Can baby food be refrigerated? How long can baby food be frozen?

It is very laborious to prepare complementary food for babies. Babies only eat a small amount of complementary food each time, but mothers often prepare more when preparing complementary food. Can the remaining complementary food be refrigerated and fed to babies next time? Does this have any effect on babies?

Can baby food be put in the refrigerator?

Baby food can be put in the refrigerator, but it is recommended to cook it as soon as it is eaten. Many parents are worried that putting baby food in the refrigerator will cause the baby food to be contaminated and affect the baby's health. But in fact, as long as the food does not deteriorate, it will not affect the baby's health. It's just that the nutritional content of the food that is not fresh enough will be greatly reduced, so it is best not to put it in the refrigerator. Eating it as soon as it is cooked can better meet the baby's nutritional needs. However, not all complementary foods can be put in the refrigerator. For example, milk powder must not be put in the refrigerator, which will cause the milk powder to get damp. Therefore, when storing complementary foods, we must pay attention to the specific situation and analyze it specifically, and don't just put them in the refrigerator.

Health risks of refrigerating baby food

For the sake of their baby's health, many mothers now love to DIY baby food. However, the baby food they make is never eaten up, and throwing it away feels wasteful. Therefore, some mothers choose to put a large can of baby food directly into the refrigerator, which may threaten the baby's health.

Putting baby food directly into the refrigerator is the worst way to preserve it. Because there are many other foods in the refrigerator, bacteria are more likely to grow and enter the baby's food. And once the refrigeration time exceeds 48 hours, bacteria will contaminate the baby's food, which will cause discomfort and even endanger the baby's health.

In addition, if you use a spoon to feed your baby with refrigerated complementary food, the baby's saliva will be introduced into the unfinished complementary food, and bacteria will enter the remaining complementary food with the saliva, causing the remaining food to deteriorate and lose its refrigeration value. Therefore, pay attention to the storage time of refrigerated complementary food, and try to put it into other containers according to the baby's meal size when eating, to avoid bringing hidden viruses into the baby's stomach.

TIPS:

1. Do not freeze complementary foods repeatedly. If complementary foods are thawed but not finished, do not put them back into the refrigerator to continue freezing, otherwise the food will be damaged faster. If you are afraid of wasting, you can feed your baby in small amounts and multiple times.

2. If your baby doesn't like to eat, don't put it back in the refrigerator, because the baby's saliva has already entered the complementary food with the spoon. It's best to take a sample for your baby to try first to avoid waste.

3. Some complementary foods are not suitable for freezing. Complementary foods made from cucumbers, tofu, egg yolks, milk, etc. are best not to be frozen, otherwise the taste and shape of the food will be destroyed and it will be difficult to restore it to its original state.

Don't put these baby things in the refrigerator

milk powder

After opening, milk powder should be stored in a cool, dry and ventilated place indoors and consumed within one month. Some mothers think that the refrigerator can keep the milk powder fresh, so they put the milk powder in the refrigerator and take it out when needed. In fact, this practice is wrong. The temperature and humidity inside and outside the refrigerator are very different. Frequently taking milk powder in and out can easily cause the milk powder to get damp and clump. In addition, there are many bacteria in the refrigerator. If the milk powder can is not sealed well enough, the bacteria will enter the can and cause milk powder contamination.

Some mothers have too much milk powder and want to store it in the refrigerator, since it is unopened. This is not right. Don't think that you can store milk powder anywhere if it is unopened. Although unopened milk powder is sealed, it is easy to get damp if it is placed in a humid refrigerator for a long time. Unopened milk powder can be stored at room temperature.

Throw away the prepared milk powder if the baby has not finished it. Don't save it! The leftover milk powder for the baby is very easy to breed bacteria. Putting it in the refrigerator is not enough to inhibit the growth of bacteria. Moreover, if there are a lot of food in the refrigerator, it is not sterilized regularly, and there is a peculiar smell, the milk powder in the refrigerator may breed more bacteria. How can you dare to give such milk to your baby?

Complementary food

It is best to prepare and eat complementary foods for babies immediately. Anything not finished in one meal should be thrown away or given to adults. Never think of putting it in the refrigerator for the next meal.

Some mothers do not have enough time and energy, so they will choose to prepare a large amount of complementary food at one time, and then divide it into small portions and store it in the refrigerator, and then take it out and heat it up when they are ready to eat. This can avoid waste, but it should be noted that the prepared complementary food should be packed in a well-sealed fresh-keeping box and put in the refrigerator as soon as possible.

Don't keep baby food in the refrigerator for too long. The freezer should not be kept for more than 2 months. The refrigerator should be eaten within 1-2 days. Because the environment in the refrigerator is complex, it is easy to breed a large number of bacteria if it is not cleaned in time. Therefore, mothers are advised to set aside an area in the refrigerator to store baby food to avoid cross-contamination of food bacteria.

Tropical Fruits

A lot of fruits are used in the preparation of complementary foods. If the fruits are not fresh, it would be bad to feed them to babies.

Some fruits can be kept fresh for a long time in the refrigerator, but tropical fruits such as bananas, lychees, and mangoes will be frozen if they are placed in the refrigerator. The nutrients of frozen fruits are destroyed and they are easy to deteriorate or even rot. Because tropical fruits can be stored in a cool place indoors.