Do you eat your evening meal with your toddler?

[TotallyCommitted]

We have always given our 2 year olds her evening meal about 5pm then we eat a separate meal together once she's in bed. She won't eat anything we eat and won't really sit at a table for more than two minutes before running off to play so we have prioritised a nice relaxing dinner together each night - although it's creeping later these days.

Does anyone else do this? She's a fussy eater and I'm starting to think we should all eat together to try and improve her eating habits.

@blowinahoolie

Have our meal together at 4pm. Have 4DC so we always eat together round the dining table. Light supper later on if anyone is still hungry. Requires little clearing up. Job done.

What time do you start/finish work for that to happen?

Even if you don't eat a meal with her eat something with her it's a more social experience

We always eat together. Our DS is 20 months and is a confident eater, he always wants to try what is available. Nursery always comment that he’s a happy, clean and confident eater too with good cutlery skills. We love that family time, we like candles at the table, and we set the table with the toddler too - it’s a bit of a happy family ritual of food and fire.

@blowinahoolie

Have our meal together at 4pm. Have 4DC so we always eat together round the dining table. Light supper later on if anyone is still hungry. Requires little clearing up. Job done.

4pm?!? That wouldn't work for us at all, I'd be grazing all evening.

Most of the time we eat all together at around 1730 - DS is 16 months and is generally served what we're having. He may or may not eat it / throw it up the walls / feed it to the dog but we enjoy having a family dinner time.

DH and I will have a snack with a cup of tea together once he's asleep.

If on occasion we want something that's unsuitable I'll reverse and give DS something easy and we'll have a snack to eat with him and then we eat later.

Always eat separately, three kids eat together at 6. I like to eat late though about 9, so I know that is unusual.

We all eat together around 5.30pm. We've always eaten together but it used to be a bit later. Our just turned three year old eats the same as us. The only exception to this is days that I work because I don't get home until his bedtime so my husband feeds him and then we eat on our own (in peace!) once our toddler is in bed.

"What time do you start/finish work for that to happen?"

SAHM, and DH works from home. He starts work at 7.30am, finishes at 3pm.

Eating that early is just not practical for us and I'm surprised how many people manage it. Even WFH, I'm not ready to start preparing the main meal until 6pm at best. So our DC have always eaten their supper earlier until they were old enough to stay up a bit later. DD now eats a bit later , with us, at least half the time, but it's still not consistently and she's 6.

Having said that, I absolutely agree that all eating together is better for children's eating habits. DD is still fussy, but we've definitely been able to extend her eating habits since she started eating with us more often.

"4pm?!? That wouldn't work for us at all, I'd be grazing all evening."

Another perspective is that you probably snack at that time then have your evening meal when I have a light supper then🤷😂

It's been flipped round. I prefer to get all the drudgery out the way before 5pm, so I have less of a workload in the evening. Everyone has a different lifestyle.

Youngest bathed at 6pm, asleep by 7pm. I like peace in the evenings, to read watch TV etc.

I always eat with my kids, and it's my OH who eats on his own! The kids eat around 5pm, I do often have to cook twice, but since I'm currently out of work I don't mind.

At weekends and on annual.leave we eat with DS (6 years old). In the week DH isn't home till 6.45pm and I get home at 5.30pm so my lovely mum gives him dinner at her house before I pick him up.

We eat together - I was furloughed, redundant, and now working from home so more flexible. I struggle to get past 4:30pm without feeling ravenous! If I don’t fall asleep with her at bedtime I might have a snack later...

It varies depending on work, DH’s sport, after school clubs etc.

About half the week we eat together about 6.30 and half the week the kids eat at 6 ish and we eat about 8.30 once they’re both asleep.

We ate together this evening - Sunday roast - earlier (for us) at around 5.30. I'm now raising the cupboards and fridge as I'm hungry!
This is why they eat earlier on their own most of the time - they go to bed earlier.

We all sit down to eat at the table together about 6pm. It's quite important to me to eat as a family so we've fit our routine round this.

Until very recently, we didn't eat until dd was in bed but now we cook her and our meal at the same time and eat at the same time. So much easier and it's actually meant she can try a bit of what we are having and encourage her to eat the same