My husband and I loved cooking together and trying new recipes, especially at dinnertime. I would say that this was the passion that brought us together after a day at work. However, since having my adorable LO (who is now four months) we’ve been running on frozen food and tried-and-true recipes that we can put together in less than fifteen minutes, more for the nutrition than for the pleasure of making something great. And obviously, we don’t cook together anymore, as we need to split tasks (e.g., I make dinner while hubby plays with the baby, and vice versa).
So I’m wondering—Will this phase end? Do you ever go back to being able to cook more elaborate meals? Do I need to accept that we’re putting this passion of ours on the back burner for the next months, years, or give it up more or less permanently for the time being?
Honestly at almost 11 months it has not gotten better for us, especially now that baby is eating three meals a day. I try to make things that she can also eat to avoid cooking lots of meals. And we still are tag teaming like you said (one cooking, one with baby), and she eats dinner at 5:30 so it’s kind of rushed to get food on the table.
The exception is Sunday. Now that she’s on two long naps, I have time to cook more in the morning or afternoon, but I’m usually meal prepping that weeks’ lunches and dinner for Monday/Tuesday.
@Blaire
My baby is 11 months and this is exactly how my life is. Her naps are longer which means more relaxation time right?? Nope. I spend most of my time meal prepping for the baby and figuring out what to feed her next. It‘s exhausting.
Once baby can sit up in the high chair, which should be in the next couple months, put them in the chair in the kitchen with you while you cook. Give them toys, a small container of water and a washcloth, bits of ingredients, etc.
In the meantime, bring their bouncer/swing/etc. into the kitchen or have one of you babywear while you cook together.
@Adler
This!!! My husband and I love cooking together and now we cook while the baby (3 months) watches. She lets us know when she’s been in the bouncer for long enough and wants to be held.
Rowan said: @Adler
This!!! My husband and I love cooking together and now we cook while the baby (3 months) watches. She lets us know when she’s been in the bouncer for long enough and wants to be held.
@Adler
I always brought my boy and his bouncer into the kitchen so I could cook. The only problem with this setup is he would poop every time without fail. Get the bouncer set up, set baby in it, wash my hands to begin, thunderous noises from his bottom.
I completely forgot about this until I started writing it down and it’s funny how we’re repeating this as he potty trains. Inevitably he will say “mommy I need to poop!” As I start cooking
Oh you’re in the thick of it and I totally relate! My first babe is 23 months old. Around 19/20 months, he started loving his kitchen toddler tower and loves to “help” in the kitchen - stirring the sauce/dressing, putting cut cauliflower into a bowl, seasoning it and stirring it up with me, it’s SO much fun to cook with him and lets me and my husband both enjoy cooking again! We’re still not back to elaborate, labor-intensive meals, but we can enjoy cooking together as a family again (some nights, then some he runs around like a madman). It’ll probably depend on the temperament of your kid, but it may not be as far off as you think! Highly recommend a toddler tower and kid-sized utensils!
@Rylan
Same! My daughter is almost 18 months and she loves watching, pushing the salad spinner, stirring, and putting things into things (salad into bowl, etc). It’s still nothing like the complicated stuff I used to do but it makes simple week night stuff much more tolerable to be able to include her!
We like to cook while baby is watching! We put him in a high chair (tripp trapp newborn set) and act as if he is our apprentice and we’re teaching him how to cook. Every now and then, we let him smell something or we give him a big piece of fennel or a potato or so (something he cannot actually eat or choke on). Our baby is 5 months and has loved this since he was 3 months or so. When it lasts too long, one of us will take him. Rarely, we can completely finish the meal together, but it is still a very nice activity.
Oh gosh, I remember these days! I’ve lost count of how many nights we had chicken nuggets ans barbecue sauce. Which is delicious, but I missed cooking and enjoying cooking because I had the time and energy.
When baby was 6m we started weaning. We followed the suggestions for new foods in How to Wean Your Baby by Charlotte Stirling Reed. That helped me meal plan and cook with the remaining ingredients we gave to baby.
To be honest I was pretty freaked out by BLW and we only reduced purées at 9m (baby’s now 11m). I’ve slowly returned to our usual recipes over the course of the last few months but baby still mostly has her own meals. I give her tastes of what we’re having to introduce her to different spices (I just leave out salt and sugar as much as possible). Thankfully she has a good appetite and seems to be adventurous so I hope she’ a little foodie!
once we started blw meals started getting interesting again. i’ve always loved cooking but it was so hard when baby was little. now we obviously want to expose her to a variety of foods so i’ve started getting back into cooking more.
Our kiddo lives on the kitchen floor (if it’s safe…) or in the high chair and watches me cook… Still not too complex cooking but it’s fun I believe kiddos should be with their parents all the time and watch them doing the chores… They learn so much by doing it.
He is only 8 months old but I honestly can’t just sit and play with him all the time I would go bananas…
I feel like it’s going to ebb and flow over the next year. Around 4-5 months, I was cooking again because I could plop the baby on the floor with some toys and chop veggies - I felt like I had nailed the parenting thing - and then she started crawling! Early at 5.5 months. Enjoy the potted plant phase if you’re in it now!
Had a tough time really cooking again until like 9 months since she was always either on the move or contact napping. When she finally started napping in her crib, I found I could do food prep during naps and got into a good rhythm. Now, she’s 15 month and on one nap. On one hand, I have less “free” time with one nap, but also she’s walking and can play independently longer. Mostly, I food prep while she’s napping and assemble/cook after Dad gets home from work, but I can cook with her on my hip or do a soup or roast or something that doesn’t need constant attention. This all works because I’m a SAHM currently. On weekends, my husband and I might make an elaborate meal and one of us will watch the baby while the other cooks. You’re right that cooking together doesn’t happen much, but we sometimes each make components - if that counts. Pretty soon I think my baby will be able to “help” and that might open up the possibility of family cooking.
Tl;dr As soon as you figure out, it’s likely to change again. Expect many different phases with varying ability to cook over next year.
We have a three month old girl and last night, she sat in the bouncer seat while dad cooked and I explained everything he was doing while sitting next to her (like a cooking show lol). I wasn’t cooking, but I could kinda brainstorm with him (like add this spice or thicken the sauce this way etc). I nursed her and put her to bed while it was in the oven and we ate together when she was asleep while watching her on the monitor. Then we washed up together and I went up to bed with her (knowing she’d be up in a few hours lol).
A lot depends on how independent your baby is. If you can put LO in a high chair, bouncer, etc I’d say you could get back to semi-more elaborate meals soon.
If not, you and your husband could try trading off cooking more elaborate meals while the other watches your LO.
We have the latter and are 11 months in. We have been trading off cooking vs watching LO since probably 6 months or so.
While definitely not cooking like we used to, I have been able to try new recipes and take a little more time in the kitchen. I’m not sure we’ll ever get back to cooking fully elaborate meals.
I believe kiddos should be with their parents all the time and watch them doing the chores… They learn so much by doing it.