Giving leftovers to babies

Why is food hygiene important for your baby?

Whilst some might say we worry too much about being too clean, it is important to observe a few simple food hygiene rules when it comes to feeding your family. Your baby’s immune system is less developed than ours, so they can be more vulnerable to bugs so always:

• Washing your hands (and theirs!) before preparing meals for your baby

• Wash bibs, eating areas and their crockery with hot, soapy water

• When reheating baby food, ensuring it’s piping hot throughout, and only reheat once

• Cook all meat through, so you can see no pink and always avoid raw shellfish

Bulk cooking

“Make once and eat twice” is a great motto for feeding your family, including your baby! Try these and see how you get on:

• Cook twice the amount of veggies you would normally cook each night but hold off on salt. Remove half of them and blend with a little olive oil or offer as finger food for your baby

• Once a week, do an inventory of your fruit and veggies: anything starting to look a little sad or you know won’t get eaten in the next day or two, cook up to make a soup or puree for your baby. Freeze any portions that don’t get eaten immediately

• The freezer is your friend and frozen fruit and vegetables are often fresher than in the fruit and veg aisle. You can easily remove 1 portion at a time for baby and reduce waste. Try pre-cut broccoli florets, frozen spinach cubes, chopped butternut squash pieces and frozen berries: half the effort and all the fresh veggie goodness!

Piccolo range and recipes

Remember, you’re not going it alone. In fact, Piccolo’s infant nutrition specialist and nutritional chef, Alice Fotheringham, has put together loads of simple and tasty recipes online to help you whip up everything from first purees to finger foods, family dinners.

Also, for those non-stop days where life takes over, Piccolo pouches can come in super-handy. The wide range of wholesome recipes suitable for every stage of weaning.