Mealtimes with a baby and a toddler

The thing about babies is that they change so quickly. It means that you are constantly kept on your toes with a routine that changes every couple of weeks, but it also means that, especially second time round, you realise that each stage is only a passing phase and soon you'll be worrying about something completely different.

We're in a transition phase with mealtimes at the moment. I like us all to eat dinner early at 6pm, because Harry isn't the best of eaters and it helps if he sees us all eating together. For the first few months Mia slept through dinnertime. Then she was too awake to want to sleep, but was getting tired and so she would scream at the top of her lungs. That wasn't a fun phase. Now she is old enough to be eating dinner herself, but because she is still spoon fed, it's easier if I can feed her separately.

So I now give her a puree at about 5pm (in the hope that she will still be hungry enough at bedtime for her milk) and then sit her in her highchair at the table with us while we eat with a few toys, so that she can watch us and get used to it. I've tried giving her little bits to try, but she hasn't got the hand eye co-ordination yet for finger foods.

Hopefully this will just be a short phase, and it won't be long before she can actually eat with us as well. I say hopefully, because this is currently how we now spend our dinner:

Mia throwing her toys on the floor and me picking them up.

Harry wondering what Mia has got that he hasn't.

Harry appropriating the toy that he likes the look of best and preferring it to his dinner.

At least I know that this is only another phase, and it won't be too long before we can all eat together in a civilised manner!