Dinner Time With Young Baby

OK, my five-month-old normally wakes up at about 6am and goes to bed anywhere between 7.30 - 8.30pm. My DP works shifts so one week he's home for dinner and the next he's not. When he's not, I find it quite tricky to cook dinner just for me before DD has gone to bed and then I'm too buggered by the time she's gone to bed.

I'm thinking perhaps I should just have dinner a lot earlier - say 5pmish.

What do other people do and what d'you cook? I used to be quite the gourmet before having DD but these days meat and two veg is about all I can stretch to!

Interested in how other people handle the dinner scenario.

i wack her in the portacot to play or put her in the lounge and cook away... sometimes i do a batch of food and put it in the freezer in portions so i can just take out enough for me and put it in the microwave when im feeling lazy...

i've actually just changed my dd's routine so she is going to bed around 8.30-9pm and i am loving it, as it means i can cook tea at 6.30pm while my dp plays with her. means she gets more time with her daddy than when she was going to be earlier.

i think as your dd gets older it will be easier to cook, as you can put her in the high chair and give her a bit of toast to entertain herself with, or my favorite at the moment is sultanas and dried apricots, keeps her busy while i buzz about the kitchen.

i think you'll notice a huge difference when she hits 7 months and you can give her a cruskit or a piece of toast - its a lifesaver!!

Its hard to coordinate everything isnt it!!

MY DH is away a lot so like yours he isnt home each night for dinner.

I also have thought about having dinner earlier but have decided not to as I really really like to eat in peace so I wait for the kids to be in bed before I do. To help me do this I try and make sure I cook dinner for myself and my two children who are eating food during the day and I make sure I do a really big batch of what ever it is so I can eat it again the following night.

I also use the slow cooker heaps so I can just chuck in whatever I want and leave it to cook for the day rather than it being a mad rush come dinner time. The slow cooker is my saviour - yummy meals and so easy

Trust me there are some days where I just have an egg or spaghetti on toast but I have really been trying lately not so do this and as I said before have just made big batches of whatever it is I am cooking so it lasts me a couple of nights.

Oh and then when DH gets home from his trips away he cooks LOL!!!

Good luck
Jem

I love the cruskit at dinner cooking time!! ;) I also find that I get things organised earlier on in the day, so if we are having a stir fry I will cut up and wash the vegies and get them all sorted out from about 3 in the arvo so that once DH comes in the door it all just has to be whacked in the pot. Izzy has also had a bedtime of 7-730 since she was born too so that makes it a bit easier too.
It will get easier - Izzy used to be terrible from about 4-7 so thats when I used to put on her Baby Einstein dvd and I knew I had exactly 27 mins to get dinner prepared (but not cooked- I would do that later on) These days its a bit of fruit or rusk etc so you just do what you have to do We also used to eat at around 7ish = these days its anywhere up to 9ish depending on what we are cooking!

When DS was very young & DH did night shift he would cook a meal that arvo & I would eat at 5ish whilst he was still there to hold bubs. Then I'd be in bed by 7pm after DS as I was nackered.
Now I prepare what I can whilst DS is having long arvo nap, often try to do something that can be put together & then put in oven or slow cooker. Then its always ready when DH gets in the door. If he's on nights we cook meal during the day so he gets a cooked meal & I just reheat mine when DS is in bed. Though he's in bed by 7pm or 7.30 each night which I love. Lots of me time or Me & DH time & we get to eat together in peace.

Meant to come back in here earlier. Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's suggestions. Lots of good ideas.

Tan, I'm a new woman now that I'm doing stuff earlier in the day when she has her nap. Felt incredibly proud of myself when I made a veggie curry by 10am the other day. So I've decided for one-pot casserole/pasta sauce type meals, I'll make them early and just reheat later and for stuff with veggies, I'll slice and dice the veggies earlier in the day. This has made a big difference to my sanity and energy levels - thanks again.

oh and ive been going one step further (lazier) by buying julienne carrots frozen, and frozen bags of brocolli, for those times when i haven't been able to cut up the vegies, or i cant be bothered, and we just have the frozen sort, its not every day, but sometimes once or twice a week.... actually ive been giving the carrots and brocolli to dd too, as its her favorite thing to eat and she eats it twice a day, and its so easy just to pull out a handful and cook them up.