Quick meal ideas

Hi my little girl is due to start nursery and im stressing about being able to get her fed and to bed without a whole melt down.

She’s usually fed and watered by 530 on a normal day but when we start nursery il be collecting straight from work at 430 ish and probably be home after 5pm. I’m anticipating she’s going to be extra clingy so cooking will be a nightmare with her clung on to me. I’m going to also presume she’s going to be knackered as I can’t see her being able to nap in the nursery environment. I know she’ll eventually adapt but I need some help to pull me through the initial few weeks so would appreciate any quick dinner ideas that would take off some of the stress for me. Thank you girls

Read more on Peanut

The views expressed in community are solely the opinions of participants, and do not reflect those of Peanut.

Learn more about our guidelines.

Add a comment

Could you batch cook a few meals and just reheat them in the microwave? My little boy sleeps well at nursery. My advice is to not have the TV on after nursery, I think it’s so stimulating for them it’s good for them to have some quiet time when home. I’ve always got a drink of water waiting for him for when he’s home and a cracker or something small to keep him occupied while I’m prepping food x

Could she have tea/dinner at nursery? They give that meal at 4pm at my little girls nursery which is earlier than when at home, so when we get home around 5.45 she just has a little snack and a drink to get her to bed time x

Thank u but I’m not the best cook haha I’ve never batched cooked and when u say lamb hotpot and chicken chassuer like it’s a known … I wouldn’t know where to start lol. Maybe I will have to invest in slow cooker

apparently what they call ‘tea’ at nursery is just a snack so insufficient to last them the night. It’ll be things like hummus and pitta or like half or crumpet or something- they have that around 3-4pm so il need to really feed her something more substantial to last the night x

Do they do the main meal at lunch time then? That’s the same sort of tea they do at my little girls nursery but they do a big meal at lunchtime and then snack at 2 and tea 4 and they can have as many helpings as they like. I find that she eats way more at nursery throughout the day than she does when we’re at home together so a snack when we get home and then milk before before bed usually works, plus she’s so tired from nursery she’s ready for bed earlier than usual xx

You might find that she eats more at nursery than you think lovely, and you can do little snacks for her tea at home? They definitely tend to eat more when they’re around the other children and there’s no ‘pressure’ I.e. a parent checking how much they eat…like Zoey said a snack and milk might suffice, see how you go. Also, our LG napped from the first day at nursery (I was also worried about it)…nursery staff are wizards and have a magical ability to make babies nap 🤣don’t forget our babes don’t expect the same from other caregivers as they do from mummy. X

in our community

Is this clever or cruel?

My husband and i were talking and with social media and the internet in general being a terrifying dumpster fire, we are trying to figure out the best way to keep our son safe while still teaching him how to safely be online and moderation.

We landed on the idea of giving him the 90's kid treatment. A computer in the living room for us to keep an eye on what hes doing online, and once we feel hes mature enough to hang with friends without adult supervision he gets a flip phone. When we feel he is responsible enough and he earns and saves up the money for the physical phone, case, and screen cover, then we will be happy to take him to get a smart phone.

I thought this was air tight, but now my brother says its cruel to give a kid a flip phone, and besides he can just use his friends phones at school.

My husband and i remember a time before the internet, and we remember having complete access to something no one understood yet. We saw unspeakable things and are always battling with the urge to put the phone and social media down. I dont want that for my son, especially with his brain so vulnerable still.

Partner no longer wants baby #2

Before our son was born we originally both wanted minimum 2 kids but we were hoping for 3-4. My partner found the birth traumatic to watch and also struggled a lot with the newborn/baby stage. He no longer wants to have any more children and it’s completely breaking my heart. I need another baby. We’ve spoken about it a lot and the options. He said he wasn’t COMPLETELY closed off to it so I asked him to try and work through his feelings and reconsider his decision. He eventually said he definitely doesn’t want another. I know that I will always want one and my feelings will never change. Do we have to break up or does anyone know anything else I can do to help change his mind? Has anyone else’s partner said this and then changed their mind? I don’t want to break up because I adore him and our life together and I’d hate to split up our family for “selfish” reasons and make my son miss out on having both of us together but I just don’t know what to do

Nursery funding

My child turned 9 months last week. I applied for government funded hours nearly 2 months ago and so well within the required timeframe for the April term, however upon receiving my first invoice without the funding applied and having questioned this, I have now been informed that the stretched funding doesn’t start until 4th May.

Has anyone else been told it won’t start until May?

The government site states it should start from April 1st, and so I intentionally set my nursery start and return to work as the start of April for that reason, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to afford the nursery on my sole income without the funding

Jealous of my husband

I’m so jealous of him and it’s making me resentful. We have a ten week old and I’m jealous that he is at work all day. I’m jealous he can leave for lunch and actually eat an uninterrupted lunch. Take a phone call uninterrupted. Chat with a friend he runs in to uninterrupted. Even go to the bathroom when he wants uninterrupted. He comes home from work when he wants. He’s not on a set schedule. Some days are late some are early. It depends on when he’s done. I’m jealous he can come home at 10pm and shower, eat and go right to bed uninterrupted because I already have the baby asleep. He doesn’t have to worry about anything house wise or baby wise because I’ve done it all. Meanwhile I’m covered in puke and crap and smell like rotten milk. When he is home he is VERY active and helpful. So it’s not that. I’m just jealous his world hasn’t changed and mine has I guess. This isn’t something he’s doing wrong so I’m not sure how to get past this. I wish I could keep him home all day because that’s how helpful he is, but I understand he obv needs to work.

NHS job

Anyone work for the NHS and does 12 hour shifts? How do you work around childcare and your partners job?

Toddlers

How often are your toddlers asking for food? My oldest who is 3 just finished a whole plate of food and not even 10 minutes later he’s requesting more food. I know he’s going through a growth spurt, but how do you respond to this.