What does your toddler do while you cook?

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When I just had DD1, I used to cook dinner when she went down for the night at 7pm (I'd then heat up a portion for her lunch/tea the next day and freeze extra for us all). Now when she goes down I have to deal with DD2 (6 weeks) and when I've finished with her I'm too exhausted to cook at all. Wondering if I should start cooking during the day .... does anyone manage this?

What you need is a slow cooker!

My DS's trash the living room while I keep an eye on them from the kitchen - I cook between 5 and 6 and we eat between 6-6.30 (just waiting for theirs to cool down ATM).

Lots of roasts, stick a chicken in the oven, throw some potatoes in the bake and stick some frozen veg in the microwave at the last minute.

Preparation time minimal, lots of leftovers for sandwiches.

How old is dd1? could she help with the odd carrot?

I often cook between about 4pm and 5pm. That feeds ds his tea (5.30ish), and then supper for dh and I later on (we heat it up - generally nothing fancy). Or we all eat together 5.45ish (if Dh gets home in time, which is rarely). DS is 20 months.

While I cook ds potters about. He has a cupboard in the kitchen that he's allowed into with pots/pans/wooden spoon/plastic jugs etc, so sometimes he plays with that and 'chats' while I cook, or he watches cbeebies and plays in the front room or just plays in the hall with cars/ball/books. Whatever. It doesn't seem to bother him.

Mind you, I don't have a baby as well, so that bit is much easier! HTH

He usually play by himself, watches tv or recently he has helped me by chopping veg with his knife. He loves it. He has even taken to eaten raw mushrooms

I have four of them and they all play in the living room while i wash up or cook dinner. I also have a slow cooker and i prepare all the ingrediants the night before and cook it up in the morning and then in the slow cooker. (really cheap on electricity)

I try and do itin the day but have to keep ds away from the cooker as he likes tobang on it when it's on and it's very hot. I can't really do a roast as while I was carving it etc I wouldn't be able to keep it away fromthe hot oven. It's such a pain

i cook while ds [2 last week] plays. Sometimes I give him 'washing up' to do at the sink or he will play wiht his toys or watch tv. He gets his between 6-6.30 then dh and i eat ours at around 8.30 when he comes home from work.

I don't carve, I just put it on the table and attack it with tongs. I like my chicken cooked to the point it is falling off the bone.

He whinges and causes trouble, to be honest! It's the wrong time of day to be trying to get on with something else, in my experience - he is tired, hungry, and just wants to sit down, cuddle and read stories. I get round it by cooking in bulk at the weekend and freezing it, so I have a stack of different meals to choose from and defrost each day. I go on about this all the time but I am evangelical about it; it saves so much hassle.

I put some water in the sink with some plastic cups and bits an pieces, pull a chair up and let him "wash the pots".......silence and a very busy boy for at least 20mins!

I do that too but not when I'm cooking as so much water goes over the floor. But it doesn keep the floor nice and clean!

I agree with previous poster - v. difficult time of day. I am still hanging on to some vague notion of whole family eating together so the only way to get a meal done is to do as much as possible while DD is asleep at lunchtime. Otherwise she has a misleading moment of happiness playing with a dish of bubbles, then spends the rest of the time clamped to my thigh wailing. She is 17 months. Wish wish for pottering skills like bee3's ds! mmm dreamy.

LOL, yes thats true Jane. It has taken a long time to persuade him that the water must stay IN the sink! He is pretty good now though.

in the winter its easy, i just prepare something to cook slowly the night before, e.g a beef stew, chicken casserole, shepherds pie and then put the oven on at about 3ish to cook slowly ready for everyone to eat at about 6 (dh usually late home so will have his later). i sometimes do a chilli or a bolognaise the night before and then just do the pasta and rice on the night.

in the summer its mainly salads, jacket potatoes, cold pasta dishes (cook pasta night before and then chill in the fridge and serve with salad or dress it when you want it)

on the nights when i have'nt had time to prepare something then it is sonmething quick like an omelette.

at the weekends it is different because dh is here to keep an eye on the kids and i can ge on and cook something nice, usually steak etc.

tbh the kids are uusually ok playing on their own when i am cooking, but i started the pre preparation because of wanting to spend my evenings with the kids rather than be in the kitchen, so used to do the prep when they were in bed, it doesn't take ong and i don't watch soaps so wasn't missing anything and now i'm back to work i have carried on, becaus ethen i know that can go home to something prepared and won't fall for the old take aways and ready emals (although still do occassionally, i'm no nigella!)

We eat together at about 6/6.30, so I start cooking about 5ish depending on what we're having. It's timed perfectly so I can watch Neighbours whilst it's on DD (23.5 mths) usually helps DS1 and DS2 trash the living room, or wanders in and out asking to be picked up/wanting a biscuit/generally whingeing. Some nights are better than others, but you learn to ignore everything around you in the end - by the time you get to No.3 it's a necessary survival trait!

I've got a 16m whinging cling-on too! Ds tends to stand right by me, grabbing my leg whinging for attention. If hes not doing that hes going through the cupboards helping himself to things he shouldn't! (it was quite funny the first time I caught him dipping into the Shreddies -he looked so guilty, but at the same time very pleased with himself ).
We've given him a cupboard of interesting, safe bits and pieces to play with but that works for a VERY limited amount of time.

hi my dd is 4 but even when younger i would have her in the kitchen i would chop up potatos carrots etc put them in a bowl and give her a spoon and she would pretend to cook (away from the cooker) works even now.

my dd (1 tommorrow!) stands at the stair gate showing me her toys and rocking backwards and forwards as if trying to break out of jail! lol keeps her occupied tho, she dont seem to mind (only shouts when she cant reach the toy she posted through the stair gate!)

My ds (15 months) doesn't come in the kitchen as we have a safety gate there (to stop him and the dogs mixing when I'm cooking, and to stop him coming in our very small kitchen...it's such a good thing to have). So he stands at the gate and chucks toys over it. Or looks at his books. We have basket of toys for him there (mainly plastic kitcheny stuff, like measuring spoons, jugs etc).

dd stands on a chair and 'helps' now, when younger she used to 'watch' tv or play

I dont have the extra difficulty of having the baby but generally I cook during his nap like you used to do and then 2-3 times a week I will do a big meal after he is asleep and freeze in portions for the days where he doesnt nap or for what ever reason it is just not going to happen. I think baby is young enough that you could still cash in on offers of help from friends and family, ask for big casseroles etc that you can freeze. Alternatively, cook during naptime and put baby in sling or front pack or bouncinette if any of these things will calm? Hope some of the advice helps.