2013 BellyBelly RAK Recipient.
Why don't you eat with your kids?
Firstly - I'm not juding in the slightest... I hope this doesn't come across that way...
I'm also not interested in why people DO eat with their kids as there is another post around here somewhere, so if you want to post about why you do then I'll find that post for you to reply to...
I'm genuinely interested in why people don't eat dinner with their kids? The thought honestly never occured to me not to eat dinner when Jazz eats...?
So why do you do it? When did you start? Is it only dinner?
Registered User
DD needs to have dinner about 5.30-6pm. If she eats any later she starts to have a total meltdown. DH is rarely home by then, so i eat with DD and he eats alone. Or she eats alone and we eat later.Not ideal but just the way it is.
Registered User
the only reason we dont is coz he eats a lot earlier than we do he is a very routine baby if he doesnt get things at the same time everyday he gets cranky and i dont really like eating at 5:30pm but that probably will change though as he gets older
Registered User
:yeahthat:DD needs to have dinner about 5.30-6pm. If she eats any later she starts to have a total meltdown. DH is rarely home by then, so i eat with DD and he eats alone. Or she eats alone and we eat later. Not ideal but just the way it is.
DD & I eat lunch and breakfast together, but on weeknights the Bear gets home too late for us to eat together. Obviously if we go out or if the meal happens at a convenient time then we eat together.
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
my girls both eat at 5.30 because they go to bed at 6.30 and DH isnt always home from work in time, we he is home we eat at 5.30 with the girls
ETA we all eat brekky together every morning!
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Because I used to use that time to tidy the kitchen and get their bath/jarmies ready.
Then I noticed that DD doesn't eat much either and I'm sure it's because she sees me "skipping" a meal - but I don't cos I eat when they are in bed.
It's best if I do eat with them - even if at 5.30!
Registered User
DD1 definitely eats more if we manage to eat together. That's why i eat with her and leave DH to eat on his own!I am guessing as she gets older and is able to hold out for dinner a little longer she will definitely benefit from us all eating together. But for now it is just not worth making her wait!
Registered User
DH and I have always eaten later as we're night owls - so we probably won't have our dinner with her - but we do tend to have a light snack around 5, so we'll probably sit down with her and eat then. at the moment, we don't have her with us for brekki half the time as she is still asleep! as she grows up and is on solids, we will definitely be eating as many meals together as possible...
Registered User
Same here!
Registered User
I have always noticed that my kids eat much better if an adult is sitting down with them eating too....especially when it comes to trying new foods. Now that DD is nearly 15 I think my younger boys consider her almost an adult so often she will sit down with them and eat while I get the baths ready and clean the kitchen which is really handy. I also will often eat two small meals at dinner time... one with the kids at 6pm and then one with DH at 7pm when he gets home from work. I'm a grazer anyhow... I can't fit much in my tummy at one sitting... so this works really well.
If my younger two kids were to eat by themselves they would just be silly, get distracted and want to leave the table to seek out adult company and they would be a lot less likely to try new foods. That's just how my kids are though. One of the first things DH does when he gets home is to sit down with the kids at the table to keep them focussed while i heat up his dinner.... if he gets home in time.
Registered User
The only time we don't eat dinner with DD is if we're not at home. i.e. if I'm still at work, her Daddy feeds her (and eats with her) and I eat when I get home. If I have breakfast duties (eg am taking her to creche) we have breaky together (if she is up) but her Daddy doesn't eat breakfast. DD and I eat breakfast together on weekends and always have lunch together when we're at home together.
Registered User
The only times DF and I dont eat dinner with DD is if we are having take away or something she shouldn't be eating. So we will feed her something that we made especially for her, then put her to sleep when its time to, and then we will have dinner.
BellyBelly Member
Harmony is the only one I dont eat with at dinner.
I b/f her about 5.30, dinner about 6.15. She is then happy to play while I feed the rest of the brood, without her crying or being hungry....
She has discovered she can in fact still roll on tiles, so often rolls out to the table and plays near us anyway...
The other kids dont get a choice, eat with us or dont eat!!!
Registered User
When DD was younger we never ate dinner with her - she needed it about 5pm and was in bath by 6pm, bed soon after. Now she's a bit older she lasts a bit later, so is able to eat with us.
I always ate lunch with her and we all eat breakfast together.
Registered User
Same as most others, DH is home too late and DD eats dinner at 5.30. Although DH has had some (forced) time off and we have all been eating together, its been lovely! but when DH goes back to work i think i will continue eating when DD does....although i dont eat lunch with her...thats when i tidy the kitchen!!
Registered User
I don't eat with my daughter (4) as she is hungry and eats at 5.30pm, so I wait til my DH gets home at 7.30pm and eat with him
Registered User
DH gets home at around 7pm and is the cook in our house.
I always sit with DD at 5:30pm to eat and will often eat a snack with her.
At the moment a 'family dinner' wouldn't happen until 8pm and that is waaay too late for a little one.
I also cherish the time with DH after DD has gone to bed (and when I say gone to bed, I mean have a little nap before she comes to be with me, so it is actually the only time in the day I am not with her). I think having dinner with an adult is more important to me at the moment, and i figure we have years of family dinners ahead.
As children, my sisters and I used to have our own dinner at our own table and chairs, and mum and dad would eat later. We loved it!
Registered User
Ideally I'd like to eat dinner with my kids. But DH doesn't get home from work til 7pm, and DS goes to bed around 7.30-8.00pm, so the timeframes are too tight with our bedtime routine. We tried eating dinner together after DH arrived home from work, but that led to meltdowns and tantrums. It was just too late for DS to be eating, and mostly he'd refuse his meal because he was too tired to eat. Plus it pushed his bedtime out to 8.30/9ish, which is just late for a little boy.
So that leaves me with 2 options:
Option 1: I eat dinner with the kids, DH eats alone when he gets home (reheated food). This is not such a good option for me ... I give my everything to my children, all my attention and energy all day long. I feel that DH deserves a little bit of me left over at the end of the day. Plus, DH does the cooking at least 50% of the time
Option 2: I feed DS a simple dinner (spag bog, homemade nuggets, toasted sandwiches etc), DD gets baby food (we don't do BLS), and DH and I eat together after he gets home from work and after the kids have both gone to bed, usually around 9pm. This is what works for us the majority of the time.
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