hot baby food when you're out and about

Often its easier to take your own baby food with you when you're out and about with the wee one for a day - at least this means that you know what their getting and there's no salt/additives/junk in there. That's particularly important for children with food intolerances of course, so what are the options?

Of course many cafes are supremely helpful when faced with a request to heat up some home made food and will either blast it in the microwave or provide some freshly boiled water to heat up a jar. However in recent weeks I've noticed more customers coming to me with stories of cafes or coffee shops refusing to provide hot water to customers on "health and safety" grounds. Whether or nots its true that there is some new regulation preventing the usual assistance - and I have no idea whether it is - this attitude does seem to be increasingly common based on the comments of Kiddies Kitchen customers.

One alternative - and I know people who have done this - is to encourage your baby to eat room temperature or cold food at home so that you can do the same when out and about. Sounds good in theory but I couldn't see my son eating cold pasta for anyone!

Another idea is to carry your own hot water around with you. Many people do this already for warming bottles so I guess its not too much of a leap to apply it to food but you do end up carrying a lot of equipment around.

Maybe the most straightforward answer is to invest in a thermos food flask. At Kiddies Kitchen we have a range of thermos flasks which are specifically designed to keep food hot for up to 6 hours. They all have nice wide neck openings to allow you to spoon food out easily and are nice and compact for fitting into a changing bag or under a pram. Sizes start at 290ml (say, three quarters of a tin of soup) up to 500ml for the older or hungrier kids.

Lots of people are having the same idea and the thermos funtainer food flasks are one of our best selling lines. They are also great for packed lunches - especially at this time of year and if, like some schools I have heard of, yours doesn't serve hot meals - or for taking hot food to nursery.

posted by Richard @ 12:18 PM