Cooking dinner with a toddler!

[Herts501]

What do you do with your toddler whilst you are cooking dinner?

I have a 2.5 year old and I'm on my own with him during the day. Cooking dinner is always difficult as even though I've baby proofed the kitchen I still don't feel it's safe for him to be in there as he gets under my feet, literally! Most of the time I find myself relying on the tv to keep him entertained and whilst it's not for a long time I don't really like doing that.

I've tried sitting him in the high chair with a book or toy but he gets bored before I've finished cooking!

What does everyone else do (honesty)!

What about those tower things? Not sure what they are called exactly, but it’s like a step with walls, so toddler can watch the cooking safely.
There’s bound to be dozens on FB Marketplace cheaply, like anything baby related.

2.5 year old boy here and I normally sit him on the floor with a chopping board, toddler knife and some pepper or a slice of tomato and let him go to town!

Or get him to help me measure things out (like a small cup of rice and ask him to split it between two bowls, knowing I can sweep up spills).

I found with my son that the trick is to make it seem like he’s doing the same as you, but his is more exciting, so what you are doing with sharp knives or hot ovens is less exciting and he gets less under my feet!

Honestly the TV! It’s a good wind down that gets them to sit still for a bit, and then cook something reasonably quick (DH and I usually eat later). Stick on something vaguely educational and lose the guilt.

We used a playpen for the DT’s until they could escape. Kept them safe and gave the dog and cat a break!
When they outgrew the playpen they watched tv whilst dinner was being prepared

I had to put one of mine in a baby sling on my back at that age or I couldn't get anything done at all and we all would have starved! It ended when he was about 4 and big enough to reach around me while I was cooking and grab at stuff.

All of the cooking stuff I think depends on your toddler too, my DD would do it nicely but my DS would have rice all over the floor, tomato up the wall and would still be trying to open the oven 🤣

I didnt like ds in kitchen when cooking/working with knives/boiling water/hot oven etc so we had a gate on the kitchen door and he would happily play with his toys outside it, especially his Thomas the tank engines which would magnetically attach to the metal gate. I would chat to him about which engine was going first and if he knew all the names.

Or contained in a high chair in the kitchen with toys or a snack. Again lots of inane chatting.

Normally tv too tbh. I also choose quick and easy recipes or things I can chuck in the slow cooker. DH and I share the cooking so there’s often someone else around. I also used to do the high chair trick but similarly it didn’t last for long. All that said, he has a stool he can reach the counter with and if say I’m chopping carrots / mushrooms / peppers. I’ll give him some to nibble. Randomly discovered he liked eating whole radishes that way. I’m hyper vigilant with knives of course and if I put it down I put it faaar out of reach. I did try including him once, asking him to pour stuff or mix but it was more stressful than it was worth ime.

I used to prep everything while they were having an afternoon nap and then just bing it in the oven later on.

I cooked during the midday nap and then heated it up in the evening. I would cook enough for two days. It meant that we had to have the same thing for two days in a row but I only had to cook every other day. I would put it with a different side to make it at least a bit different.

Mine doesn't nap so i cant prepare food then, nor would I give him things to 'help' with as it would end up everywhere and be more of a hazard!

He always has his train set out and his cars so he will either play with those or I put the TV on. I'm not worried about screen time as we do so much in the day that I use it when I need to distract him or I need a break.

Giving him an apple also works as he loves them and it takes him ages to eat one. It's one of the few times he'll just sit quietly with no distractions, not even TV. But that's probably just a quirk of my toddler!

Yeah as above I usually prep things when child is somewhere else, or distracted!

or use slow cooker a lot.

or trays bakes- basically roughly chop carrots, peppers, onions into a tray and Chuck in large chicken legs.

We have a learning tower and he loves going in that. I usually either set him up at the sink with some utensils to splash around with, or a small snack on the worktop that keeps him busy.

If that doesn't work, he's usually watching TV or playing with toys in the living room. It's baby proofed and I can hear him or poke my head in quickly every five minutes or so.

I have a 2 year old too. She watches TV, helps me on a step, plays in her own kitchen (which is in the kitchen), play dough, drawing, empties the Tupperware cupboard, threads pasta on a shoelace etc whilst I’m cooking. To be honest I just let her get on with whatever she wants and if she’s in a clinging round my feet mood then so be it! She will sit on the worktop really nicely in the corner too though. Sometimes I do give her a biscuit. Whatever works!

My DD is 2.5 years old and what I do entirely depends on my mood and patience on that day. If I’m really exhausted and just want to get things done, I’ll keep TV or some music.

Else I start prepping while she plays. When she comes to me and starts clinging, I’ll put the learning tower and invite her to cool along with me. This makes cooking longer but she enjoys it. Few things she can do on her own, few things we do together. The main thing I keep in my mind is to keep telling myself that it’s okay to take more time, because if I’m in a hurry I tend to lose my patience and my dd loses interest and everything gets messed up.