Do you and DH eat dinner with LO?

Juliaarlene · June 2011

On a normal week night, does LO eat dinner at the same time you and DH eat?

I've been feeding DD her dinner around 6, and then DH and I eat our dinner together around 8 - 8:30 ish. I hate eating so late though...

Just wondering if other working moms are finding time to have a family dinner together before LO's bedtime routine begins...

soon2BMrsBama · June 2011

Not right now. DS comes home from dc so exhausted I'm lucky to get dinner in him at all. I've been sending a few extra jars they give him just before pick up in case he falls asleep in the highchair. I'm looking forward to family dinners when he's old enough to stay awake past 6:30.

UpNorthGal · June 2011

We all sit down together to eat dinner 6 nights out of 7. It can be trying at times (esp when 1yo throws her food around and 2yo won't eat), the kids are growing accustomed to it. I usually get home with the kids by 5:30-5:45 and start dinner with a goal of eating by 6:30-6:45. Bedtime starts at 8:00.

This takes planning and the weeks I don't meal plan (like this week for example) it can suck. Keeping dinners low-key with minimum prep helps. Freezing meals ahead of time also helps with the time crunch (I'll do this on the weekends sometimes).

KathrynMD · June 2011

We try, but I'm not killing myself to do it.

DD needs to eat by ~6:45/7 and we need to be starting bed ~ 7:30/7:45. DH cooks dinner most nights, but I don't get home until ~ 6:30 and he really can't start until I get there. If we can swing it, we do, but its not unusual at all for me to sit w/ DD while she eats and he cooks and then we eat our dinner while she's finishing hers. Her dinners are really simple too - some fruit and yogurt, hot dog and a piece of cheese, etc.

ABizzity · June 2011

So far we have all been eating together. We eat early like 6:30ish and I will give DS some avocado chunks while we are eating. He doesnt eat a whole lot yet. At 7pm, its in the bath then nurse and in bed around 7:30. Its working well so far. If we are running a little late then DH will feed DS and he just plays with his toys in his high chair at the table while we eat.

ShoeFanatic614 · June 2011

KathrynMD:
We try, but I'm not killing myself to do it.

DD needs to eat by ~6:45/7 and we need to be starting bed ~ 7:30/7:45. DH cooks dinner most nights, but I don't get home until ~ 6:30 and he really can't start until I get there. If we can swing it, we do, but its not unusual at all for me to sit w/ DD while she eats and he cooks and then we eat our dinner while she's finishing hers. Her dinners are really simple too - some fruit and yogurt, hot dog and a piece of cheese, etc.

Yup.

If DH gets home by 6, we eat together. If it's later than that, she's starving so I feed her and then he & I eat after she goes to bed.

jf198400 · June 2011

Not usually. I get home at 6. I'll usually feed her while I get dinner ready/wash bottles/ go through the mail/ load or empty dishwasher. DH often isn't home until 8pm. Sometimes DD will have a snack in her high chair while we eat, but we rarely even sit down at the dinner table. I would like to have family dinner, but with DH's schedule its not possible right now.

QueSrah · June 2011

There's no way to do a family dinner in our house. There are plenty of days that either DH or I don't get home until 5:45. DD needs to be done eating for the day by 6 so her reflux doesn't keep her up all night. (Bedtime is 6:45/6:50.) DD gets her dinner with DCP and we give her a quick snack (milk and some fruit or Goldfish) when she gets home. I start cooking dinner after DD goes to bed (or we order in), but we regularly eat dinner anywhere between 7:45 and 8:15. I think we were eating dinner almost that late before DD anyway, though.

Leap08 · June 2011

I eat dinner with my daughter every night. If my husband is home we all eat together. I get home about 6:00 every night. We start my daughter's bedtime routine around 7:15, which means dinner needs to be on the table by 6:30/6:45. I try to make things on the weekend that can be reheated during the week and plan other meals that don't take more than 20 minutes to make. It is important to me to eat as a family, and I think it will become more important as the kids get older. I really don't see her bedtime changing anytime soon (seriously, I think she'll go to bed around 8:00 for years) and my work schedule isn't about to change, so why not start eating together now?

Cooper81 · June 2011

Pretty much every night of the week, but I tend to cook really easy/quick things. Like salsa chicken, pre-made rav, we'll make a dish of ziti or meat loaf the night before after LO goes to bed. I work a straight 8 to 4 (no lunch break) so I pick up LO by 5:15, home by 5:20 and just start something real quick. DH gets home around 6ish, but if he's working late DS and I eat together and I leave DH a plate in the microwave.

MBandBud · June 2011

THIS has been such a source of anxiety for me! We used to not eat dinner together, we would wait until DD was in bed, but even then I would come down from her nightly routine and if dinner wasn't started I would melt down. DH is great at getting dinner ready but it really wasn't a priority for him to eat early so we often ate after 9. I was sick of being starving and rushing through bedtime routine just to eat, so I took the bull by the horns and started making it happen. So now I try to plan what we are eating at least by the AM and then put it in motion as soon as work is over. DH has been very supportive and we have gone 2 weeks now of eating with DD and I love it. I have to say it makes it busy trying to navigate DD while trying to make dinner, but it is so worth it. DD really seems to enjoy it, too, babbling away and we always find something to giggle about. I now enjoy her bedtime routine more and DH and I swap who does dishes and who bathes DD. I'm not sorry we didn't do it sooner - it just wasn't feasible with her schedule and lack of attention, but so happy we do it now. I am sure there will be times where we don't but I feel like we are on a very good roll...

MrsHT · June 2011

Yes we all eat together and DS eats whatever we are having. DS bedtime routine doesn't start until around 8 and in bed at 8:30. Its the one time a day that for sure were all together and can sit down as a family.

historychick79 · June 2011

Not yet. Depending on his nap schedule at daycare, C is usually eating between 6:15 and 6:45. DH gets home around 6:30 and there's usually some finishing touches to dinner before we can eat. C also isn't ready yet for more solid foods, so even if we did eat 'together' it would really be one of the adults eating while the other feeds C. As he gets ready to chew and swallow regular food, I'm hoping he'll start eating more with us.

erinruns · June 2011

Around 15 months was when I decided there needed to be one dinner for all of us. It meant some creative menu planning for a while because my girls needed to eat by 5:30 at the latest, but I love our dinners together!

azuremama · June 2011

We eat together almost every night. Some nights, I sit DS down with some carrots and dip or some fruit while I finish making dinner. I do very fast dinners and try to make enough one night to have leftovers the next. I get home around 5 and we eat between 5:30 and 6. I don't think I could make it until DS went to bed!

It helps to meal plan, but also to have some go to meals that you can whip up when you don't have anything else planned.

RootBeerFloat · June 2011

Yes, we usually eat as a family. We don't eat very complicated meals (lots of pasta, crockpot dishes, etc.), so cooking doesn't take too long. If the kids are starving they will get fruit or another snack. And they either what we're eating or some version of it, so DH isn't preparing separate meals.

4realyo · June 2011

yes every night we eat together.

cfitz16 · June 2011

Yes.

asyph107 · June 2011

I fed DS before DH gets home. DH does not get home until 6:45, and DS goes to bed between 7:30 and 7:45 so would not work to wait for DH.

HSartteach · June 2011

During the school year I do my best to have us all eat dinner at the same time. I've tried to do this since LO was eating purees. It's important to me to instill sit-down family meals. If anyone doesn't eat with us, it's DH...and only when he comes home late.

I get home around 5-ish, and I go into dinner mode. I try to have us eat between 6 and 6:30. LO's bedtime routine starts around 7-15-7:30 and we go to bed between 7:45 and 8.

Tikat · June 2011

Every night for the most part- once his night classes start back up it'll be just us girls...but we had DD with us for dinner from when she was able to sit up in her highchair (about 3 mths) ...It's always been a big deal in our house as that's our time to catch up.

It helps that I work 7-3.30 so I get home at a reasonable hour most afternoons..we usually have dinner by 6pm...nothing elaborate unless I found a fancy recipe for the crockpot...now that DD is older she loves to help me cook...I let her stir and mix in spices...she sets the table...

Meg&Jesse · June 2011

Every night. We menu plan, so as soon as we get home I start dinner. DS might snack while I am making dinner. Even if DS isn't hungry he will usually sit at the table with us and we all talk about the day.

emberlee3 · June 2011

95% of the time, yes. But it's often only 1 of us while the other works late. DS is a very picky eater, so DH and I make a point of eating with him and serving him the same food we eat. We also talk about our days (he is just starting to get this concept).

thumper57 · June 2011

nope. and DH and I seldom eat together due to conflicting schedules and food choices. I stay home part time and on those days, I usually eat before DH is home (630 ish). LO eats on her on schedule - she gets fed about every 4 hours. When DH gets home, he may or may not eat. If he does eat, it will be something simple like a piece of chicken and rice, and a protein shake. sometimes all he has is a protein shake. On the says that I work, I only see DH in the morning before he leaves work. I leave the house in the late afternoon and get home around 10pm.

cupcakepink · June 2011

Nope. My husband works nights while I work days (no daycare this way) him & I only eat together 2 nights a week around 8pm while our son eats around 6:30pm. When it's just me I tend to eat after our son has gone to bed.

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