To send this missive to Sainsburys...

[DonutMum]

The content of the note says it all. He gulped so mych air in his screaming that he STILL has wind.

"I am writing to complain about a ludicrous situation I found myself in at your Stanway Colchester store today. I asked the restaurant to fill a container with hot water so my baby's bottle could be heated. My baby, who is 5 weeks old, was screaming. I was told that they could not give me water due to health and safety law (!) and they would heat the bottle for me. Are you seriously expecting customers with children who find themselves in this position to be willing to allow a spotty nineteen year old boy to judge when a baby's milk is warm enough? In the event, the milk was overheated and my son continued to scream for a further ten minutes causing great distress to me and to him. This is totally unacceptable and I suggest you review your policy to allow mothers to have hot water and therefore judge for themselves when milk has been adequately heated. After all, I could have asked for a pot of tea with the tea bag on the side and used that hot water to heat the bottle. I also find it incredulous that health and safety "law" is given as the reason - it is quite clearly policy. Unless, you can point out where on the statute books this particular law is - "thou shalt not allow people to have jugs of hot water in case, in their infinite cretindom, they burn themselves."

Thank you for your consideration."

[pamelat]

Never warmed bottles either, nor food now.

I think maybe its a bit harsh? Its not just Sainsburys ....

[bundle]

never heated milk for my children
yabu

[fledtoscotland]

Welcome to the UK's pathetic health and safety laws that are designed to protect people from themselves.

go into boots and buy a Fisher price baby bottle warming flask and take your own hot water in future.

[MsSparkle]

YABU. Very. It is not Sainsburys or any other cafe/resturants responsibilty to heat baby bottles. The things people sue for nowadays, it is quite within these places rights to refuse.

You should take a flask of hot water with you so you can heat up the bottle yourself and you just cannot blame Sainsburys for you being unprepared.

Also the letter is dreadful! Being nice and being calm in a complaint letter is always the best way to get a response and to get the person in complaints want to help you. Being rude and bolshy will just make the person dealing with complaints not want to help you and respond.

[hercules1]

They'll laugh at it. Just give your baby room temp.

[hercules1]

Just read more. WHy on earth didnt you breastfeed?

[MsSparkle]

"You might be better served by a polite query asking why it's not ok to get a jug of water, but it is ok to get an open cup of hot black tea or coffee? I'd really like to hear their answer to that."

In answer to that, i believe most cafes/resturants would be insured for someone to burn themselves with a cup of tea/coffee etc but an open container with boiling water for heating bottles wouldn't be covered. Sounds silly i know but true. I guess insurance companies don't see heating bottles as a nesessary thing hence less for them to fork out for.

[BouncingTurtle]

We probably wouldn't need some of these 'pathetic health and safety laws' if we didn't live in such a litigious culture.
Don't be so quick to spout 'Health & Safety gone mad'.
The letter is overboard and unreasonable.
Sorry you had a shit day, donut mum but it is not worth getting stressed out about. You won't change their policy.

[samsonthecat]

Just thought everyone would liketo know that Cafe Nero will supply a flask of boiling water for heating bottles.

[greenlawn]

They will wet their pants laughing at that letter. Sorry, but they will. I used to work in a supermarket as a teenager and anything that came in with the slightest hint of hysteria went on the staff noticeboard for the staff to have a good giggle about. In fact at the staff Christmas party they used to make a point of reading out the funniest complaints.

If you really want to complain, keep it very brief and very factual. References to staff personal appearance aren't going to help you.

[ravenAK]

Bung a carton of ready-mixed formula, & a clean, empty bottle in your bag, if there are situations where you prefer not to bf.

If dc regularly has bottles, get him used to room temp ones.

[LynetteScavo]

DonutMum that letter is quite hysterical.

If your baby is likely to need a feed when you are out, can't you take warm water, and then add the powder?

On line shopping is probably the way to go for you.

[MsHighwater]

I think you have been given a ridiculously hard time on this thread. By all means, dial down the fury and concentrate on your logical argument - which is sound imo - and your letter is more likely to be taken seriously. Also do change incredulous to incredible for the same reason.

[PeaMcLean]

What a vitriolic thread. Calm down you lot and stop having such a go.

And the PFB comments are offensive. Were you never first time mothers?

(I have noticed that the OP is not, as it turns out, a first time mother but the point still stands about some of the assumptions on here)

[KatieDD]

Sainsbury's are not obliged to help you to FF your baby, if you're not a first time mum then I'm surprised you're not more organised you must have come across this before. No way would I have let my newborn scream whilst waiting for a bottle to cool down, why didn't you go and buy him a carton of formula and take some responsibility. If I'd been in the cafe, I'd have gone and bought it for the poor little soul myself.

[ladymariner]

It would still have been cold, katiedd, you'd have been better off buying her a flask to keep a bottle warm in!!

and then perhaps you could have helped her instead of having a go at her.

[KatieDD]

How would it be cold, it would be room temperature which is actually how you are supposed to feed milk.
You do not make up bottles, put them in the fridge and then heat them up and then wait for them to cool down. That might be why the baby has tummy ache/is still so unhappy.

[ladymariner]

I always warmed ds' bottles up, not hot but warm, he never had a tummy ache from them.

But hey, we can't all be perfect

[KatieDD]

It's not the heating up the bottles that would make him ill, if the bottle was allowed to cool and then given straight away.
It's the heating, cooling and reheating which is not advised to say the least.
But if we are talking about perfection, I just put a boob in my baby's mouth and avoided the whole circus, shame the little one had to scream himself sick though because the mother isn't organised.

[ladymariner]

and there you go again, why do you feel it necessary to be so hostile to the op?

I agree the letter was a bit ott, and it is a pity that her baby was screaming, but how do you know that he hadn't woken up yelling? I know my ds used to open his eyes and then open his mouth immediately after, and I certainly wasn't "disorganised".

If she was in such a state like that then a bit of sympathy wouldn't have gone amiss, imo.

[expatinscotland]

i could comment, but i won't .

[expatinscotland]

i could comment, but i won't .

[BitOfFun]

Expat, please do, I would love to hear your take on this - I think I have been quite out of step in enjoying the OP's letter and agreeing with it!