When to throw away baby food

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I’m writing this post because last week I came across this article about a dad whose daughter was choking on a stale Gerber cheese puff. It made me sick to my stomach, because we had an opened jar of cheese puffs more than 5 days old that my daughter was eating the night before. I immediately went psycho-mommy and ran to the kitchen to throw it away. Then I immediately berated myself for being such a bad parent, cried to my husband about how terrible I am, and then shared the post on my blog’s Facebook page. It seems like there were many people who benefited from reading that article, so I thought it might be a good idea to share some other tips on baby food, and how to be safe with it.

*photos from conservativetribune.com*

To start, I want to share that for me personally, watching my daughter learn how to eat has been one of the scariest things that I never knew I’d be scared about when it came to having a baby. She’s 10 months old, has been eating baby food since about 6 months, and she’s NOT a good chewer. She’s getting it, slowly and surely, but it’s scary to watch because she gags on food, has puked twice, and I end up watching her like a hawk, as if in a complete trance, to make sure she’s learning and understanding how it all works.

We did a form of baby-led weaning, where we just started watching for her signs of being interested in eating, attempting to chew, etc. We give her baby foods, and also food that we’ve chewed or cut up; so she’s really getting a mix and variety of options. It is so hard to keep this process going sometimes, because I’m just so scared that something will happen (like what happened to this dad!!), and I won’t be able to help her. Even though I’ve watched this YouTube video 10,000 times (maybe more). If you haven’t watched it yet, I’ll embed it at the bottom of this post. Seriously, it’s worth watching, and it’s short.

Anyway, what I’ve realized, is that although I can’t protect my daughter forever from larger pieces of food (cue a comedy skit where my 24 year old child is trying to grab half-eaten food baby-bird-style from my mouth), I can at least make sure that I’m 100% safe with how I handle her food. And this is something that may sound insane to some people, and that’s fine. But my response to that would be, “if something happened that I could have prevented, how would I feel then? Even if the chances of something happening were small??”

So without more babble from me, here are some tips on handling your baby’s food with as much care as possible:

If it’s a puff of ANY form, throw it away after the container has been opened for 5 days. The stale-ness of the puff will not allow it to break up and crumble in your baby’s mouth.
If it’s in a package and there are multiples (think those teething biscuits that come in packs of 2 or 3), don’t hang on to the ones your baby didn’t eat. Throw them away immediately.
If it’s in a jar, make sure the lip “pops” when you open it. If it doesn’t, return it or throw it away.
Do not buy or use any containers or baby food that look swollen (as if the sides are blown out), or if they’ve been cracked or are leaking.
Empty out portions of the baby food container. Do not double-dip it and put it back in the fridge! Use a separate container to scoop it out into, and then refrigerate the rest.
Store uncontaminated baby food in the fridge no longer than 3 days.
Never leave baby food out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Never leave baby food in the fridge without a top on it.
When in doubt, throw it out. You will never be sorry that you possibly saved your baby from choking, or harmful bacteria.
Abide by these rules even if you’re making your own baby food, or giving your baby some of your own food.

If you find this to be helpful, PLEASE share it. We all need to be more responsible and cautious with our baby’s food. And even if some consider me too cautious, I don’t mind. My child is everything to me, and I need to make sure that I do everything I can to keep her safe. If you have anything to add to this list, please comment below; I would love to add some of your suggestions to this list!!!!

To Justin Morrice, if you ever see this, know that I’m sure you saved many baby’s lives, not just your own child’s life. I’m so grateful to you for sharing your scary experience. You sound like an amazing dad, and I’m so glad your little one is ok thanks to you!!

And also, please watch this amazing video. It may one day save your baby’s life!