Freezing Baby Food

Little Mashies reusable baby food pouches

 

 

Freezing Baby Food and Reusable Food Pouches

Most baby food can be frozen up to about 3 months if the correct steps have been taken to cover the food properly.

Freezing baby food - littlemashies.com

Purees with Milk 4-6 weeks
Fish 12 weeks
Meat and Chicken 12 weeks
Fruits 6 months
Vegetables 6 months

If you do not plan on freezing homemade baby food, it is advised to make and prepare pureed food every other day.

Refrigerator storage of baby food is only two days, at the most.  When refrigerating homemade prepared baby food, it should be stored in a clean single serve lidded container (such as inside Little Mashies food pouches), to keep food safe, and also to make mealtimes more convenient. Little Mashies are BPA free, and dishwasher safe so they are great for using to store bulk made baby food.

Storing baby food

One of the easiest ways to store baby food in the freezer is to use a clean (sterilised) ice cube tray.  To clean the trays prior to use, you can hand wash them with soapy water or run them in the dishwasher (on the sanitise setting). Once the compartments are full with baby puree, cover with reusable plastic wrap and freeze.  If you are making large batches of baby food, pop the cubes from the tray and store them in a silicone freezer bag; that you have labeled with the date and food type, then clean the tray and you are ready for the next batch.

There are many benefits to this type of storage method.  The first being that sections of an ice cube tray are a good serving size and it is cost effective, because you will not be wasting food. By having frozen food prepared ahead of time you will always have food handy and ready for feeding time.  Another great benefit is that it doesn’t take up a lot of room in your freezer, as many ice cube trays are made to stack on top of each other. You can also easily slip 3-4 ice cubes inside a Little Mashies reusable pouch through the zip lock and have a different food combination every day and a handy way to take the food with you when you venture out of the house. Of course though Little Mashies pouches are freezer safe so you can freeze baby food directly inside the pouches if you wish.

For the best quality and optimal nutrient retention, it is recommended to keep baby food in the freezer for no more than three months.  This is suggested because water crystals tend to form on pureed baby food, and valuable nutrients may evaporate during the thawing process.  Of course, if at all possible, use the baby food you have prepared and frozen within 30 days.

How to safely thaw homemade baby food

To defrost in the refrigerator, place the frozen cubes in a serving dish specially designed for babies, or inside a Little Mashies food pouch, and leave overnight to thaw.

You can run a frozen Little Mashies pouch under the hot water tap and it will defrost fairly quickly. Giving it a squeeze whilst the water is running over it will also help speed up the process but usually it takes only a minute or so.

Another method of defrosting is using a water bath.  Simply place the Little Mashies food pouch inside a bath of warm water and give it a squeeze to break up the ice. You can also use a sealed frozen bag of baby food cubes in a bath of warm water (replacing warm water as needed) if you don’t own any Little Mashies squeeze pouches.  Once the food is totally defrosted, place it in the refrigerator until feeding time.

Using the microwave is yet another option for a quick defrost.  Frozen cubes should be placed on a microwave safe dish, and the unit should be set to DEFROST.  The food should be stirred and rotated often during the process otherwise it gets hot spots and can burn your baby. This is also why we don’t recommend heating or defrosting food inside the Little Mashies pouches. Without the ability to stir there is no way to ensure that the temperature is evenly spread throughout the food. Hot spots in food can burn your baby so you have to be careful not to overheat. Make sure that the food has cooled enough before feeding to your little one.

After baby food has been defrosted, it should be used within two days.  Any portion that has not been used, should be discarded that this point.

BABY feeding FAQS

Simply add it to the cart, pop in the coupon code, and it will remove 100% of the price.

At 6 mths of age you can introduce a range of puree's to your baby (see our baby food recipe book and use coupon code RECIPE to remove 100% of the price at the checkout).

For baby led weaning you skip the baby food puree altogether and start with large (2 finger sized) pieces of the food. We would of course do this on our Little Mashies sucky platter! So from 6-9mths of age in baby led weaning foods should be the size of about 2 fingers so that the baby can pick it up and self feed. They also need to be well cooked so they are soft, and with no loose pieces (for example tiny florets that can break off on broccoli, or a slice of apple that's so thin it can break when gnawed on).

From around 9mths with baby led weaning you chop the food very small (to avoid choking). I would suggest 2-4 grains of rice in size. It's a small piece so that if they swallow it whole they won't choke. In traditional baby food recipes this is the stage where we mash food so it has a little texture.

At around 12mths of age in baby led weaning the food goes up to bite sizes (and this is the same in non baby led weaning kids), about fingernail sized pieces. Of course some babies will be on a different timeline depending on whether they have heaps or a few teeth.

Every baby is different and you just have to watch carefully and get to know how your baby is with food. Never leave them alone whilst eating, and I also recommend sitting them at a table with you for all meals if you can. It helps set the expectation for later in life and you can be a role model for how to eat well. Around 18mths you can offer your little one larger serves again (so a whole apple for example) so that they can learn to take smaller bites themselves, to chew, and to swallow.

It is widely recognised that babies should start solids around 6 months of age. At this time reusable baby food pouches can be really convenient to take your homemade healthy puree with you when you are out and about. Spoon attachments are available so you can feed your baby directly from the pouch from 6 months old. Without a spoon attachment babies usually start feeding themselves pouched food around 8 months old. This is when they hit their independant phase and what to do everything themselves. A pouch is a lot cleaner than a bowl and spoon in these circumstances. We do however advise that you give your baby a variety of meals, not just ones that are in a refillable pouch.

Refilling your reusable yoghurt pouches is easy! Simply turn the reusable food pouch upside down and open the wide double ziplock at the bottom of the pouch. Once the zipper is open you can spoon yoghurt into the pouch or pour it in (out of a jug or bottle).

If you are concerned about making a mess you can use a kitchen funnel so that all of the yoghurt stays away from the yoghurt pouch zipper.

Another idea that we commonly do at home when filming videos (but it would also be useful when holding a baby in one arm), anyway.. the idea is that you put the pouch upside down in a glass (with the lid on), open the ziplock and the glass acts like a second hand, holding the pouch still whilst you spoon the yoghurt in. This is what I do when I only have one hand to use for the refill!I also tend to refill my reusable yoghurt pouches in bulk. I'll buy a good quality yoghurt from Coles or Woolworths and will fill a whole 10pk of pouches in one go so they are all ready for snacks on the go.

My kids always want to eat when they are out and refilling the reusable pouches one at a time just doesn't work for us. The only time i do that actually is when I've pureed a meal that my toddler refused, put it in a reusable pouch, and given it to her again. Oh and the other time I do singles.. there are two actually. When we go for ice-cream (it is so much cleaner when in a pouch), and when I have leftover smoothie (again, it stops me getting smoothie all through my car, pram, or playroom).

Little Mashies refillable yoghurt pouches are compatible with pouch filling machines that are on the market. Our spout is universal so even though we don't think you need a filling machine, our reusable pouches will fit. All of our yoghurt and baby food pouches come with anti-choke lids as standard.

Cleaning reusable baby food pouches is easy! We have designed Little Mashies refillable yoghurt pouches without corners so there are no places for food to get stuck (we would hate your little one to get sick from old food stuck in corners)!

When you open the ziplock you can see all the way through the pouch to ensure it is clean. If you have a dishwasher you can clean the pouch using that, otherwise you can wash your reusable baby food pouches by hand and this takes around 20 seconds. Little Mashies squeeze pouches are BPA Free and are safe to wash with warm water.

If you need some meal ideas for your refillable pouch you can find home made yoghurt here, baby food recipes here, and pouch smoothie recipes here.

Now, to clean your Little Mashies food pouches by hand simply open up the ziplock at the bottom and take off the cap. Run warm water through the open ziplock with the baby pouch facing downward so the water comes out of the spout and into the sink. The shape of Little Mashies reusable pouches acts like a funnel, pushing out food and making the pouch very easy to clean.

To start washing your reusable pouch, squirt some dishwashing liquid into the refillable pouch, then use a baby bottle brush to clean the inside walls (just like a baby bottle). To clean the spout use a straw brush (like the ones we have here), and clean it in the same manner that you would clean the teat from a baby’s bottle. Give the reusable pouch a rinse and place it over a kitchen utensil in the drying rack to dry. If you don’t have time to dry it fully place it in the freezer until you are ready to use it again. Do not put wet reusable food pouches in dark cupboards or draws. They are very easy to dry if you have removed the cap, and placed something inside the zipper to keep the pouch open (we use a whisk, tongs or a spatula).

Note that if you continuously wash your pouches in the dishwasher the high temperature will make the zipper wear out more quickly. At home we wash our pouches mostly by hand because it is so quick and easy and then just use the dishwasher when we have had loads of kids over and served reusable yoghurt pouches or smoothies to them all.

Oh and while I remember if you use the code RECIPE at the checkout it will remove 100% off the price of the baby food recipe ebook so you can get some inspiration for your refillable pouches.

Some parents start introducing a sippy cup or straw cup to their babies around 6 mths of age. This can make it easier to transition from breastmilk or bottle feeding around 12 mths of age. Most paediatricians recommend babies 18 mths or older use an open sippy cup rather than a bottle, so anytime before then is fine. This is why we have a 4 in 1 sippy cup, so that you don't have to purchase seperate products as your baby moves through the stages of learning how to swallow and drink. To shop the Little Mashies silicone sippy cup, check out our baby feeding range here.

All of our baby food recipes are contained within our ebook. You can get a free download by using the coupon code RECIPE at the checkout. Simply add it to the cart, pop in the coupon code, and it will remove 100% of the price.