Reheating frozen baby food in microwave

I don't think you need to go that far, netgran, the food should be perfectly safe after being heated in the microwave from frozen. One of my DD's girls was very often sick at night while the other was fine - some children seem to be prone to it but they grow out of it!

Thanks for the reassurance Anagram - glad I didn't make an issue out of it with D/D - will cook from frozen from now on but I still think it should be piping hot not just warm as daughter does it.

Thanks for the reassurance Anagram - glad I didn't make an issue out of it with D/D - will cook from frozen from now on but I still think it should be piping hot not just warm as daughter does it.

I agree that the food should be heated through thoroughly from frozen or thawed, and then left to cool until the right temperature for the baby. This applies to food for grown-ups as well.

Can you add some water to the food that is drying out too much?

I do add water to things like cottage pie but meals like kedgere etc go a little sloppy. Daughter tends to cook a lot in the microwave including ready brek whereas I just heat the milk to boiling (there goes my boiling gene again!) then mix it with the oats. Mine is much nicer obviously

I think it's another generation thing! I was always very sceptical about microwaving until I realised how handy it is. I'll always remember my former MIL expressing doubts when I boiled frozen peas for the three minutes advised on the packet. She said 'Don't you think you should boil them for longer - I always do mine for 20 minutes.' She couldn't accept the difference between frozen and fresh peas.

Do you remember making up a whole 24 hours worth of baby bottles - I couldn't nurse my youngest due to severe mastitis(still remember the pain). That was a job I did after sluicing out the nappies and putting them into the washing machine. When my DIL stayed with me early in my oldest GD's arrival I offered to make up the feeds for her - thinking I was being helpful. Oh, we don't do that nowadays it has to be made fresh for each feed. Once, when the baby was crying inbetween feeds I suggested a small amount of boiled water, thinking maybe the baby is thirsty. Before our day babies were given rosehip syrup in the water or even, god forbid, 'sugar water'. We don't give babies plain water now - never did clear up why. Lastly, when the baby had been having a good sleep DIL said she'd better wake her up for her feed. Wake her up!! apparently they don't demand feed like we did and even give them a 'dream feed' at night. Oh well, for their first year Elizabethan babies were severely swaddled to a hard board to stop them moving their limbs, as it was felt they could injure themselves. Wonder if that will make a comeback in the future.?

Both of my GC had their bottles made up for 24 hours, only stipulation was that they were not stored in the fridge door as it is not cold enough. GC also had plenty of fresh boiled, cool water. Why would you not give plain water ?

Going back to the comment about fresh peas. You can eat them straight out of the pod! No way do they need to be cooked for twenty minutes! Dried peas maybe need that after an overnight soaking, but fresh peas can be eaten raw. Did nobody else do that as a child — be given the job of shelling peas sitting on the back doorstep? And eating a few while you were at it? Actually, I think it was my mum's way of getting us to eat some peas .

Netgran the frozen food should be thoroughly cooked through so it is piping hot, not warm as your daughter has been doing. It's the same as the instructions on frozen ready meals. My daughter used to make lots of meals and freeze them for her twin boys, and they took quite a long time to cool down after re-heating in the microwave, so for some meals and soups she would make them extra thick so they could be cooled down with either milk or water to speed things up.

harrigran don't ask me why not - my DIL researches everything on the internet and takes that advice rather then anything else. With her first child unless it was on the internet or the book/books she was reading she wasn't having any other advice . I remember saying to her 1] the baby hasn't read the book and b] they are guidebooks not manuals. She is a lot more relaxed with this baby, weren't we all, and has broken some of her own rules.

Bags one of DH's little treats is when I buy a bag of "poddy" peas for him. He eats them like sweets. (And leaves the pods lying around, but that's another story!)

Thanks for that tip I will gently suggest this to daughter once I have gotten over telling her to re-heat to boiling point!
As for our generation of bringing up kids - how did they ever survive? I used to prop up my D/D in the pram with a pillow. Heaven forbid!!

netgran, at the age of 2, my grand son eats the same as us when we look after him, (I cook without salt) and as far as I can remember so did my own children at that age. Why the frozen and re heated meals? When they have puree, fair enough, it is easier to do a batch, but surely, at 2 they can eat adult food? Much healthier than re heated food I feel. And as for feeding warmed up food, from frozen, I think you are right, this is the cause of most of the sickness. You carry on with "boiling point". The food might be dry, but at least it will be germ free!

Hi olliesgran
The reason they batch cook for grandson is because they don't eat until 8pm most evenings as daughter and son in law work alternative late nights. Also - they cook a lot of spicy food which he doesn't like. I stayed over last week and suggested I cook dinner for us all. I suggested Gammon and pineapple with gersey royals and my son in law joked about the dish being 'so seventies' needless to say I withdrew my offer

Cheeky thing!

netgran how rude of them! That was a dish you could all have enjoyed! including GS. Life isn't easy for working parents and they have to find their own way, but frozen food just warmed up would be on my danger list!

netgran he would never get an offer again if he refused that when I had offered,does he have "gourmet" every evening.So right about "boiling point" for reheated food just reheat it well before he is ready to eat and it will be well cooled down for him well done to your daughter for doing his meals from scratch and looking after his diet its good to hear.