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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this policy is stupid

65 replies

Naffpolicy · 29/04/2018 16:06

Was at a cafe zest for lunch. Asked a member of staff if they could heat my infants meal up in the microwave for 30 seconds only to be told it's against their policy to heat infants food up in the microwave.

So instead I was given a bowl of boiling water to try to awkwardly heat up her trayed meal in.

AIBU to think this policy is stupid? I assume it came about because some thicko parents have burnt their DC mouths having failed to properly check the temp then blamed the cafe.

Would a better compromise not be to have a microwave for parents to heat up the meals themselves like most other cafes? There was definitely space in this cafe for that to be an option.

If I hadn't already the rest of the family meals I would've tried somewhere else, but DC was getting restless. Should've checked first i suppose.

OP posts:
SleepingStandingUp · 29/04/2018 16:35

Tesco def has a microwave in the seating area and somewhere else I was the other day. They rely on people not bringing in their own ready meal and is stated as for use for baby food. It isn't cheeky to take you're own baby food into a cafe if said cafe doesn't serve food your baby eats, as long as you're buying food yourself and you tidy away / dispose of the baby food mess yourself

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 29/04/2018 16:36

Our Asda café has a microwave to heat up baby food.

Ticketsfrom · 29/04/2018 16:36

You shouldn't microwave baby food - you are supposed to use hot water.
So no of course they shouldn't let you, industrial microwaves aren't the same as the ones at home - they're much more powerful.

PotteringAlong · 29/04/2018 16:38

It’s a cafe, be impressed they let you bring your own food in at all.

Springnowplease · 29/04/2018 16:39

Just buy food they serve. Rude to take your own.

Walkingdeadfangirl · 29/04/2018 16:40

If the staff heat up baby food in a microwave and baby burns mouth, the parent can blame the cafe and sue.
If the parent heats up baby food in a bowl of water and baby burns mouth then the parent has no one to blame but themselves and cant sue cafe.

And people do sue, so its a sensible policy.

Leaving out a microwave for the public to use is likewise a health and safety hazard and cant see a restaurant ever risking that.

DGRossetti · 29/04/2018 16:42

Have things changed since our DSs days (mid 1990s) when we were told very firmly to never use a microwave for babies food ? Never, never, never ?

BackforGood · 29/04/2018 16:43

Agree with everyone else. This has been the rule for decades.
The whole culture of sueing and blaming everyone else for things means that people / businesses have had to become reluctant to help people out by using their common sense these day. It's a shame, but a business can't know that you, OP, aren't "that" parent, can they ?

PinkSkyAtNightAngelDelight · 29/04/2018 16:44

I work in a hospital and we aren’t allowed to heat up milk or food in a microwave in case it’s too hot and we burn your child and you sue. However you are allowed to do it yourself and take full responsibility for burning your own child. Grin

Industrial microwaves are much hotter.

wurlie · 29/04/2018 16:46

Don't think it's a stupid policy at all.

I didn't even use a domestic microwave to heat up baby food at home, always used hot water.

BigPinkBall · 29/04/2018 16:46

You wouldn’t believe how stupid some members of the public really are. It’s all very well saying obviously I would stir it and I wouldn’t burn my babies mouth but some idiot out there would probably heat a baby meal for 3 minutes and give it straight to the child.

hdh747 · 29/04/2018 16:47

I wouldn't expect a cafe to heat up food. I'd take a thermos or cold food if there wasn't anything suitable on the menu.

CoffeAndCream · 29/04/2018 16:49

Most kitchens would refuse to heat up food that they had not prepared!!!
They are liable for the safety of all food they serve.

Either take something cold or use a food flask in future.

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 29/04/2018 16:49

I agree, it's the blame culture we live in and people falling over themselves to sue.

Babies are fine to eat food at room temperature. It's not vital that the food is warm.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 29/04/2018 16:50

One of our local Tesco cafes has a customer microwave. They have a shelf at the back of the café and a big sign over it, encouraging anyone to make use of it.

I use it if I am passing. I carry my lunch in a microwaveable bowl and quite like being able to heat it up if I have been delayed!

Cindie943811A · 29/04/2018 16:51

Plus which the temperature of some food continues to rise after it leaves the microwave. That’s why some food is left to rest. Could seem ok at first and a minute later too hot.

FleurDelacoeur · 29/04/2018 16:51

Disagree with the unreliable 'hot and cold spots' microwave explanation. That's what spoons are for. Stir to get a mixture of uniform temp then check temp is adequate. Not hard really

No it's not hard. But there will still be someone who sues because they were not explicitly told to stir the food before serving it. Just the same sort of person who sued McDonalds for being scalded with coffee because they didn't warn them it might be hot.

Small businesses have to protect themselves - even a case which doesn't get to court could ruin them in legal fees. Agree that a bowl of hot water is potentially more of a risk but at least then the responsibility is with the customer, not the management.

As an aside, I never ever took "baby food" with me to a cafe. From as soon as they were on solids I'd just order something like bread, or just feed little bits of what I was having. If all else fails, whip out an emergency banana.

Yorkshirebetty · 29/04/2018 16:52

It's not a stupid policy. YABU, bring what you need for your child or buy something there.

pastabest · 29/04/2018 16:54

Shock I wouldn't dream of taking in my own food to a cafe for a child eating solids.

They probably are just implementing their bottle warming policy because they didn't know what else to do... after all who takes their own food to cafe in the first place and then also asks for it to be heated up!?

bellsbuss · 29/04/2018 16:54

I had this but the reason why they wouldn't heat it was because it was homemade, they said they are only allowed to heat ready made baby food. This was in Miller and Carter

Oysterbabe · 29/04/2018 16:54

I can't believe people faff around with hot water to heat baby food rather than microwave and give it a good stir.

AntiHop · 29/04/2018 16:55

Yabu. When my dd was a baby, if we were out, I'd either bring food that could be eaten cold, or she'd eat a bit of my food. It honestly never would have occurred to me to bring food out with me that needed heating up.

randomuntrainedcuntowner · 29/04/2018 16:57

This was standard when I worked in a cafe in 1997. Does it really matter?

flufffysockks · 29/04/2018 16:58

Bloody hell everyone acting like the OP is asking for something crazy. It's not unheard of for cafes and restaurants to provide baby milk and food warming facilities. There is no harm in asking.

Somewhere that I go has a microwave and a bottle warmer with a sign saying parents are welcome to use it but they must check the food temperature before serving and the restaurant cannot be held responsible.

Some places don't want to provide facilities and that's fine.

It's dangerous to be faffing about with pots of boiling water when serving staff are constantly rushing about or kids are around so a microwave or electric warmer are definitely preferable IMO.

I've also never been anywhere that objects to bringing in food for very young children and babies.

WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue · 29/04/2018 17:00

I'm a Kitchen Manager and you will indeed be refused in my pub for insurance purposes. The microwaves used in a lot of business kitchens are actually more powerful than home use ones so heating baby food or bottles is risky.

This. YABVU and very ignorant, OP. It’s not a “stupid policy” it’s there for a good reason in the majority of restaurants and cafes.