How to keep a child occupied during meals?

[mom_hanna]

Ok. This question was inspired by the post on family meals together. What do I do when we all sit down to dinner, and dd is done after 10 minutes and wants my or DH's attention (ie. wants to sit in my lap, climb on the table, cries and/or whines) but if you take her out of the chair and put her on the floor she throws a fit? we tried keeping her in her chair and giving her crayons, play-doh, books, etc. to no avail. BTW, she is 16 months. DH and I eventually end up one person entertaining her while the other one eats and then switching. So we don't really eat together at all. Any ideas that have worked for any of you? Thanks.

Jennifer

[KrisM]

Well, DS takes longer than that to eat, so it's not as much of a problem here. But, he does end most of his meals sitting on one of our laps. He ends up eating more that way - we pull his plate over by us.

Is your DD in a high chair or a booster? I think it was about 16 months when we got rid of the tray on the booster and put him at the table with us. That helped a lot, too.

[mom_hanna]

DD is in a hook-on chair at the table. She isn't a big eater (32", 22lbs), so she doesn't last very long at the actual eating and then she's bored. She is the type that is always moving and doing something unless she is sleeping!

[CiderLogan]

How about a colorful placemat with pictures/numbers/etc on it to keep her occupied? Also, I try to make sure my DD starts eating at the same time we do rather than letting her get started earlier (and then we tend to eat fast!). Or how about serving a longer-to-eat item like little freeze dried fruit pieces, or apple slices, or something after the meal to keep her occupied? Or just bring in some toys and set them by the kitchen table.

Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/03
...and another GIRL due 5/29/06!

[muskiesusan]

I will tell you it will get better, but I think this is typical of the age. During this stage, we would let the kids either sit on our lap, or run laps around the kitchen. I pretty much only expect them to sit while they are eating as it takes us much longer to finish our meals (kids aren't big dinner eaters).

I will add that I don't let them start eating until we do, and I try to have all their food ready to eat so I am not wasting table time cutting up their food while my is getting cold!!!

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[trumansmom]

Two words - duct tape. :P

Okay, I'm kidding. I've been tempted, but haven't done it yet!

DD must be a late bloomer, because she just started this phase. She wants to sit in her high chair, then a bar stool, then in my lap, etc. At this point, I've started feeding DS and her earlier, so I actually get to eat. I would love for us all to eat together, but it just doesn't work at dinner time. Lunches are okay, but not dinner. Also, dinnertime is so close to her bedtime that I think she tried to cram as much movement in as possible!

I like Susan's idea of having everything cut up before sitting down. I used to do that with DS, but for some reason don't with DD.

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04
Independent Consultant, Do-Re-Me & You!