How do you cook healthy meals when you have a baby!

[Duemarch2021]

So before I got pregnant I used to cook all my meals from scratch, fresh veg and fresh meat etc.. slimming world kind of style food.. now i have my first baby and can hardly find time to pee never mind cook, i find myself eating yoghurts/toast / cereal bars all day/night... i thought itd get easier but shes now 14 weeks and its not really much easier to grab a minute and if i did start cooking during a nap, guaranteed she will wake up screaming whilst ive got something half way through cooking... question is how do you do it?! AIBU to think its nearly impossible...

I find that im gaining weight rather than losing it and im obese as it is.. i do have a partner but he works all day and then i go for a nap when he gets in as baby is always unsettled at night meaning i dont get much sleep. I've googled it and one site tells me to batch cook for the week.. i dont even have time to make a jacket potato never mind batch cook!

I'd quite often chop with the baby strapped to my chest or in my line of sight.
Slow cookers are amazing. Just chop stuff when you get chance and bung it in. I'd do stews, curries, soups etc.
I actually found the baby stage quite easy in terms of cooking. It's when they become toddlers and want to ' help' that it takes 100 years.
Having said that, there are days when it all turns to shit. That's what takeaway is for
Good luck.

Does your partner work 7 days a week?

If not, he needs to help with the batch cooking.

I'm sure you two can manage it together with a bit of planning.

Put baby in a sling, batch book on a weekend, slow cooker meals, menu plan so you know what you've got to prep. It's totally doable, just takes a bit of time and practice!

Once you have had a sleep when your partner comes home one of you cooks food one of you had the baby. Doesn’t have to be anything amazing. Pre chopped veg that you stab and throw in the microwave are good. Can’t over cook or boil over worse thing happen is go cold.

Slow cookers are good as it’s all raw going in so you can chop veg and meat and throw in when you have time over an hour or two. Rather than needed 30min of I can’t leave the kitchen.

I used the Slow cooker a lot.
I used to chuck everything in (with dd in the carrier asleep over her normally) in the morning nap.
Packets of salad leaves, roast a tray of pumpkin or kumera with halumi to put in a container in the fridge so I could make a quick salad (packaged salad/spinach, kumera, halumi and walnuts) for lunch.

Normally when I cooked I made sure I made enough for my lunch the following day.

Try having her in the kitchen with you. DS (19 weeks) loves to watch me cook - keeps him quiet for hours and he often nods off in his little baby rocker watching me

My husband did all the cooking whilst I was on mat leave, he did all the housework too, I did baby and laundry.
I did the very occasional bit at weekends but otherwise I was catered for until DD was weaning-after that I did a bit of the cooking.

I never understood the reality of cooking with baby in a sling.

Even when he was newborn, he was in the way of me doing anything with my arms. And I couldn’t for example reach the kitchen tap with both hands while he was attached.

When I was on mat leave my OH cooked the dinner when he got home from work, I had baby. We then swapped over - I then did the washing up and he had baby. It's about teamwork - he's better at cooking and I'm far more efficient when washing up!

Put the baby in a baby seat and you can get a lot done. You can talk to her, play music, etc.

A comfy baby bouncer / high chair / safe play area can be your friend. Otherwise, look at easy to prep options - pre-cooked chicken and salad etc

Hey OP

I have a baby who is 16 weeks and following slimming world before pregnancy too, what I've been doing is batch cooking on a weekend so her dad can look after her for an hour at a time and then I'll batch cook two different meals one day and two on the other.

Or I cook when she is asleep (although she can be a bit of a cat napper tbh), I'll start by just chopping up all the vegetables and getting all the ingredients out of the cupboard that I need, so if she wakes I can stop easily. The actual cooking itself doesn't take that long, it's more the chopping.

I batchcooked loads the last weeks of my pregnancy (I was actually 12 days late so if helped me keep my sanity) and I couldn't believe how wonderful and helpful it was to have those meals there once we had the baby.

Are you breastfeeding OP? Because there have been points for me where it's been impossible to cook on a weekday because my baby was feeding so frequently, but for me it's slowed down a little now

Another thing I've been doing is wearing a Moby sling and putting her in that when she's due to go to sleep, bouncing around a bit and then if she falls asleep I get on with cooking. Obviously you do need to be particularly careful with this suggestion but it's a good way to get on hands free. I got my sling off eBay before baby was born second hand for £20

I have been losing weight very slowly and it actually has stalled a few times probably because It was Easter and then mine and my partners birthdays, so I was eating too much chocolate. But I put on three stone three pounds by the end of my pregnancy and I now have one stone exactly to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight

I've not been following slimming world though, I've been having cereal with chopped banana in for breakfast, then at lunch I'll have a tin of soup or eggs, some crisps, fruit, cereal bar and dinner either one of the meals I've batch cooked (jambalaya, chilli con carne, bolognese, chicken & vegetable pasta etc) or more recently I'll make something super easy. I'll put a bake potato on before my partner gets home and get the topping ready, usually beans or tuna and grate some cheese and put it all to one side so if I need to feed baby my partner can take over.

Another one I've been making is pasta bake, I have been using the jars though but it's very convenient for getting some more veg in, i chop everything, weigh out pasta when I get a chance in the day then throw it all together around five to stick on the oven.

I would just say try not to eat/buy high fat snacks and try not to eat too much bread and you should see things going in the right direction eventually

Oh i also got an ergobqby carrier and try to go out once a day and walk the dog, even if it's only a half hour walk it's something. I haven't been doing everyday though, not like before she was born.. I think it just takes time for you to get back to what you were doing before. Your life has been turned upside down and you need a whole new routine and everything. Just been kind to yourself don't expect to be perfect all the time, just make small changes

Put the baby in a baby seat and you can get a lot done. You can talk to her, play music, etc

Yup. This. My babies were happy to watch me potter while I talked to them about what I was doing.

I think it's hard for anyone to comment as it sounds like you have a difficult baby. My friend told me how I wouldn't be able to get anything done with a baby which I just didn't find so I think only those who have difficult babies should answer this. The whole baby rocker/ bouncing chair will probs only work with a chilled baby and guessing she's tried that as it's fairly obvious

My first I couldn’t get up off the sofa. He was an incredibly fussy baby who was never content watching me from a baby swing/ seat. He HATED the sling.

He just wanted to be carried in my arms for the first 3/ 4 months. If I tried putting him down (even when asleep) he would cry. Every. Single. Time.

I can’t even remember eating when he was a baby. I must have.

My daughter on the other hand, completely different baby. She was happy to be put down (awake or asleep), she was happy to be in a swing. I had so much freedom with her, I just didn’t know what to do with it!

@Duemarch2021 I’m the exact same OP 😓 My DH works away from home for 3 weeks at a time too so isn’t even home in the evening etc. I take a day or 2 each time DH is home and spend them in the kitchen cooking while DH has baby. I try to have the freezer stocked with enough dinners to last the 3 weeks he’s away although it’s usually the same 3 or 4 dishes on repeat.
I make sure each dish has loads of veggies in it. Usually do a chilli made with turkey mince and loads of veggies, some kind of casserole/stew, maybe a bolognese etc, sweet potato spinach and chickpea curry.
I freezer everything in individual portions so that I can just take something out the freezer at night and it’s ready to heat up the next night for dinner. I keep pouches of microwave rice in the cupboard incase I want something to go with it one night. Or I’ll stick a jacket potato in the microwave.

Breakfast is usually something I can make and eat with one hand. Toast, fruit, yoghurt/granola etc.

Lunch is rarely eaten. I’ll maybe grab an apple or something.

Could you use one of DHs days off to prep some meals for the freezer? Rubbish use of time, I know, but needs must for this first wee while!

@Duemarch2021 Oh, and my baby IS that fussy baby that was absolutely NOT content in any kind of rocker/swing/sling. And he will still only do his daytime naps on me or in his pram on a walk now and he’s 7months old 😐 So that dinner that I heat in the microwave gets heated just before his last wee catnap at 4pm and I eat it while holding him for his wee half hour power nap 👍🏻🙈🤣

Slow cooker and batch cooking when I had a chance. DH did a couple of dinners during the week.

Lunch was usually cous cous salad with some protein thrown in (prawns, cheese, chicken) or something I could eat one handed whilst feeding the baby!!

I did buy a few more ready prepped veggies so I didnt have to chop as much. Frozen veg is just as good as fresh and saves so much time

In a couple of weeks baby will be big enough to go in a high chair (the IKEA one with the cushion in has been fine for my smallish babies at around 4 or 4.5 months) and this might make all the difference. Mine were much happier when they were up high than down in a bouncy chair. Also remember it's okay for your baby to cry sometimes. Second babies are left to fuss far more than first babies out of necessity when dealing with the older child - this made me realise how quick I was to pick up my first child at times. You could quickly scramble some eggs even if the baby is crying.

Low standards- this isn’t the time for fancy meal
Pre chopped veg, either fresh or frozen
Cook meals with additional microwave veg on the side
I also like the air fryer for big batches of veg, and it goes off once the timer ends so I don’t have to supervise it.

Buy some good quality ready made stuff (preferably stuff you can eat with just a fork). Bags of salad. Rice pouches. Microwave veg. It’s not forever, although it might feel like it at the moment.

I had a baby that required my constant attention, too. Tough times, but it does pass.

Mine never just sat in a chair/rocker, wasn't having any of it. The ones we bought are still virtually new. Never understood "pop him in a chair", I tried many many times!

The only thing that helped was a high chair when he was a bit older. For some reason that worked and he'd actually sit! Must be the height, he'd watch me cook for 20mins at a time. He still is a wriggly nosy thing at 9 months.

Also buy frozen veg, pre cooked baked potatoes and diced meat. I know it's expensive but it's temporary. And use the slow cooker daily!

Lots of pre chopped veg

Pressure cooker or slow cooker big batch meals. Freeze in portions.

If you or DH spend one weekend cooking then it could see you a month of meals. Yes it's all a bit dull but it gets you through.

Frozen veggies and grilled chicken is very easy and quick for example? We shared cooking though and now we both work full time so we tend to get hello fresh for weeknights.