Heating baby food in cafes

[mumofjoseph]

I was very disappointed yesterday when I went to the cafe in John Lewis in St David's centre, Cardiff to be told that they would not heat my baby's food. Their reasoning being that their microwave was behind the counter and they could not take responsibility for food I had brought in. They claimed that they "could be shut down!" I responded with my feet and walked acroos the road to Debenhams where they have a micorwave especially for reheating baby food with a clear notice that it is not their responsibility if the food is too hot etc.
In my opinion this is health and safety gone mad!! However, my main issue is that John Lewis set out to have an image of being a family store (see all recent ad campaigns) yet they have built an incredibly expensive, state of the art shop in Cardiff which does not have facilities to feed a child. Of course, the joint parent and child toilets and breast feeding area are very impressive but I found myself a long way from home, struggling to feed my son. Yes I could have bought a jar somewhere in the shopping centre but I actually, I want to give my child homemade food and in 2012 I believe it shouldn't be a problem. Also, if stores such as Debenhams and Pret a Manger can find a way around health and safety rules then why can't other stores such as John Lewis follow.

I don't know why you would even put meat in a puree if you have to carry it round in a warm bag all day. am i missing something.

If something has meat in, doesn;t it need to be reheated to a high temperature, which would, effectively, be far too hot for a child?

YABU. Feed human food to babies.

Sirzy Wed 21-Mar-12 16:32:45 Don't forget that in kitchens they have industrial strength microwaves so the "30 second blast" wouldn't be the same in them.
This ^

Aren't they actually worried about your food contaminating theirs.

My understanding was that in a pro kitchen everythinh had to be completely traceable in case there is an issue. Therefore they cannot allow food not from their suppliers into their kitchen.

A microwave behind the counter is in their kitchen.

I take cartons of formula & jars/pouches. I take jars that are veg or rice pudding that can be eaten at room temp. Formula made with powder should always be heated whenever possible,cartons can be room temp or warm.
My baby refuses to drink milk unless it's warm.
I find that most places will give you a container of hot water,I never use microwaves for heating baby food.

If you give your food to a member of staff to heat for you then they are responsible for heating it correctly, and whether you agree or not that does leave them open to insurance and legal problems should they do it incorrectly. So many possibilities as to how that could happen. They could burn it, leaving your baby without food, and you presumably cross. Or drop it, or melt your container in the industrial strength microwave - are you sure it is commercial microwave safe? Or have your baby food 'explode' in the microwave and have to clean it off. Or not heat it to a decent temperature and risk baby getting food poisoning. Or heat it too much and burn baby's mouth on hot spots. If the baby gets ill from your homemade food there is no way of proving it was not contaminated in their kitchen. I'm not saying your baby would but that's the reason some will heat sealed commercial food.

The microwave is behind the counter and they cannot allow you behind the counter again because of insurance and liability issues. All you need to do is trip over/get burnt by something/electrocute yourself on the microwave and they have no protection at all. They certainly can't allow your baby behind the counter, meaning you'd need to leave him unattended. Then a member of staff would need to show you how to work the microwave. Having worked in many kitchens they are not all simple to use, even after you work out the relative wattage and appropriate heating period for the device concerned in comparison to your normal domestic twist'n'go microwave.

I don't necessarily agree with any of this and yes in some cases 'elf and safety really has gorn mad.

But I totally understand their position. This shop has facilities to feed a child. Highchairs, I imagine, and food suitable for children, child portions and so on? Not to mention their dedicated BF area. They were happy for you to feed your child in their restaurant. They just didn't have the facility to heat up the home made meal you decided was the only thing you wanted your DC to have, for whatever reasons.

If you feel so strongly why not be proactive and suggest to head office that a baby food heating area be installed. Not slate the entire establishment who gave you any number of options to feed your child, just not the one very narrow option you wanted.

So YABU.

I live in the US, which is far more litigous compared to the UK and no restaurant has ever told me they won't heat DD's food. One place overdid it which wasn't a problem as it was a suitable temp within 10mins of frantic stiring.

I precook DD's food and keep it in the freezer so her food needs to be reheated when out and about. I find in the US waiter and kitchen staff are a whole lot more flexible to accomodating parents. In the UK I had attitude on a frequent basis when out dining with DD.

Time, not everyone can do BLW! I've just started weaning DS and while he's absolutely loving purees I do wish I could do BLW as it would be so much easier, but as he was prem I've been advised to stick to puree for now.

Whilst there are many many h&s reasons not to heat up baby food, as others have pointed out there are many places that do do it and I have yet to hear of a story of a baby being damaged, or someone suing for squillions of pounds.

I think YANBU, it really isn't difficult, and as for suggestions of the container melting in their industrial strength microwave, well if they are so incapable that they would put it in for so long that that may happen then they shouldn't be working there. It's not hard to work out just give a few seconds, stir it, give it a few more until it seems hot enough.

Having said that however if they provide suitable food for a baby, and particularly if they are busy, then you should just purchase from them and not use their cafe as picnic tables. But then also as a family business they should try to accomodate for families.

So thats me then, firmly on the fence I guess. :)