So I totally get why eating with your toddler is important and why they should eat what you eat, blah blah blah. But most nights I do not *enjoy* eating with my twin toddlers! If I make something new and they don't like it, then they are fussing and throwing food while I try to actually enjoy my meal with my husband. Or sometimes they are just fussy because it's the witching hour and it's been a long day. I find this very stressful. We've kind of settled into a routine where we eat with them 2-3 nights a week and the rest of the time we wait until they go to bed to eat. Anyone else do this? If you eat with your toddler all the time, how do you manage to enjoy it? Is there a happy medium?
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We do and have since she was about 1. Makes it easier for me and she's usually much calmer if I'm eating at the same time.
ETA: DH has a hard time with dinner alone with her and usually eats after her. I think he's just not good with coordinating timing and keeping her calm while he makes dinner.
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We do eat with our toddler, but I also won't do food throwing/fussing - the second food throwing starts, I end the meal for L and take him out of his high chair. This only had to happen a few times before the food throwing stopped (of course, it doesn't work if you cave and feed them something they like better shortly after.) It took awhile to get to the point where we enjoy it, but maybe start implementing this regardless of whether or not you're eating with them so that it's not such a pain when you do all eat together!
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We eat dinner with him most of the time. We've recently let him start sitting at the table and he is a much happier eater.
If it is a meal we want to enjoy together then we will wait until after bedtime.
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We eat dinner with her every night. She rarely is a pill at dinner, maybe the constant routine helps? If she's hungry, she eats. And if she doesn't like it? Oh well, she can whine. If she throws food, I take it away. We are quick eaters so we don't take forever to eat. When she was younger, sometimes I had to eat dinner while I supervised her bath
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We do, I serve her what we eat 95% of the time and she does fine. She usually finished before us and asks to get down so I just let her so we can finish eating.
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I can't wait until after she goes to bed. I'm pretty ravenous by the time we eat (6) so I'd probably eat something while she was eating anyway, may as well be dinner lol its not always enjoyable and sometimes she won't really eat and is done before I'm ready to be done so then I'll finish/have seconds after she goes to bed. If I have dessert it's always on the couch after she's in bed.
I SAH and we always eat all our meals and most snacks together but that's mostly do she isn't begging me for my food lol
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Every night, unless my parents have her and then she eats dinner with them. Honestly, she eats better when we are all eating together and she sees that DH and I are eating the same thing as her. She's pretty adventurous food-wise, and I think it's because we've always just fed her what we eat.
If she doesn't eat, fine. But then she's required to stay at the table until dinner is over.
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It's probably around 50/50. If we make dinner at home we eat with her (though I agree with you that it's more stressful than enjoyable!). If we get takeout we'll usually wait til she goes to bed. Or if one of us just isn't hungry at 6 we'll wait.
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I eat with my 1 year old, lunch and dinner. She eats again when DH gets home with him but it's more of a drive by eating whereas with me we both sit at the table (highchair pulled up to table) and eat sitting down. She is all about food and has a great appetite so the only time she flings food is if she's in a rotten mood or has been done eating for long enough and just wants out of the highchair. She loves to eat what we are eating and always tries new foods.
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trying to enjoy a meal with a toddler is tough! it is discouraging when LO refuses to eat the food i prepare, night after night. we eat really quickly now and no matter now much LO eats of dinner, i offer fruit for dessert that that usually gets him to stay a little longer at the table.
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I eat dinner with my 13-month old and 32-month old. I find they eat better if we all sit down together and they see me eating.
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We all eat together. If she starts throwing the meal is over. If she doesn't like it? Oh wellz. She usually has a fruit salad with dinner which she eats. This setup forces me to eat more healthy stuff.
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We all eat together 99% of the time, that said, dinner with a singleton is a different world from dinner with twins.
My SIL had twins and usually they feed them first and send them to the playroom for grownup dinner.
We keep him busy at dinner, start with something that takes time to eat- small pieces. He also gets consequences- no more food for the night if it gets thrown, also if he doesn't eat what's offered (he gets one sure thing he loves along with what we are eating) no more snacks/food for the night. He had to try one taste of something veggie or new and he gets a piece of chocolate at the end if he tries something new or does well.
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We eat dinner with her Sunday-Thursday.... Friday&Saturday dh and I eat together after she goes to bed , so we make something quick and easy for her like scrambled eggs or grilled cheese. Afterwards we get take out or make a nicer meal. I need those two days to relax and enjoy a nice meal!
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We eat with our two year old, maybe 5 out of 7 days? We skip it only when I can't manage to get dinner on the table by 5:30ish -- then we eat after he goes to bed. If I've made something I know he won't eat, then we definitely wait. It's not especially relaxing, but I enjoy it anyway.
It's also nice because I can get the kitchen cleaned up before he goes to bed, so once he's down, I can enjoy a little time for myself without worrying about chores.
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We don't. Well, that't not exactly true. My husband rarely gets home before 7, and 7-7:30 is LOs bedtime, so she always eats before he gets home. I always sit with her, though and usually munch on something while she eats and then have seconds with DH around 8 pm.
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We eat together every night. I don't have the time to make a dinner for the LOs, feed them, get them to bed, and then make or reheat another dinner for us! Both LOs (13 months and 4 years) eat what we eat. If they don't want to eat what I'm serving, they don't get anything else. Well, the 13 month old might get a yogurt or something because she definitely needs to eat more.
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Not typically due to the timing of our evenings.
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We have to eat together or he won't eat. So we eat together every meal.
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We always have breakfast together. Lunch is together on the weekends. For suppers, during the work week DD and I will often eat together since DH is often held up at work until later in the evening. On weekends we often feed her on her own at her usual time then make something different for us after she is asleep - it lets us have regular date nights in!
I SAH and we always eat all our meals and most snacks together but that's mostly do she isn't begging me for my food lol
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