Family Mealtimes: 10 Things every parent should know to make them less stressful

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I recently shared a post about keeping on top of family life and the best ways to go about it, which has proved popular. Today, to follow on from that, I thought I would share some useful tips that all parents should know, for making mealtimes easier.

Let’s be honest about it, when young children are involved, mealtimes tend to end up being somewhat testing, shall we say. And can quite often result in food being smeared into clothes, mashed into hair, and thrown in our direction. Then there are the tantrums and tears over vegetables. Not to mention the stress that this leads to for you and your partner. The truth is, family mealtimes can be hard work, especially when your little ones are young.

That being said, it doesn’t have to be that way. There are steps you can take to ensure that family meals go as smoothly as possible. Want to know what you can do to make things better? Keep reading below!

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#1 Make one meal for everyone

Instantly reduce your mealtime stress by making just one meal for the whole family. Don’t get into the habit of making different meals for different family members. Instead, make one meal that everyone can enjoy. You can even give it to your baby, just blend it or mash it up – just remember not to add too much salt when cooking. Most babies wean at around 6 months now anyway and they are then using their fingers to pick up food. Making one meal for everyone will make your life much easier. Plus, it will prevent arguments over one child wanting another’s meal.

#2 The right tools are a must

Want to make cooking easier for yourself? – then you need the right tools. If your kitchen isn’t well equipped, this will make cooking meals for your family that much harder. Every family kitchen needs a set of quality pots and pans – have a read of these Anolon Cookware reviews, a blender, slow cooker, microwave and possibly a steamer. A slow cooker is a real must as it’s seriously useful for preparing family meals before heading out for the day. All you need to do is pop the ingredients in, turn it on, and when you get home dinner will be ready – what could be easier?

#3 Go for the no-fuss approach

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Have you ever wondered why kids make such a song and dance when they don’t like something? It’s because they think that if they play up and make a scene, they’ll be given something else instead. To prevent this from happening, don’t fuss over them. If your child refuses to eat something, don’t make a fuss, simply take their plate away. If you fuss, they’ll get more stressed out and stubborn about it. The chances are if you don’t make a fuss, your child won’t either. Keep putting the food that they leave on their plate and sooner or later they’ll start eating it. If you’re all eating the same, they’ll eventually join in. Don’t make them eat it, and don’t give them an alternative. Still offer pudding but no snacks.

#4 Have something on table to keep kids occupied

For young children, mealtimes can be a little boring, especially out at restaurants or big family occasions. To prevent them from having tantrums at the dinner table while waiting for others to finish their food, have activities for them to do. Things like mini colouring books and crayons or a mini jigsaw are ideal. Mini wind up toys  are also good, or let them get down and play if they’ve had enough. These will keep them busy and prevent any tantrums.

#5 Have a set of rules and stick to them

Want your children to behave at the dinner table? Then what you need to do is implement a set of rules that apply to everyone. You could type these up on the computer, frame them and place them on or above the dinner table. That way, everyone can see the mealtime rules and knows what is expected of them. If a child is too young to read, you can always read the rules to them. Things like ‘once you’re finished put your knife and fork together,’ and ‘Don’t speak with your mouth full,’ are ideal. Believe it or not, teaching children table manners doesn’t have to be difficult.

#6 Make easy meals

Don’t stress about making the most complicated of meals. Kids love things like fish fingers, peas and mashed potatoes and sausages and homemade chips. Meals don’t have to be complicated to be healthy. The easier you can make family meals for yourself, the better. There are plenty of easy family meal ideas online that you can try, many of which are wonderfully healthy. Slow cooker meals are a godsend as they’re so quick and easy and are easy to hide vegetables in. There are also Dump Bag Meals which you can easily prep in advance, I’ve recently discovered these.

#7 Finger food

When kids are small, they hate using their knife and fork. So why not make finger food for them? Just because you’ve served your little one raw veggies, bread sticks and hummus for tea doesn’t make you a bad mum. It’s important to make mealtimes interesting for kids, especially when they’re trying lots of different foods. It’s perfectly fine to whip them up some finger food for tea; it won’t hurt them not to have a proper meal once in a while.

#8 Go homemade where possible

Wherever possible, it’s best to go homemade with meals. That’s because that way you know exactly what’s gone into their food and can ensure that mealtimes are as healthy as possible. Things like sauces for pasta and different meals like curry, are actually incredibly easy to make. As well as homemade pizzas, chips, and burgers. However, if there are some nights that you just don’t have the time to make a meal from scratch, getting something readymade isn’t the end of the world and can be a lifesaver.

#9 Sticker charts work wonders

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To encourage good behaviour at mealtimes, or if you’re struggling, create a sticker chart for each child. For each mealtime that they behave, give them a sticker. If they don’t behave as you would like, don’t give them a sticker – it’s as simple as that. Then, after they’ve got a certain amount of stickers – 30 is a good number as that accounts for once a month, buy them a little treat. Rewarding good behaviour is important as it teaches children that when they behave, good things happen.

#10 Stop Stressing about the amount they eat

Try not to worry about how much they eat at an individual meal. If they’re not that hungry they’ll eat more at the next meal. Mine will often not eat much at one meal only to eat a massive one the next. Look at what they eat over a few days or even a week, you’ll soon see they’re eating enough. Check your portion sizes, are they too big? Children still have such small stomachs (although they’ll always miraculously have room for pudding!). Don’t give in to sweets or unplanned snacks, kids will never starve themselves and will always eat when they need it.

Hopefully, this advice will help to make family mealtimes that bit easier and less stressful! Heres hoping…

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post, all opinions are my own.

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