10 mo-feeding routine Qs

[~*Nicole*~]

This is more so- how do you coordinate it all type questions.

I have been feeding DD in her highchair for all meals for the last few months. What I'd like is to at least have her and I--if not all three of us when possible--eat at the same time together. My dilemmas are....Dh doesn't eat breakfast and leaves for work when DD and I go down to have ours. I often didn't have time to feed DD AND make something for me to eat. When I do try to make things I don't like to be in the kitchen and having her play where I can't see her and I can put her on the kitchen floor to play with things but she will more than likely wander off a million times to go to other rooms or unsafe locations and I end up chasing her around more than preparing food. She used to go in the play yard but will not stay in there for long as she wants more "freedom to explore" so I put her in the highchair early, but then she is impatient for food and I often have to give her finger foods to distract her, but then by the time I finish making food to sit with her she is getting full and tired of sitting and ready to get out. This is when she starts throwing her cup and food onto the floor or smushing it into her tray and whining/crying to get out and play. It has been getting better for breakfast as I started making her sippy cup of formula first and she drinks that for a bit while I make us something and then we eat together. If I can whip something up fast enough! hehe.

Dinner is better as DH is home and he prepares the meals typically. The only thing there is that she is "done" eating well before we are and then one of us usually has to get up to clean her up and take her out of the seat etc.

Lunch isn't too bad b/c DD and I have snacks mid morning (fruit or something easy to grab) and she isn't as impatient.

Any suggestions as to how to get it all done?! or how to get her to not mind being in the chair for longer periods of time?

PS-our house is "under construction" which is why I worry about her getting into things so much. So it's not even childproof-able until we get more done to it. *Sigh*

[gemma2313]

hiya,

my lo is 9mo and crawling all over. He also gets impatient in his chair but is getting better and believe it or not my house, like yours, is "under construction" so is sooo not childproof!! I use the highchair before meals -like you- and drag him into the kitchen with me. my dd works from 6am and doesnt get home til 6.30/7pm most days so he also helps with dinner.

in the morning my lo has weetbix (2 of) with a little boiling water and milk.. or porridge... (sachets take 90 secs in microwave...and then i add cold milk to help it cool faster). I give him an empty suction bowl and spoon to play with while i get his breakky (and mine) ready.. I also sometimes have egg on toast... (and he has toast)... again scrambled eggs in microwave is quick. He also has baby yoghurt... which is a big hit and he'll eat it everytime.

I premake his meals when i make ours or clean up after ours... as I dont get time to do it otherwise. We are at the chunky-mashed stage of eating... and finger foods. I precook little pastas when i cook our pasta and mix up portions of say spag bol for him.. or mash up a roast etc for the next night or freeze it. Sometimes I add some extra veggies from a tin (you can get very soft diced mixed veg in tins..corn,carrot,potato and peas) it helps to make his meal chunkier and soft and easy to chew. When we eat, he has his meal first, and then we sit down to eat ours (usually much later) he has a little of what what we are eating.. to play with more than anything.

I also puree fruit and put it in ice cube trays then transfer to plastic resealable bags in freezer. I defrost a fruit block in m/wave to mix with his yog to "spice it up" for an after lunch or after dinner treat sometimes.

Slow cooked meals work really well for me. I can put it on low temp the night before or midmorning and then its ready for lo and us straight away when we want it. thats good on weekends when we get to eat together - and I'll give lo some toast with it - to keep him busy.
you're probably doing all this anyway.. but if not I hope some of this helps.

[Mashi]

I do find that DS's highchair time is limited to 20 - 30 minutes max, and that doesn't matter how hungry he is - if he's still hungry he still wants out!  I generally start to prepare a meal long before I need it because it takes ages. I put barriers up around the kitchen to contain him and open the tupperware cupboard. Put it all in the laundry basket and let him take it out, put it in repeatedly.  Put a basket of laundry - dirty or clean - on the floor for him to mess with.  Sometimes I put a few cheerios in a cup and let him dump them and eat them off of the floor 

And then when he is done is meal and wants out, I end up finishing my own lunch while he crawls under his highchair and picks up the pieces he accidentally dropped threw on the floor and eats them.

[~*Nicole*~]

Thanks guys! Step 1---give her something else to play with while I make our food so she can eat with me! Step 2---try to let her play on the floor rather than the highchair--so she only has to sit during mealtimes. I'll have to find a way to block off the area to the living room we are currently in the process of fixing up so it is not safe.

Great ideas for pre-making some foods.

I don't know what weetbix are...and also the porridge....like regular oatmeal or cream of wheat or ?

[Mashi]

weetabix re like shredded wheat thingies. i can't think of a comparable cereal in North America. it's not really like mini-wheats or wheaties although the same ingredients, weetabix are crumbled up into really "bitty" wheat flakes so they dissolve into a big blob of muck with a consistency of porridge when you put milk on them.  easy for a baby to eat, a bit icky for me! 

for porridge, at this age i would use quaker instant oats!

[~*Nicole*~]

I do need to make a grocery shopping trip quite soon. I will look for some equivalent type things. They sound like they would be quick and easy to make. Thanks

[gemma2313]

Sorry Weetbix are aussie - I didnt even think of that. They do soften with milk really well, my lo wouldnt eat baby cereal so they worked for us. Basically a non-filled-with-sugar cereal would work (and pick one you like so you can eat some to?!?!). I add boiling water for lo because it gets mushier faster and is still a little warm after i add cold milk. It is winter here!!

Uncle tobys Oats.. ? is that only aus too? You can get packets with sachets, basically add milk and heat. They have allsorts of varieties, plain, mixed with fruit, low fat, low GI etc etc.

have fun shopping!