TTMA Your dinner routine

[goldenlove3]

I need help figuring out how to time everything so I'm curious what everyone does. 

Since going back to work things have been a shit show every night for dinner. H gets home with C around 5. Sometimes he takes a nap, sometimes he wants a bottle right away. I've been trying different things like nap, food, bottle or bottle, food then bottle again for bed. Tonight I tried adding more food hoping that he'd make it to 7. It just never fails that he needs to get to bed right when we sit down to eat or when dinner is almost ready. Is there any hope at this age?

[jubilantsquirrel]

We always ate after bedtime. We actually just started eating earlier about a couple months ago. Timing is a little different for me since I get home just after 3pm, so I'm able to get everything ready/started before H gets home at 5. We usually eat at 6. DS1 eats with us and DS2 usually hangs out in his swing or the play mat. If he's fussy then one of us will hold him while we eat.

I also recommend meal planning. Crock pot meals also make things easier.

[goldenlove3]

danib, I'd love to eat earlier but it's been hard with us both working.

tgrimes1980 Most of our meals are pretty simple anyway. Usually just meat with a veggie. There's not much prep.

We definitely need to get better about meal planning. I know it will make life easier but we never keep it up.

[tjanca22]

We get home between 4:30-5. Some days L is hungry when we walk in the door and that's when I'll nurse her first then make dinner. On days that she's not hungry, I'll start cooking. For now, meals are pretty simple and nothing takes more than 20 mins to make. If it's something that takes longer, that gets made on the weekend and just gets heated up during the week. We end up eating between 5-5:30.

I will say, 9 times out of 10 I end up nursing L while we eat, which isn't ideal, but having dinner around the same time helps keep DS on his schedule.

[kleigh]

We have this same issue. In fact up until about two weeks ago, I'm pretty sure we had take out 6 out of 7 nights a week and would just eat whenever either of us could. Most nights bc of Adelines sleeping drama I would go to bed with her without eating dinner at all.

That said, we are getting a little better over the last two weeks.

H also gets home around 5 which is when babies are usually napping for the last time. Then they want bottles and to go to bed at 6:30 which is when we would be eating.

We have made it a point to try to eat between their nap and their bedtime even if it means they're whining a bit - otherwise one or both of us don't eat dinner.

I would be realistic until you can mold Cs schedule a little more and plan on take out 1 or 2 times a week (have a go to healthy option so you don't feel as bad). The other nights give yourself another EASY meal night - pasta or salads with meat or sandwiches. That cuts weekday meal prep down to 2 or 3 times. When meal planning find a meal that you are happy to double up on and eat leftovers another one of those nights. Now you're down to just one night that you're actually struggling with and just do the best you can.

Give it 2-4 weeks of this and try playing with Cs schedule again.

[kleigh]

I just wanted to add that the pasta recommendation doesn't have to be your standard pasta - use egg noodles instead or black bean pasta or edamame pasta etc.

[goldenlove3]

Thanks for the tips kleigh! So the good thing about C going to my mom's 2-3 days a week is that she will send food home with H. That is super helpful and will cut down on the take out.

Our struggle with leftovers and meal prep is that we both also need lunch for the week too. So typically we take leftovers for lunch because there's usually not enough for two more dinners. I feel like every free minute I have is making or prepping meals these days.

[hangry]

When O was a baby, we continued to eat dinner after putting him to bed. I think H used to get dinner ready at this time. When O started eating a "dinner", I just fed him alone.

I don't know what the norm is, but O stopped the 3rd nap by 7 months so evenings were a little easier. Maybe it was around this time that we started eating together as a family.

Now that we have E, dinner is usually around 530/6 so bedtime can start around 630/7. If she is cranky during dinner prep, I just keep changing her position. 5 minute with me, 5 min in high chair, 5 min in rocker chair, etc.

Some little things that helped me: keep meals simple, prep in the morning , make big meals on Sundays, eat soups or sandwiches for lunches at work

[cookswithwine9]

I have been struggling with this same thing. A couple weeks ago, I would try and keep O up while I make dinner, by the time it's ready he is over tired and screaming while we try and eat. It was miserable. Now - I get home a little after 5, depending on when his last bottle was I either feed him right away or wait. Sometimes he takes an evening nap. He always plays on his mat for a bit. This is when I can prep a few things for dinner if needed. I start bed time routine at 645-7. He is asleep by 715-730. Then I finish dinner and we eat in silence around 8. I know it's not great to eat so late but this is the least stressful routine I have found so far. H has also been helping out and cooking while I do the bed time routine.

[goldenlove3]

tgrimes1980 lol about your salads. Making lunch is another headache, especially now. But this past week I will take of C in the morning and H will make breakfast and get our lunches ready. I'm not sure if that was just him being overly nice though because of having to go back to work.

That sounds very much like what we're doing right now cookswithwine9. If I try to eat first, it never fails that he starts crying and I have to scarf down my food. H actually made a comment about how fast I eat, even when C is already in bed. Well that's been my life with a baby dude. I don't have the luxury of bird beaking my food like you!

[goldenlove3]

Apr 4, 2017 20:40:53 GMT -5 tgrimes1980 said:

There's nothing wrong with eating after the kids go to bed. You do whatever works best for you and your family.

I agree but I hate eating that late. I eat lunch around 11 so I'm starving by the time I get home. I probably just have to get used to it and eat some snacks in between.

[sophiegrace]

Apr 5, 2017 9:34:34 GMT -5 tgrimes1980 said:

goldenlove3 Come to my house for a little while and you'll get to used to it. MH likes to cook so he does the majority of the dinners. (I know, I'm lucky.) But he sucks at time management so there'd be times we didn't eat until after 9. Now when we eat at 7 I'm not always that hungry. Ha ha ha!

Our house exactly. I now eat a small meal/snack around four to hold me over.

[hangry]

Heeey fellow Bull vinolove! I knew there was something familiar about you. If we can hold this group together with our dependable and loyal ways, you'll have no problem applying that persistence to your family!

[goldenlove3]

LOL vinolove. That seems like it will be my life too. Guess I have to get used to it.

[ClassyMrsA]

I nurse Lilah when we get home and then he takes the girls while I cook. Dinner around 6 or 6:30 with Lilah in the swing (sometimes she cries and one of us holds her). Then we do Lilah's "snack" of oatmeal, soon to include other things (every other night Lillian gets a bath during this time). Both girls get in pjs by 7:30. We all take a walk around the neighborhood. At 8:15/8:30, dh takes Lillian to read books and go to bed. I get in bed with Lilah and nurse her to sleep. Both have thankfully gone back to being asleep by 9.

We are slowly moving things back so it's by 8:30, but it's not there yet. Lillian is still napping some, but when she drops it completely, we'll bump up to 7:30.