Hot water

Lady P is not a fussy baby, but she does struggle if her milk is fridge-cold. At home we warm her bottle in a mug TLOML's Aunt made for us, which is the perfect size and shape.

Bottle warming. No-one is getting hurt by this activity.

When we're out and about, enjoying a coffee in one of Saltburn's many nice cafes we ask for some hot water in which to warm her milk. As people do. It's not an unusual request, nor an unreasonable one.

Until recently the request was always met with either a straight 'yes', or a brief discussion about the size and shape of the receptacle we need.

But this past week or so, something has changed. Now, at at least three cafes in town, the staff have clearly been briefed against the bottle warmers. They look at you with suspicion, mutter something about 'checking with the manager' and come back with a defiant 'no'.

'We can't just, like, give you a thing of hot water', said one waitress to me, as if I was a lunatic for suggesting it. 'We have to warm it for you here, where we can see it,' said another.

Why the change of heart? TLOML and I wonder. There are two competing theories.
Either - someone had a bad accident involving hot water and a baby in Saltburn and the word has gone round. Health and safety guidelines are being updated and a zero risk policy being adopted.
Or - people were bringing their own teabags and ordering hot water, ostensibly for the bottle, to steal a free cup of tea.

This being Yorkshire I'm inclined to suspect the latter.

It's no big deal, the bottle still gets warmed. But it's kind of a hassle to leave the bottle with them and then go back and get it. Lady P is going to have to get used to a chillier bottle milk in the mornings.