Baby Care Tips – Sterilizing and Food Preparation
Samantha Cooper / Thursday, November 25th, 2010 / No Comments »
For babies older than six months, it isn’t necessary for the first solids to be completely smooth and soft, and you can start introducing some texture quite quickly, depending on your baby’s preferences. Fork-mashing is simple and easy, but there are several useful pieces of kitchen equipment to help you with larger quantities.
For ease and speed, an electric liquidizer is by far the best. You may be able to buy a liquidizer attachment for your mixer, or purchase a freestanding liquidizer unit. A food processor works well, but make sure the food is blended to the required smoothness before offering it to your baby, as processors can miss the odd lump, especially when processing small quantities. A hand-held electric multi-mixer has the bonus of reducing washing up by mixing foods in the serving bowl. If you prefer to puree food by hand, then a sieve (strainer) or hand mill are both perfectly adequate and are much cheaper alternatives.
Food Hygiene
Young babies can easily pick up infections, so it is vitally important that all equipment is scrupulously clean before use.
• Always wash your hands before handling food or feeding equipment.
• Items such as bottles, feeding spoons and serving bowls should be sterilized until your baby is six-and-a-half months old. Sterilize equipment by boiling it in a pan of water for 25 minutes, immersing it in a container of cold water with sterilizing fluid or a tablet, or by using a steam sterilizer. Larger items such as a sieve, knife, pan, blender or masher, or plastic chopping board should be scalded with boiling water.
• Sterilize all baby equipment until your baby is six-and-a-half months; milk bottles, teats and so on should be sterilized until she begins to use a cup.
• Never use equipment used for the family pet when preparing baby food. Keep a can opener, fork and dish specifically for your pet, and make sure other members of the family are aware of this.
• Once cooked, cover all baby food with a lid or plate and transfer to the refrigerator as soon as possible. Food should not be left for longer than 1 and a half hours at room temperature before either refrigerating or freezing.
Sterilizing in the microwave
Microwave ovens are not suitable for general day-to-day sterilizing without special equipment, and many health authorities and mother-and-baby experts recommend against using the microwave for this purpose. However, microwave sterilizing units can be purchased for sterilizing bottles, and if you are using one, the manufacturer’s instructions should be followed closely.
Batch cooking
Cooking for a baby can be very frustrating. Those spoonfuls of lovingly and hygienically prepared food, offered with such hope and spat out so unceremoniously can leave you feeling quite indignant.
Save time by cooking several meals in advance. Freeze mini-portions in ice-cube trays, great for those early days when you need only one cube for lunch, and flexible enough for later on when your baby’s appetite has grown to two or three cubes per meal.
Spoon the mixture into sterilized ice-cube trays and open freeze until solid. Press the cubes into a plastic bag, seal, label and return to the freezer. Keep single batches of food in the same bag so that the different flavors don’t combine.
Recycle yogurt containers, cottage cheese containers with lids, small plastic boxes with lids, or use disposable plastic cups and cover them with clear film (plastic wrap). Sterilize the containers using sterilizing fluid or tablets. Cover all prepared foods and label them clearly so that you know what they are and on which date they went into the freezer.
Most foods should be used within three months if stored in a freezer at – 18°C/0°E Defrost plastic boxes in the refrigerator overnight. Ice cubes can be left to defrost at room temperature in a bowl or on a plate, loosely covered with clear film.