How do you make food with a newborn?

[Ivyleaf72]

Hi there,

Hoping for some tips on how you manage to cook meals with a newborn. My baby (now 5 weeks) hates being in the carrier in the house and I can't seem to put him down during the day without him waking. DP has been amazing at making dinners and lunches, but I quite fancy making some food myself as it would make the evenings much easier. Unfortunately it hasn't been quite as simple as passing on the baby to my DP as he's normally cluster feeding in the evening when DP gets home.
Any tips appreciated, thank you!

Not a directly comparable situation as I wasn't breastfeeding (being the Dad and all that) but once my wife went back to work I really struggled to cook and mind DCs at the same time, and they were both happy to be in the sling in the house.

Bulk cooking and freezing when DW was around to take the baby made a big difference. Is this an option?

Slow cooker or one pan dishes are you friend. My daughter hated the sling at first but I persevered and she loved it and still does albeit we’re now on a backpack type carrier but it’s definitely worth sticking with it.

Whilst they nap.

Put them in a bouncy chair with toys attached and chat whilst working

Bulk cooking at the weekend

Perfect the art of doing everything one handed whilst holding them - obviously not near anything hot, but possible to throw stuff on the slow cooker.

Neither of mine liked a sling, but these all worked at some point.

Slow cooker! Also the Roasting Tin books are really good. There's a fast one where recipes are like 10 mins of prep and 30 mins in oven all in one dish.

Make dump bags- use slow cooker liners and pop ingredients in. From freezer to slow cooker to defrost and on. I try to prep a bit for next night so it’s not too much plus I’ve got a ready meal next day

Beans on toast & takeaway also makes life much easier and a husband who is competent in the kitchen!

What is it about him cooking that makes it inconvenient?

Congratulations on your new baby!

Is this your first?

Can you afford maybe one treat takeaway a week?

What about dp going to the supermarket on the way home and getting something like a hot cooked chicken, a baguette and some salad bits we like buffet type teas like that?

Also second the idea of slow cooker dump bags. Or just a slow cooker in general. We are having slow cooker chicken tacos tomorrow that's a really easy recipe. Just pop some chicken breasts in the slow cooker and get a taco meal kit and add the salsa and seasoning mix to the slow cooker ontop of the chicken. Then add sliced peppers and onions on top and leave on low all day (I tend to put it on mid morning). Then just before serving shred the chicken, stir and serve

I think the trick is to cook things that don't require precision timing. So that you can have baby on a mat for example but if you have to zip to and fro you can.

We had a little rocker thing that DS loved to sit in and we used to move it around the house with us so that whatever we were doing he'd be hanging out playing with his mobile.

Also, have to admit, we ate a lot of pseudo-ready meals. I hate ready meals overall but I'd buy things like the "ready to bake" things from M&S eg a lamb shank or a chicken breast wrapped in parma ham. Then all I had to do was boil some potatoes or cook some rice or similar and possibly add a few fresh vegetables to a pot of boiling water.

Things like casseroles and one pot meals will make life easier.

Also, make full use of supermarket ready prepared vegetables such as soup mix for casserole/slow cooker, vegetables in microwave steam bags.
Keep a good supply of frozen foods such as frozen mash, sliced mushrooms, sliced peppers, onion carrot & celery mix.
Fresh pasta and microwave rice cook in minutes, so useful when you are under pressure!

We had a Tripp Trapp chair with the newborn seat in the kitchen. Baby was happy to sit in it for 10mins whilst I prepped something quick. Then also used it next to the dining table when we were eating.

I remember doing really simple things like putting chicken breasts in an oven dish with a lid, tip over a jar of pesto and add a packet of cherry tomatoes. Cook in oven and have with microwave rice or a bread roll. Or sausages in oven with jar of Lloyd grossman sauce over.

I also remember eating a lot of bacon sandwiches! Bacon cooked in oven so don’t have to stand over it.

Frozen fish, oven chips, bit of brocolli on the tray too. That kind of thing.

I used to roast a lot of chickens too. Frozen roast potatoes. Anything else I could add to the plate was a bonus but chicken and potatoes was good enough on a tough day.