2yo and 4 month old -do you sit at the table to eat as a family?

[AndTheBeatGoesOn]

Because we don't and starting to think we should.

It's just tricky logistically. 2yo eats lunch at 11.30am, down for a nap 12.30. 4 month old naps throughout the day. Dh at work mon-fri and on weekends we don't want lunch at 11.30am.

2 yo eats dinner at 5.30pm which again is too early for us.

what should I do? Change toddlers meal tines so we all eat together or does it not matter so much?

Thank you

We all have lunch together if possible, around 12. For dinner, we sometimes eat together around 6, and sometimes have two separate mealtimes. I like eating together as it helps toddler eat and means less of the day is taken up with food!

We have nearly all meals at the table with the children (3.5yo and 10mo).

5.30pm is a bit early for dinner for us, but we'll have some fruit or yoghurt as dessert later. Sometimes, if we want a takeaway or a more romantic meal, we'll eat dinner later.

Only recently started as I'm on mat leave. Have 2yo and 12 week old. On the days DH is back ontime we all try and eat together at 6pm. DS lunch is at 12.30 and sleeps at 1ish so we always have lunch together.

I find it so much easier as then once we have had dinner its bath, bed & then we are sorted.
Sometimes its bloody infuriating though as I know DS is not going to eat what we are having tonight curry but he will probably have the rice.

Thank you all. Dh doesn't get hone til at least 8pm so eating all together is out of tge question.

does it mean I'll have to have lunch at 11.30am with toddler and dinner at 5.30pm?

Those with young babies as well, where foes baby ho? On lap? Baby is normally screaming from overtiredness by toddlers dinner time and everything from around 5pm is very stressful.

Stressful because I'm usually running around getting dinner on, tidying up, running bathand doing two bedtimes on my own while baby cries nonstop.

I would love to have nice family meals at the table.

my kids are 6, 4 and 2, so I have been in your position.

Since my eldest was a toddler, we converted to kiddy mealtimes - so we often have lunch at 11.30 (I am happy to do this as they get up very early so I'm starving by then) and we always have dinner at about 5 - 5.30 (DH works an early shift so is home by then).

I only want to cook one dinner for the whole family - would hate to get the kids to bed and then go back into the kitchen for more cooking! We don't usually eat pudding when the kids do (they usually just have fruit or similar anyway), so often have a more grown-up pudding / glass of wie etc. after they've gone to bed.

Baby sat in a bouncy chair sometimes, often ended up on a lap. With a baby and toddler, mealtimes tend to be short and not very sweet. It gets better as they get older though, and I do think it's good for them to be used to being at the table with grown ups. We had a really nice Xmas lunch with GPs etc. this year, and all 3 kids sat nicely at the table for nearly 2 hours!

It changes over the years, for us it always depended on convenience really and you should take that into account OP. Pointless cooking for 3 at 5.30, cleaning up and then cooking again at 7.30.

I always found that cooking a proper meal for the children meant they were watching me cook and the smell of the food would build their appetite and interest in trying different foods. I never fussed about their food - if they didn't like it they would just leave it on their plate. I would eat with them and DP would have a plate left for re-heating later.

Sitting together is nice but sometimes it's just not possible. We would eat together at weekends and sometimes had breakfast together also. Now they are teens we eat together in the evening at 6.30 and they get their own breakfasts and lunches at weekends.

We've been eating with Dd1 since she was about 1.5yrs and I have to admit that it took some getting used to. Some days it really did feel like we'd only just finished one meal when the next one started on a weekend but it is a lot better now she is 3yr and more flexible about her meal time.

Lunch always used to be at 12pm and tea at 5.30pm. I have experimented with 6pm but even now it never works for us as DD is just too tired and it means she is in bed too late.

We all eat together for every meal on a weekend and I am lucky that DH is home by 5.30pm on a Thursday and Friday so we all eat together bit if he wasn't then I wouldn't eat just with DD1.

Although i think it is good for children to have some meal times with grown ups and, for me anyway, once i got used to it only preparing 3 meals a day for everyone it was a lot simpler I don't think it is essential. Can your 2 yr old have a snack in the morning and have lunch a bit later to fit in with you? If not now then I bet she will in 6 months time so you way as well wait until then. There is no point having stressful meals because you feel you need to do it. If your 2 yr old is eating well and it all seems too complicated now then just think about again in 6 months time.

we always eat together.can you at least have lunch with your 2 year old,even if its a bit early,or maybe push her naptime a bit foreward?for dinner,you could eat someting small just so you sit with her,baby on your lap.maybe feed baby at same time,he could even have a mini-nap then not scream throu bath/bedtime.and we usually cooked the same for all of us,so you could for example cook spaghetti bolognaise,make the sauce,cook only enough pasta for toodler then you only have to cook the pasta for your dinner,bedtime with 2 young ones is hard enough without having to make dinner at the same time!

I really wouldn't bother. Wait till their eating food you like at times you can stand.

I mean, obviously, 'they're' not 'their'.

Just do whatever is easiest for now. Won't make the slightest bit of difference in the long run - mine are now 10 and nearly 13 and eat perfectly civilised, nice meals at reasonable times like 7pm.

I always eat with my 10 month old as she has been slow to wean and eats much better if I am eating too. Lunch at 12, and dinner at 5pm. I actually prefer eating early now I've started doing so.

It might be nice to try and have lunch with the 2yo as it will encourage them to try new foods.