What routine do you have if you eat dinner with your toddler?

[jumperooo]

If you eat your evening meal with your toddler, I wonder if you could tell me what sort of timings/routines you have. Specifically what time do you all eat, what time do they go to bed, do you give them something to keep them going between lunch and dinner, and when do you do baths, bedtime milk and / or anything else that you think needs doing in between. I have a one year old who currently has dinner at 5pm, she has a bath every other night after dinner, bedtime milk around 6.20pm and is ready to go up to bed about 6.50pm. She fslls,asleep straight away. We currently eat dinner after she's gone to bed, usually around 7.30pm.

Thanks!

We've done pretty much this routine since DS started solids jumparoo. Only DS tended to go to bed around 8 until a couple of months ago.
I did the normal routine but an hour later.
Lots of people, in my experience do more or less awake 7, lunch at 12, nap at 1, tea at 5, bed at 7. I just put the whole thing back an hour so up 8, lunch 1, nap 2, tea 6, bed 8.

Sorry, I've just read your last thread properly. Maybe after 6.30 would be too late. If what you're doing works I would stick to it. It won't be long before your DD is able to stay up a bit later.

I think there's a lot of pressure (from where I don't know!) to 'eat with your toddler' and if you don't you risk turning out a really fussy eater (well my DS is fucked then, cos I weaned him on purees at 5mo as well, lol)....but in reality most mums I know feed their babies/toddlers at around 5pm, and then have dinner with their OH once baby is asleep.

This is what we do and it works well for us at the moment (DS 14mo). Perhaps we will have to change it in the future if he starts refusing food but at the moment it works fine.

I figure that as he gets older he will be able to stay up later and eat with us at around 6.30 (thats the earliest I would be prepared to have a family dinner and DH often not home until 6.15pm). But I can't see the need to rush this? You don't meet many 12yos who have dinner on their own at 5pm, do you?

Our 11 month old eats when we eat at about 6pm. He then has a bath; I get him ready for bed; then he plays till 8.30pm. He's usually asleep between 9pm and 6am when he wakes for a feed, then goes back to sleep till around 9am - this fits in well with our routine/childcare.

We have dinner with DS. He usually has lunch between 12 and 1. Then naps 1-2.30pm. He starts dinner at 4.45 and DH arrives home just after 5pm and I serve ours then and we eat together. It's a nice family gathering. We play afterwards then have some milk (porridge too is he has not eaten much dinner) and upstairs for bath at 7pm, in bed by 7.30pm.

Before DS was born we decided eating together was very important to us so ever since DS has been on solids we try to have our evening meal together. DS is now 14 months. This means that DH has to leave early in the morning for work so as he can be back by 5.30pm for dinner. He doesn't always make it back in time So sometimes DS has started dinner and I might eat too if I'm hungry. After dinner we spend time chatting and playing then DS bath about 6.30pm bed by 7.15pm. DS doesn't get any more food or milk after dinner.

I think you just decide what's important and how to make it work.

we start early so dc up at 6.30 bed between 7-7.30 (transitioning out of naps so more variable than usual), she has snacks on the way home from nursery then food 5.30ish with us then bath, peppa pig with milk the bed and stories etc

i wish eating together made a less fussy eater but no evidence so far! but we have a DC2 and go to bed not that much after DC1 so gives us more free time too!!!!

. . . though friday and saturday nights are grown up nights where we eat later, stay up later, and have :)

some amount of fussiness is likely no matter what you do. I think parents can make it worse (by badgering their kids to eat our making a huge deal over a bit of uneaten veg ) but I don't think fuss-free children are made, they're born and made.