Finding the time to make meals

[blushingmare]

This may sound a silly question, but first time mum here!

DD is 5 months and I'm just reading the BLW book - I was previously really dreading weaning, but "discovering" BLW has made me start to look forward to it when the time comes and I think I really like to do this approach if we can.

But when I'm thinking about how Im going to do it, I keep wondering where on earth I'm going to find the time to cook for my baby! I guess this is the same whether you're doing BLW or pureeing - when do you do it?!

I know the idea of BLW is they eat what you eat, but the only time I have time to cook for myself and DH is after she's gone to bed at night! My idea is to cook lunch and eat it with DD once she starts on solids, then DH will have the same when he gets home, but when on earth am I going to cook lunch?! DD doesn't nap well and is entirely reliant on me pushing her in the pram (magic sling has now lost its effect ) to stay asleep. Playtime is quite lead by me and I can't just leave her to her own devices (like most 5mo I guess!).

So where do I find this extra hour in the morning to cook? or can my baby just keep ebf til she's old enough to amuse herself

You don't have to cook lunch. Beans on toast, cheese sandwich, fruit, breadsticks, carrot batons and hummus, banana on ricecakes, scrambled egg at a push. Easy.

What do you eat for lunch? Just giver her some of that. Or portion up some of to ights dinner for tomorrows lunch.

Breakfast - a weetabix and slice of fruit toast.

When you are out, just give her something off your meal - today dd and I shared some chicken and pepper skewers and salad. She is also rather fond of Greggs Tina Crunch baguette.

Ooh eggs yes, dd regularly has omelette for lunch.

But surely she has a "proper" meal at some point in the day? I thought that was the point of BLW - that they eat stuff like spag bol, beef stew, etc with you?

^ so my question really is, when do you cook your main meal of the day, given that the only time I have to do that at the moment is after she's in bed?

So keep a portion of your main meal from tonight aside and give it to her for her dinner tomorrow night.

You save her a portion of your dinner and feed it to her for lunch the next day, or if you are really organised, you cook a big batch of baby friendly dinners and freeze them in portions.

You can make a bolognaise and then just cook a bit of pasta to go with it for a quick meal or even better pasta and homemade pesto.

When you make your meal at night can you not stick a plate in the fridge for her for the next day? So long as she's getting her milk she'll be fine as I was told in the 1st year it's all about tasting new foods.

Would she be happy sitting in a highchair/walker/jumper/Bumbo in the kitchen with you watching what you're doing and/or playing?

Also roasting things is good. Some fish/chicken with roasted veg can often just be shoved in the oven. Or you can prepare stuff the night before and put it in the oven at the appropriate time. I find it's good to have a basic tomato sauce prepared some weeks that can be used for several meals. I do cheat sometimes too and just give DD part of my meal. For example if I'm having a processed pie or something, I'll just give her the veg.

At first, their main nutrition comes from their milk, so you don't need to worry too much if their diet is balanced. Just have fun with it and I'm sure you'll get in the swing of things soon enough. It really is a fun and exciting thing, so don't stress about it too much. Good luck!

Oh I see yes you cook tonights meal and save her a portion for tomorrow or freeze a load of portions when you do a big dinner.

This I think is kind of a flaw with BLW - it assumes you have time to prepare and sit down to a healthy, nutritious cooked meal which they can share bits of with you.

Personally I find myself frequently giving my babies a meal that probably contains organic vegetables and some lightly steamed fish or something equally wanky and then scrabbling around the bread bin for the least mouldy crust to toast and eat standing up whilst doing the washing up as they throw raisins at each other.

Their diet is awesome. Mine involves a lot of digestive biscuits as a major meal component.

Right OK thanks - got it! Knew it was a stupid question! now to address the fact that I've mainly survived on ready meals since she was born

Oh and their healthy meals get cooked in the evening - either separately or as leftovers/an adaptation of what we're having.

I'm due baby 2, did blw with DS who is now 2 and eats everything! Great appetite, eats all my home cooked meals, helps himself to the fruit bowl, loves smoothies.....I'm very happy. The one piece of advice I'd give is don't sweat it, eat well yourself and just let the little one swipe off your plate...I gave up in the end with the whole sit down try this....just made for extra work when really they just copy you. So just make your lunch and snacks, and share.

When does your DD go to bed? I eat with DS at 5.45pm which is fine, then after that it's pretty much straight to bath and bed. As long as he's had a nap in the afternoon and isnt overtired, it seems fine and I don't mind eating earlier. DH gets his plate of whatever left in the oven!

I've got v efficient at cooking quickly - pasta at least twice a week, and cook twice as much so it'll do two days, just dish up different veg with it for variety.

For the first few months it's far more important to initiate happy, relaxed mealtimes with some kind of edible thing on their tray than anything else so try not to worry! It's by far the best parenting choice I've made to BLW - no exaggeration. My DS is also v demanding, and mealtimes are now when I can sit down, relax and enjoy some food and marvel at him stuffing food in his ears hair nappy mouth!

But with the no salt thing, it really does mean making from scratch right? So for example tonight I'm eating(shops bought - not homemade!) filled fresh pasta with salad, but presumably she couldn't have the pasta because it has added salt? Just trying to work out how much I'm going to need to change my lazy meal preparation.

Fresh pasta would be fine. I think iirc adults arent meant to exceed 5g a day of salt - for babies it's more like 1g. The amount of pasta that will make it into her tummy - well, start looking at labels and you'll see where I'm going! but yes, not ready meals as they do tend to be rammed with salt - just sensible simple stuff - doesn't need to be cordon bleu. Variety is the main thing. I give DS fish fingers once a week, not posh but fine with some boiled sweet potato chunks and some broccoli!

Always put something green on their plate is a good one. DH and I used to always just have big bowls o creamy pasta, now we still do but it'll be say a tin of tomatoes mixed with some cream or Philly, or cream with some pesto, and always some veggies and strips of meat through it.

Tbh as long as you're not eating complete shite, she'll be fine - I think people are getting a bit paranoid about salt. My 9mo devoured his fish and chips and mushy peas at Wetherspoons at t'weekend there it's not an everyday thing for us, nor for him iyswim. It's only nuts and honey that you must avoid, and take sensible precUtions against choking. DS has never once choked though and all his puree fed friends have he gags all the time but I smile sweetly at him when he does (not leap ten feet across the table to turn him upside down) and he's fine within a couple of seconds.

Thanks - that's really useful.

I really don't agree re the salt, it's so easy for them to get too much. They get what they need from their milk.

There is no way I would give a six month old ready prepared pasta. It's not the pasta but the filling and the sauce. I wouldn't give it to my 12 month old. Maybe have a look at the NHS website?

Hmm, the salt thing is a tricky one. My view is that if you're careful at home, it means you don't really need to worry when you eat out. I steer clear of processed food for DD and just don't add salt to anything. (I haven't felt the need to add it to my own food at the table once, which just goes to show how much I was adding it to cooking out of habit!)

It puts strain on their kidneys, so to have elevated salt levels all the time is very bad for them. A slice of toast, for example, contains half their daily recommended salt, so it's often 'hidden'.

Mind you, as Djembe says, if you were to put a slice of toast in front of them, it's very unlikely they would eat the whole lot but, on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to get into good habits.

So I guess my advice would be: be aware of it, but don't stress too much about it. Just stop adding salt to things and marvel at how little you miss it!

Skang - you wouldn't give a 12mo stuffed pasta?! I find that a teensy bit precious tbh.

I wouldn't use ready made sauces, they probably are v salty and it takes the same amount of time to chuck a tin of tomatoes and some cream or cheese in. But I honestly think you can be too precious about salt. Avoid obviously salty stuff like crisps and you'll be fine.

Yeah, to be fair I would if we were eating out or if it was a one off at home. I definitely wouldn't give her any kind of ready made food on a regular basis though because it's all so so salty. I was presuming the OP had a ready made sauce to go with it.

I would for example bulk make a load of fresh pasta sauce , freeze and then you can just take out as needed ( I freeze into ice cube trays then pop into a freezer bag. So it's melts quickly and can choose how much we need)

Then add to ready made pasta and steam some ready chopped veggies