Do you eat with your toddler?

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I eat breakfast with ds 19mo every morning, and we have lunch together on the days he's not at nursery. But he has dinner at 5:30 and only eats certain things, so I never have dinner with him. I want to wait until he's in bed and cook a proper grown-up dinner with DH when he's home from work, rather than have fish fingers or whatever in what I consider to be mid-afternoon! Usually while ds eats I sit with him and chat and have a cuppa, or unload the dishwasher or something in the same room.

Do any of you out there actually eat that early? Should I feel bad or stop being such a pfb mum?!

I eat breakfast and lunch with DD but when she is not at the CMs she eats dinner at 5 by herself and me and DH have dinner at 7.30.
This developed because for 3 days a week when she is at the CM she eats at 5pm and we pick her up at 6pm for a 7pm bedtime so we follow that routine at other times because it works.
When she is older and able to stay up later we will hopefully eat together more.

Whatever works for you and don't worry about what people say too much.

DD1 (2 years 9 months), DD2 (9 months) and DH eat breakfast together. I have snacks and lunch with DDs. Then we all have dinner together about 6-6.30ish. It gives DH to talk about his day and asks DD1 about hers.

Often eat breakfast and lunch with the DC (3 and 5) but never tea unless we are having a BBQ/on holiday/out at a restaurant together. They need feeding by 5pm or get exceedingly ratty/tired - they start getting ready for bed around 6. If I ate my main meal at 5pm every night I would need another meal by 10pm and soon be the size of a house.

Also, it's really hard to find something that we can all eat (DH and I are vegetarian and kids aren't; DS1 is allergic to eggs, nuts, and pulses; both kids can be fussy and don't like sauces) so I'd have to cook more than one thing anyway. I know that some people judge but I don't give a rat's arse. It works for us.

I know, the poor ravaged, ragged little street imps. STAAAAAAARVED of a muvver's love.

I don't know how someone hasn't called the social on me mrsjamin, I really don't

we always eat together, if dp isnt home then i will save some for him.

we tend to eat about 6pm when they were little they would often need a snack/light meal earlier than that which i would give them but they still then sat at the table with us eating. i cant be arsed with cooking another meal later on once they are in bed, far too much effort.

they have all eaten the same as us from weaning at 6mths, mashed if necessary etc.

I'm surprised at how many of you manage to prepare and eat dinner so early. Tbh it's really that I enjoy the time chatting to DH while we faff about and cook our meal, I think it's equally as important as eating with ds as otherwise we just flop in front of the telly and don't have a proper chat. Ds seems happy to munching away on his grub while I prattle on and fold the washing anyway. It won't last for ever but as long as he's going to bed at 7:00 I think I'll keep it up. Much admiration to the rest of you though!

see i dont think there is anything wrong with not eating at the same time but it does help i think if you at least sit with them/hover around nearby and make it a social event iyswim?

holy you obviously have your reasons but who do you teach them table manners etc if you are not there?

I taught them table manners when they were younger, they're two and four now, they know how to behave.

Do you have food issues yourself Holy, because that does seem quite an extreme reaction?

Nope.

Then why do you have to remove yourself from the room?!

Very ott.

I don't have to remove myself from the room. It's not a compulsion or anything

Sometimes I clean the kitchen or read the paper or whatever while they eat. Quite a long time ago I realised they got on better with focusing on their dinner if I wasn't focusing on them. And that if I went off and did something else, like tidy the playroom everyone was happier than if I sat there, bored as shite, watching them eating.

It works for us, but judge away, do.

holy you said they are aged 2 and 4? at that age they are STILL learning table manners!

A 2 year old who was taught table manners when younger? That idea make me laugh!

What can I say, they're cleary a little more advanced than your DC

Or your talking rubbish and trying to make excuses.

I wasnt judging, more concerned that your hang up was losing them essential family and learning time.

And you are the one that said that you couldnt bear to watch them messing about with the food you have prepared. Frankly you did make it sound like a compulsion.

Or you're talking bollocks. One or the other

We eat meals together. I eat breakfast and lunch with Ds (unless he's at nursery 1 day a week or at DM's occasionally). We have breakfast around 7:30 and lunch anytime between 11 and 1, depending on what we're up to and when we're hungry. Ds, Dh and I eat together at 5:30.

Dh has a physical job and is very hungry when he comes in from work. I struggle if I have too long between meals too, so it works out best for all of us.

Good luck with your first formal meal or should that be, good luck to the other guests?

Excuses for what? My word, do you really think that I need to excuse how I raise my DC?

How breathtakingly arrogant of you Sirzy.

bogeyface - essential family and learning time??? I'm a SAHM. I have nothing BUT family and learning time. What's 20 mins while they eat their food out of a 13 hour day with them to me? Really?

Our first formal meal, bogeyface? Have you gone quite mad? Do you think they've never eaten in restaurants????

Sorry you can't claim to have taught your 2 year old table manners and expect people not to laugh question what your saying.

Its not about YOU though is it? You may not need family and learning time but THEY do! And eating food in company, learning the correct way to behave etc is essential.

As I said, good luck

I have my reasons for this - I am so against food being emotionally loaded and can't bear the idea of watching them dick around with food that I've prepared and don't trust myself not to encourage them to eat it that I take myself off into another room and leave them to it. this post made it sound like you had some issues/were trying to avoid conflict etc with mealtimes.