Do I have to eat at the same time as DD?

[whoopwhoopbib]

Have just started weaning DD and wondered how you all manage meal times as DP is at work all day and his finish time varies.

Do I need to have my main meal with DD early evening even though DP may not be home for another hour or two or should I just have a snack with her and wait until he is home for dinner?

Is it really important for DD to not eat alone as such?

So many questions about something that seems so simple!

I dont eat with my kids in the evening. They have their dinner around 5pm and then me and dh eat together later on.

I think it's better to eat together, it models good eating behaviour. But it doesn't have to be your main meal and could just be a small portion of something. I do think it's good if you can eat the same stuff as her though, or at least something similar.

It's better to eat together. I usually have a piece of toast or some fruit when she has her tea. Or I can share a bit of her food if its something like a sandwich. I find it helps with the eating if she is eating at the same time as me.

Ok thanks, I was thinking fruit might be a good idea - I don't want to start putting weight on!

We generally don't eat with DS.
At first he always ate by himself (as we did purees). Now at 12 months he doesn't like it if we are eating and he isn't (even if he's just eaten!) so at lunchtime we tend to all eat together more or less and if we're eating just after him we give him bread to munch on.

In the evening he eats by himself though as we don't eat until 8.30pm at the earliest which is after his bedtime (during the week he eats before we get home from work so it's impossible to eat together).

Morning, no one eats together, although DS does tend to pinch bits of my toast.

See what your DD needs. DS has never needed us to be eating with him, just not for us to be eating without him IYSWIM!

I eat breakfast and lunch with DS. I sit and chat with him when he eats his dinner but I really don't understand this fixation that families have to have evening meals together - why don't breakfast and lunch count?

I also try for breakfast and lunch with DD, but she has an earlier dinner than DH and I do. It would be impossible to eat separately for the earlier meals as DD always wants a bit of what I'm eating! So it makes life much easier to just eat the same things at the same time as her.

We have one main meal a day together as a family (in our case it is lunch as we live in Spain and this is the main meal - dinner is not til 10pm here ) Breakfast I am on the go getting everything sorted for school run so DD (4) eats breakfast while I chat to her and pack her bag etc but she eats alone.

When she was weaning she ate on her own (well, I was feeding her/supervising of course!)

I'm with Dowagers I don't think it is realistic to eat every meal with a child when they are little. Do one main meal with them a day and I think you are fine! I simply don't have the same timetable as a 4 year old, let alone a toddler. Sounds like you are doing brilliantly.

I nearly always eat with the DC and DH has his food warmed up when he gets here. His finishing times are variable and I just don't want to wait and can't be bothered to cook twice.

I also think it is important for the children to eat as a family, well whatever family members are home anyway .

I currently eat my breakfast and lunch with her so it will only be the evening meal that she will have alone but as I am doing purees I will be sitting with her feeding/chatting to her.

I'm glad not everyone feels that all three meals should be eaten together all of the time, at weekends we should be able to manage it as DP will be at home with us.