Remember in the first 1000 days, it’s important to introduce a variety of healthy foods to your baby’s weaning diet as this will improve their eating habits later in life.So does this mean that you have to slave over the stove every day to create a different culinary delight for your baby?......Not at all! Any spare time that you have now is precious and you should use it to enjoy your baby or to rest yourself when your baby is asleep.
A great idea is to pick one or two days during the week to throw the apron on and cook large quantities of different weaning foods. Then you can freeze single portions in ice-cube trays or small plastic weaning pots to use for future meals. Your frozen purées will be just as nutritious for your baby as freshly prepared weaning foods.
The following are some simple tips for freezing your baby’s meals:
- Once you have cooked and pureed the food, allow it to cool and freeze immediately.
- Freeze foods in ice-cube trays or small plastic pots.
- Cover ice-cube trays with cling film and label the type of food and date with a waterproof marker.
- Use one ice-cube tray for potato/pasta/rice, one for vegetables/fruit, and one for meat/poultry/fish/pulses.
- Empty the frozen cubes into a freezer bag so that you can reuse the ice-cube tray for more purees.
- Use a separate bag for different types of purees and purees made on different dates.
- Your frozen purees can be kept for up to 3 months.
- Don’t refreeze thawed meals as this can cause your baby to become unwell.
- Thaw foods in a fridge over several hours or by heating gently in a saucepan, or defrosting in a microwave.
- Reheat foods until piping hot the whole way through. Allow it to cool and you should test it with a different spoon before giving it to your baby.
- Don’t reheat the meal more than once.
- Don’t keep your baby’s unfinished meal to offer it to them later in the day as this can make them feel unwell.
