I feel like I'm scrambling to find time to make dinner. I like to try when she's awake, but she is needy/cling-monster baby and I often can't leave her playing alone long enough. If I use her nap time, I feel like I don't have "my time" to eat a meal, check email, relax, PB, etc.
What do you do? Do you make a fresh dinner every night or cook ahead? Cooking while baby is awake or napping?
Post by charlielove on Jan 28, 2013 18:13:37 GMT -5
I will sometimes do prep during a nap, especially if there is a lot of chopping involved or something that needs to be in the oven for a long time. Otherwise, I wait until DH gets home (he is home by 5 almost every night) and then he gets to spend time with the girls, and I escape to the kitchen to make dinner.
charlielove and erniebufflo, I think you have the right idea waiting for your H to get home. I try to have dinner ready so he can eat after work and then take over baby duty while I walk on the treadmill. I then wait to eat until after V goes to bed. I should switch it up sometimes.
I generally start about 5 and pray both kids can be kept happy. Owen goes in the highchair and Hazel stands on a chair near me.
Am I crazy to think that once I have 2 kids they can entertain each other and give me more time to do things? Does it work like that or is that a silly FTM thought?
I generally start about 5 and pray both kids can be kept happy. Owen goes in the highchair and Hazel stands on a chair near me.
Am I crazy to think that once I have 2 kids they can entertain each other and give me more time to do things? Does it work like that or is that a silly FTM thought?
Well, at this point it doesn't really work that way. If Claire is in the room with Charlotte, it does help her separation anxiety with me a little, but Claire gets tired of that soon enough, and I have a clingy baby again.
Am I crazy to think that once I have 2 kids they can entertain each other and give me more time to do things? Does it work like that or is that a silly FTM thought?
Well, at this point it doesn't really work that way. If Claire is in the room with Charlotte, it does help her separation anxiety with me a little, but Claire gets tired of that soon enough, and I have a clingy baby again.
It's like having a 3 year old babysitter. They do their job for a few minutes, but then get distracted! I just need to hire a 3 year old to hang around and let me get things started. Then I can return her to her mother. How much does Claire charge?
I'm lucky in that DD loves to play in the kitchen. Between the magnets, opening and closing cupboards, tupperware and what not, she is able to keep herself amused for a good 20 or so minutes. I will prep dinner in the early afternoon and cook it in the evening shortly before we do her bedtime routine. I try to get as much done as possible while she is awake because the nursery and kitchen share a wall, so I try to avoid possibly waking her at all costs!
Well, at this point it doesn't really work that way. If Claire is in the room with Charlotte, it does help her separation anxiety with me a little, but Claire gets tired of that soon enough, and I have a clingy baby again.
It's like having a 3 year old babysitter. They do their job for a few minutes, but then get distracted! I just need to hire a 3 year old to hang around and let me get things started. Then I can return her to her mother. How much does Claire charge?
At 5, DD can help entertain DS and keep herself entertained. I usually make meals every other night and I make enough for 2 nights. I also try to prep stuff ahead of time if I can--while DS is playing I'll take 10 minutes and chop the vegetables, for example.
Sometimes things do have to wait until DH gets home, but he doesn't get home sometimes until 6 and the kids go to bed at 7, so I try to have dinner on the table when he gets home.
Sometimes it's also a matter of what to make. We do a lot of casseroles, skillet dinners and stir fry meals.
Today I put it in the crockpot during his nap. A lot of times I can't do it till he is asleep for the night. I try to cook with him on his high chair and I feed him noodles or something to keep busy. That would be ideal but most says it is once he is asleep.
Depends on what I'm making. If it's a crock pot meal, I do it during his first nap. Otherwise, if H gets home at a normal time, like today, I make it then. If not, I try to prep while J is eating his finger food part of dinner and make the rest once he goes to sleep.
Similar to charlie, I'll do some prep during his 2nd nap if there's a lot of chopping, if not, we head to the kitchen usually around 5, he plays on the floor with the whisk and some bowls while I get things done. He's generally good to entertain himself for a while, but sometimes ends up in his booster sear with some Cheerios.
Post by rileym2010 on Jan 28, 2013 20:46:14 GMT -5
I usually cook dinner for Lunch if it is a new meal- most days. I need the sunlight to get photos for the food blog. I normally cook while Evan is awake and he goes through drawers, climbs my legs, etc.
I usually do a bit of prep work before DS gets his bath. I think he likes being in the kitchen with me. Then I bathe him, feed and put him down for the night. After that, I finish cooking then eat and clean up the kitchen. I have to put my H's dinner in the fridge for reheating once he gets home. The slow cooker is also my BFF. On those days, I prep and throw it all in during L's morning nap.
I cook after H gets home, or I put all the stuff in the crockpot in the morning while she naps. Occasionally H will cook (simple pasta usually) or pick up something on the way home.
Dinner is always a challenge. On days I'm home with her I do whatever I can to cook while she is napping. Sometimes I make something ahead of time to reheat later in the day. Lately, I have been able to get some cooking done after I feed her. I just leave her in her high chair with a mum mum and she will usually be okay for a half hour or so. I also do some cooking/prep at night once she's in bed. If I know DH will be home early I might wait on dinner until he gets home so he can entertain her while I cook.
I could enough for three night's dinner, twice a week so dinner is really easy on me. If I have to do something that takes a long time, like poaching a chicken or a slow cooker meal, I start at the beginning of the day, otherwise I prep everything during his afternoon nap / while he is in the jumper or playing on the floor. He's not super needy though.
I cook every night. I usually start around 4:15 after Ellen's opening! S comes into the kitchen either in his exersaucer, highchair, bouncer or on the floor. I also use the slow cooker a couple times a week.
I feel like I'm scrambling to find time to make dinner. I like to try when she's awake, but she is needy/cling-monster baby and I often can't leave her playing alone long enough. If I use her nap time, I feel like I don't have "my time" to eat a meal, check email, relax, PB, etc.
What do you do? Do you make a fresh dinner every night or cook ahead? Cooking while baby is awake or napping?
I used to have the same problem - my solution has been to eat my meal while he is eating his lunch and to at least prep dinner during the nap, if not cook it or start to cook it. Another solution is to prep everything and throw it in the slow cooker in the morning while H is taking care of the baby, or the night before and let it cook overnight. I don't PB during the day much :/ I do check my email on my phone when he is safely playing w/ something in the living room right in front of me, or in the high chair distracted or during the nap too.
Sometimes if I don't get much time or I have to do something during his nap - I just try to prep as much as possible while he has a snack in the high chair - cheerios or peas or another finger food -(it literally needs to be next to me in the kitchen, not several feet away at the table or he loses it) - and I will do the cooking when H comes home and we will eat later. As a result, we sometimes don't all have dinner together and Max has dinner at like 5 or something (I don't like him to eat right before going to bed)
Today, for example - he napped from 12-3 (not normal, it's usually 1.5-2 hrs maximum!) so I prepped soup, put it on the stove and while it cooked, I relaxed.
HTH!
PS I probably sound like a paranoid crackhead Mama but a friend of mine accidentally scalded her baby with boiling water (she was making coffee in the kitchen, and the kid ran in between her and the counter and she slipped) - and she got very serious burns on her legs as a result. Ever since she told me that story, I've tried not to have M around me when I am actually cooking - I have him sit far enough away. Same w/ pouring or even just preparing boiling water, or cutting things. So this is part of why I don't like him to be crawling around in the kitchen while I am cooking.
Post by wildcatprincess on Jan 28, 2013 23:31:31 GMT -5
I cook when DH gets home. He gets home around 5, we normally eat around 6. If he's running late or I'm doing something time intensive I bring some toys into the kitchen with me and the kids play. If they get whiny I give them snacks, that always quiets my kids lol.
Post by mamasaurus on Jan 28, 2013 23:36:16 GMT -5
We usually put Babysaurus in her seat with some toys or puffs and do it then. As long as she can see me, she's good for 10-15 ,minutes. Yeah, I eat a lot of microwaved veggies to work this timeframe.
If I cook (rare--need to get better at this) it is early. My H gets home around 3:50-4 and we eat by 4:30-5 (at the latest). I normally just throw something easy into the oven (like a Stouffers) so I don't have to take time away from C. I dont know how I'd do it if I was cooking lots of crazy meals. C doesn't go in our kitchen because our dogs are in there. I'm sure things will change when we move though.
Luckily for me, my H likes to eat fairly late, so I wait for him to get home and keep Zoe at least partially occupied, or, at the very least, if she starts moaning at the baby gate, he can come retrieve her.
I cook when DH gets home. He gets home around 5, we normally eat around 6. If he's running late or I'm doing something time intensive I bring some toys into the kitchen with me and the kids play. If they get whiny I give them snacks, that always quiets my kids lol.
This, pretty much. Though DH sometimes pushes it! and gets home 5.30. In which case I start prepping as above. Sometimes with baby climbing up my leg. Oh well.
I'm lucky because my DH gets home from work at 3. So around 4-4:30ish he takes DD so I can make dinner. If he isn't home for some reason then forget it. DD has turned into a clingy baby monster who refuses to be put down...
I'm not a sahm but I really don't cook during he week. I will feed the baby when we get home around 630 then we get ready for bed and unusually make something easy like pasta or soup for myself around 745. On the weekends and Monday I cook.i start prepping around 6 so we can eat when k goes to sleep around 730 ish.