simple questions for experienced moms, but for me, I am now just wondering how I do this. We are going on holiday to a city (not resort) during easter and will be out most days to look around in the city.
Thanks for your advise.
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You can certainly bring home cooked food. Make soe up and put in old baby food jars. You can keep them in the freezer. At the cafe or restaurant, ask for hot water in a cup or bowl and put the food in there to heat up.
As your child gets older you can bring things like spring rolls, chicken fingers and meatballs. Yogurt is a favorite.
"am I suppose to make it very hot first to kill all germs, "
No need for that. Just heat it so it is warm enough to eat. You don't need to scald it at home either. The food will be suitable for consumption since it was already cooked once.
In any case germs will start landing on the food as soon as you open the container. Neither adults nor children need sterile food. Some doctors will even tell you that regular exposure to germs is a good thing. BTW this is why I find sterilizers for milk pretty silly. It's not sterile anymore as soon as you touch it with your fingers.
My advice: Get out and have fun and don't worry so much about it. Things will be fine.
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yuy
16 yrs ago
Hi axptguy38,
Thank you. I believe you are a dad and have noticed that you have given a lot of useful advise.
I cook for one week and indeed freeze everything and take out the night before what I need for the next day.
In terms of bringing the frozen home cooked food and have it with me the whole day or let's say for 3 or 4 hours or even longer if I bring both lunch and dinner, how do I do it? I guess just in a cool box (seems bulky) or use thise blue icepacks which can keep cool for about 3 hours. Surely I can not just walk around in the city with the food, that suppose to be refrigerated?
Thanks for your advise.
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Yes I am a dad. Thanks for the compliment. :)
It depends on the food, timing and season. In the summer the stuff can be taken out in the morning and just put in a normal bag. After an hour or two outdoors the stuff will have thawed nicely, saving you the trouble. If it is a bit warm when it is time to eat, that's no problem for food safety as long as it is only a few hours.
We do use ice packs on occasion, but only if we are going to put stuff back in a freezer at our destination, like when going on vacation. In other words only if it needs to stay frozen. Otherwise the whole exercise is a bit wasted unless you need it to be cool for some other reason, like ice cream.
Of course, if you're going to be out and about for 10-12 hours before consumption, an ice pack is not a bad idea.
"Surely I can not just walk around in the city with the food, that suppose to be refrigerated?"
Sure you can. You have to remember that food doesn't go bad the instant it isn't refrigerated. Even milk will hold for a good day on the counter. You cannot put the food back in the fridge or freezer after it has been around town, but it is fine to eat and drink.
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I do it all the time, since my baby girl is allergic to commercial baby foods, even the organic ones. I use a Chicco food warmer and I can keep the foods warm for up to 8 hours. I've seen other food warmers by Fisher Price and Zojirushi, which I'm sure works well too. In fact, I've taken the food warmer with me while we travel overseas.
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i used to bring the food in a thermos. the vegies i will undercook a bit since being in the thermos, they will 'keep cooking' and turn yellow if they are full cooked.
they have nice small thermos bowls that are quite appropriate for bringing out.
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I cook all my son's meals and usually when we go out I only take vegetarian meals. That way the meat cannot go off. That's a little paranoid but it's what I do. Saying that though I recently went to Langkawi and being so restricted I took organic commercial foods in pots for my then 7-month old and it was fine. One thing that I have learn't as a mother is it is good to feed your child well but also you need to expose your child to a healthy dose of dirt and germs. That may sound crazy but I have 2 boys and they are so far (touch wood) healthy. I let them roll around outside and I don't wash their hands ever 5 minutes. My point is that your child needs to develop immunity to their surroundings so don't stress too much about some germs.
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Agreed with Angsana. Some "dirt" is good.
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cd
16 yrs ago
I always used to give my kids homemade babyfood (in the days before all these baby food warmers), and I always gave them their milk and food at room temperature, so I never had to worry about heating their food up when out.
Agree with all axpatguy says.
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Food hygiene is an important issue that needs to be considered, especially for small children. You really don’t want him to get any food borne illness especially when you are on vacation. I suggest that you keep the baby food in a good quality thermo container to keep the food at 65 C or hotter. Avoid keeping food in the danger zone: 4-60 C where rapid bacterial growth could occur.
When reheating food, time necessary for adequate reheating depends on the volume and type of food. Therefore, proper procedures for use of microwaves must be followed. Food should be heated to at least 70C internal temperature. When reheated in a microwave oven, food must be reheated in a covered container, and allow to stand covered for 2 minutes after cooking before serving. Stir the food throughout and check the temperature to prevent hot spots that may burn the baby.
Dietician
Matilda International Hospital
Hong Kong
http://www.matilda.org
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