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!

Babyboom I only learned that first rule when my second baby materialised I remember thinking after a while...both my grandmothers had 5 children - one had 5 in 10 years, the other had 5 in 7 years!!! Can you imagine!

I guess every family is different @theleafandnotthetree. Personally I don't subscribe to the "You're on maternity leave therefore you should do all of the housework and cooking too" camp, but I'm also of the opinion that it is a little unfair on the other parent to do literally everything else and mum just look after baby.
I suppose there's a balance to be struck and it depends on parenting style as well.
For example, myself and my OH are both attachment parents so I bf on demand when I'm not at work, don't go by routines and bedshare with our little one. This has an impact on getting other stuff done so we tag team it where we can. She's my third child, my OH's first.
My ex-husband did naff all as he believed that as I was then a SAHM none of the childcare was ever his responsibility, nor any of the domestic chores. That was classed as "woman's work," ahem.

I had a Velcro baby. DH would help me batch cook on his days off and stick things in the freezer. Failing that I would eat v late when DH got home and could cook something. It was a lot of snacks and things that I could nibble while trapped under DS on the couch. It's much easier now he's older. We can both go into the kitchen and he stands in his helper pod thingy and watches while I cook.

I think those who haven’t got a ‘Velcro’ baby don’t always understand.

When ds was stuck in the bouncer chair age, if he didn’t want to be he would scream, and within a minute hold his breathe until he was blue.
He’s now 1 year. He still does the same in certain scenarios ie if I tried leaving him in cot to finish 2 minute shower and he didn’t want to be, he would literally hold his breathe until he faints! It’s obviously not safe to leave him to ‘cry a bit’ as what can I do? I cant leave him like that. He does the same when he falls over etc as well.

@Caspianberg

I think those who haven’t got a ‘Velcro’ baby don’t always understand.

When ds was stuck in the bouncer chair age, if he didn’t want to be he would scream, and within a minute hold his breathe until he was blue.
He’s now 1 year. He still does the same in certain scenarios ie if I tried leaving him in cot to finish 2 minute shower and he didn’t want to be, he would literally hold his breathe until he faints! It’s obviously not safe to leave him to ‘cry a bit’ as what can I do? I cant leave him like that. He does the same when he falls over etc as well.

Obviously that is different and I hope relatively unusual. Surely the great majority of babies are fussy and cry, even scream ccasionally but also sleep a fair bit. And can be left to cry for a bit. I am not denying anyone's individual experience but I would worry that expectant or brand new mothers would read something like this thread and think nothing but hell awaits them, that not having time to shower, dress or cook is the norm or average. From the many, many people I know it just wasn't/ isn't. And that includes single mums with little support from another adult.

@Iecydda

I guess every family is different *@theleafandnotthetree*. Personally I don't subscribe to the "You're on maternity leave therefore you should do all of the housework and cooking too" camp, but I'm also of the opinion that it is a little unfair on the other parent to do literally everything else and mum just look after baby. I suppose there's a balance to be struck and it depends on parenting style as well. For example, myself and my OH are both attachment parents so I bf on demand when I'm not at work, don't go by routines and bedshare with our little one. This has an impact on getting other stuff done so we tag team it where we can. She's my third child, my OH's first. My ex-husband did naff all as he believed that as I was then a SAHM none of the childcare was ever his responsibility, nor any of the domestic chores. That was classed as "woman's work," ahem.

Oh I totally agree that it's a balance and I actually think a downside of the more extended maternity leaves typical of now is that where a woman takes on too much, a deeply rooted pattern is set which can be hard to break. It should be flexible, loving and cogniscant of everyones needs. When my huaband came home when mine were tiny , I would much prefer to get stuck into housework or cooking or cutting the grass as a break from holding the baby. And he wanted that time with the baby. So everyone was happy-ish.

DH batch cooked a lot of ‘easy’ food for me that I could eat hot or cold and I’d graze across the day with it

@theleafandnotthetree - according to the paediatrician it’s very common and they just outgrow it.

@Caspianberg

I think those who haven’t got a ‘Velcro’ baby don’t always understand.

When ds was stuck in the bouncer chair age, if he didn’t want to be he would scream, and within a minute hold his breathe until he was blue.
He’s now 1 year. He still does the same in certain scenarios ie if I tried leaving him in cot to finish 2 minute shower and he didn’t want to be, he would literally hold his breathe until he faints! It’s obviously not safe to leave him to ‘cry a bit’ as what can I do? I cant leave him like that. He does the same when he falls over etc as well.

@Caspianberg I have a breath holder too 😬😓

I was a completely lone parent to a toddler and a very small baby so I just had to work out how to do meals and everything else that needed doing. I just wore my very needy baby in a sling all day to get everything I needed to do done including meal prep and cooking. I also picked the most settled time of day often not the typical time of day to do something to prepare meals or shower.

I used to bring DS1 into the kitchen in a bouncy chair and he’d watch me/fall asleep most of the time.

I used to put ds on the worktop in a bumboo seat and try to keep him entertained whilst cooking. Single parent so no choice other than to make it work really

Some super easy ideas

Jacket potatoes frozen bung in microwave with choice of toppings, bagged salad... 5 minutes tops

Bagged salad/deli meat/cheese etc

Omlettes, cheese/onion/tomotoe etc

Sandwiches with oven chips

I just put baby in a bouncy chair or sleepy head then highchair when older and made quite quick things.

Salmon/chicken in spice mix when baby sleeps, in oven or griddle later.
Veg in microwave
Rice

Or pasta. Or Thai curries. Stir fries. Warm salads. Wraps. Tray bake, loads of veg in the oven with olive oil and herbs and chicken on. Prep is less than 5 mins.

Or I did lots of slow cooker food and just prepped when he was sleeping.

Six kids here.
I would say cut as many corners as possible. Frozen chopped onions, frozen microwave rice. Even with a fussiest of babies throwing chicken, frozen onions, peppers, spices and tomatoes into the slow cooker takes two minutes or whatever combination you fancy.
Pieces of fish, cod or salmon in tin foil with a few herbs and a bit of olive oil wrapped in tin foil and thrown in the oven for 20 mins.
Food is fuel and you can't pour from an empty cup.
It's exhausting at times especially with your first but I always felt better with some decent food in me.

I have a 6 days old and a 14 month old

When our first was born DH and I tried to continue cooking meals and living our pre child lifestyle, it resulted in a lot of frustration, many abandoned/ruined meals and lots of tears.
This time we didn’t even try, the day after I gave birth DH went to co-op and we stocked the fridge with ready made sandwiches/pasta pots, fruit, yoghurts and snack bars.

In my experience people tend to have 2 settings with food ‘indulgent ready meals’ or ‘super healthy from scratch’ but there is a wonderful middle ground parents of small children need to embrace.

Frozen vegetables (nice ones not the watery bog standard ‘veg mix’)
Pasta sauces
New potatoes (microwave them)
Flavoured rice (microwave)
Fish (super fast to cook)
Rotisserie chicken (strip it and fridge it for easy use)
Vegetable burgers
Chicken burgers
Potato waffles
Eggs
Pre cut veggies (bit more expensive but huge time saver)

Quick and easy doesn’t have to mean unhealthy xx

I cooked when DH got home from work, for lunch, I just ate when he slept.

Thanks guys all some really good ideas.. i do have a slow cooker but just dont even seem to get time to chop the meat and veg in the morn suppose could be do it whilst partner is in and put in fridge... i have thought about hello fresh or some kind of delivery service for ready meals too.. mite look more into it.. yes its like u dont want to spend spare time doing such a tedious task but spose it has to be done (batch cooking on weekend) its also hard as when partner gets home i go to sleep.. then i get up and he sleeps as hes up at 4am.. the life of having a baby hey... lol xx

Hello fresh takes a lot longer than slow cooker. Slow cooker is about 3 mins for me to chop and stick in. For hello fresh /gousto... You can choose the 10 min meals but for me they always take 20 mins and there aren't that many to choose from. Plus it's a huge amount of washing up.

I'd stick with quick curries, tray bakes, stir fry, salads and wraps etc. All much quicker

Huge congrats op and enjoy those newborn cuddles. I have three dcs and all different personalities etc, one with very bad reflux who couldn't be put down. Lucky dh is and was super hands on so batch cooked alot etc.
I used a sling or bouncy chair thing facing me and a massive advantage for my babies after my first one is they had their brothers to look at all the time so were hugely distracted. I'm a bit avocate of siblings for dcs where possible .
I agree massively with a pp , there a middle ground between unhealthy fast food and cooked from scratch food and loads of options nowadays. Also for the ppl who find it hard with one baby it is a good idea as a pp said to imagine you have other dcs to look after, there's no way with other dcs to look after you could sit with a baby on you all day but I totally hear you at how tricky the early days can be. I found things the opposite, once they started moving I could get nothing done as they would run off, climb constantly, put things into their mouth, it was absolutely impossible whereas when they were immobile babies I could actually get loads done. I remember even getting wise to this by number three and panicking once they started rolling as I knew it was game over then and I'd be rushed off my feet !

Would agree with @doadeer that hello fresh isnt a time saver. It's good for spicing up the menu planner but can be quite time consuming. My go to 5 minute healthy dinner is microwaveable grains with some already cooked salmon/ cold chicken and a bit of raw veg or avocado. Takes 5 mins tops to put together

I honestly think your partner could do more. He could peel and chop some onions and carrots in 10 mins before he leaves for work. And leave them in the fridge.

Also agree with frozen pre-chopped veg. Just chuck it all in a pot.