Entertaining Toddler While Trying to Cook

Get a counter portable high chair and let him start eating earlier. I would also try pushing his bedtime to a little later, so that maybe he would take a later naptime?

Hi Jamie,

Have you tried play-doh? There are some recipes for homemade edible play-doh on the web. Or other safe art supplies he can do in his high chair? This use to work with the kids I nannied for. With my own nine month old I just set him on the floor at my feet with a couple of lids and and spoon. A sticker book might work paper seems to fascinate kids.

I dedicated three drawers near the area I cook in for my daughter to pull open and play with the kitchen utensils... obviously I pulled out all the stuff that is sharp or dangerous.. she also has a little play kitchen that she loves to cook in (she'll call to me and ask what I would like her to cook me for dinner).

also, i second a little sesame street or baby einstein video... i do not believe in plugging kids in to a t.v. as a form of babysitting, but hey... sometimes you need 20-30 mins to get something done... and if they enjoy it and you aren't stressed, then once a day won't hurt anyone.

plus I am amazed at the vocabularly and letter, number, color, shape recognition my daughter has gained from watching sesame street. I work with her, but don't exactly chase her around with flash cards.

I also second the "healthy sleep habits, healthy child", it transformed our lives when everyone was sleeping better in our house. also, i might add, when transitioning from two naps to one, it is a rough going... you might need to move your son's bed time a little earlier for a few weeks until he adjusts to a longer nap time. (do is slowly in 10-20 min increments).

good luck!

I used our baby backpack for this problem. DS loves to be held though, and loves riding in the pack (we have a soft carrier - Ergo-like).

How heavy is he? My daughter was absolutely glued to me at that age, and I, too, couldn't get cooking done. For us, the thing that worked was that I wore her on my back while I was cooking. It's a little cumbersome, but your hands would be free, and your son would be far enough away from sharp things and heat sources to be safe.

This did not work at all with my son, however, who weighed too much at that age.

Another possibility would be to prepare dinner while he is down for his midday nap - things like salad and pasta with a red sauce (easy to warm up in the microwave in mere minutes), or casseroles that can be built ahead and thrown in the oven at the appropriate time.

I hope this helps.

One of the best pieces of housekeeping advice I got from my mother is this: make dinner after breakfast.

As soon as you've picked up from breakfast, prep dinner. I know it sounds weird, but it is such a lifesaver for me! I do whatever prep I can (chopping vegetables, assembling ingredients, getting pots and utensils out on the stove and ready to use, thawing whatever needs to be thawed, etc.)

I find that my toddler is a lot happier and able to entertain herself in the mornings. She plays happily while I prep. Sometimes I turn on PBS kids for her. Then I put my prepped veggies or whatever in bowls covered with saran wrap in the fridge and wait until dinner time.

Of course, I still have to do the actual cooking of dinner at dinner time, but with the prep out of the way it takes WAY less time, both cooking and cleaning. Then it's not so hard on my toddler or on me.

It does take some planning ahead, but it is very much worth it to me. My daughter and I both get a little crabby from about 3:00 to 5:00, so that's not a good time to put either of us in a situation we're unhappy with.

Good luck, and I look forward to reading all the other suggestions.

My only new suggestion is on the nap. Perhaps you could try pushing back his afternoon nap until around 1p. My baby-sleeping bible, Healthy Sleeping Habits Happy Child, suggests that when the morning nap drops its best to have that one nap a day at around 1p to encourage a longer rest and happier child for the afternoon. If he's not quite ready to make it that long from when he wakes, he could take a cat nap (no longer than 1 hour) at around 9a or so and then still be ready for his long nap by 1p or 2p.

Just let him get more energy out before he gets his afternoon nap and perhaps he'll get a longer rest, be in a better mood longer into the afternoon, and therefore easier to manage when you're cooking. Good luck!

First, figure out a meal plan maybe a few days in advance. Do the cooking or major prep work while he is napping.
He should be napping longer, so if you can just leave him in his room while you are catching up he will be fine. If he is in a crib maybe get soft baby books so he has something to entertain himself for a few minutes. Don't rush in to get him.
An hour doesn't seem long to me and he may fall back to sleep if you don't rush in the first fuss.

Throw a load of laundry in the morning, then when he is napping and you are starting to prep for dinner throw in the dryer, you can fold with him "helping" and put them away. You can run the vacuum too while he is up and maybe have him pretend to help with chores.

I am not sure why play pens are out unless you don't have the room, that was my saving grace!! I couldn't have lived without mine. Both of my kids loved playing in them and if I had something to do like go to the basement to do laundry or cook I would put them in the play pen for a few minutes with some toys and they were happy.

You can get really cool Leap Frog fridge magnets, set him up there and let him play with those. They have the ABC ones where it talks, plays music and another one with barn animals.

If you are going to say make spaghetti for dinner, do the meat, sauce while he is napping. Then all you have to do is boil noodles come dinner time. If he is that in your space when cooking, do it all while he is napping. Pre make foods in advance, like casseroles, major cooking all at one time and just store them in the fridge and reheat for meals. Meatloaf takes a good hour and a half and you can get it prepped and put in the oven before he wakes up.

Can you put a baby gate on the kitchen if it is a concern? He needs and should to play alone for a minute or two in instances like this.
I agree too that I still don't let either of my kids watch a bunch of TV, but my daughter loved Monsters Inc at that age and I would put in a Disney movie during making dinner or doing chores, it kept her busy for a bit and she is just fine at seven and no more interested in TV then before! :) I don't think a few shows a day is a biggie. Blues Clues was another favorite at that age and she learned all her shapes and colors from that show! :)

Have you tried putting him in a backpack while you cook? As long as you are careful and don't wear him when there is a chance he'll get burned (While sauteing, or boiling water, etc) and doing prep work, making lasagne, cutting veggies, etc, he may be really happy. I used to put my toddler on my back while cooking, he loved it and I loved feeling him close. I sure saved a ton of meals and a ton of eating out money!

Good luck. Remember, this is a phase, and once you figure out what to do, it will likely change.

light pots and pans, and a radio. I have learned that my son likes to act like he is cooking too so I get him a few small pots and pans some wooden spoons and let hime go for it on the floor,(as far away from the stove as possible) and we sing to the radio. It was hard to keep him in one place at first. good luck!
R.

Although I do not reccommend young children watching lots of t.v., but maybe try a Baby Einstein movie. They are about 30 minutes long and kids love them. It may keep him entertained for 15 - 30 minutes. Maybe even plop some puzzles in front of him or put him in his highchair and let him start his dinner early with some finger foods. I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

Give him some pans to bang on while you cook.

Open a cupboard and let him crawl around in it.

You have lots of options, look around your kitchen, find a big box, turn it on it's side and let him play with that. Or a laundry basket.

Good luck.

Our situation sounds very similar. I work 30 hr a week and have been married almost 4 years and have a 14 month old son. He also only takes one nap. We have had to let him scream and throw fits during the day when we're busy and can't play with him. We wanted him to learn that he's okay to play by himself. He can still see us, but will throw a fit becuase he wants to be exactly where we are. It might seem mean, but we wanted to make some boundaries and not give into his every tantrum. We have a gate that we've put up to (pretty long, about 6 panels long) to block the living room from the kitchen. He is just a terror in the kitchen and I find it dangerous if he's in there walking around while i"m cooking. I just talk to him and put Baby Signing Time on and he likes to watch that. After a while, he will give up his crying and realize that it's okay to play by himself. Good luck!! It's such a challenge to get things done. We want add number 2 soon and it's just going to be impossible then!

As for right now I would let him have some magnets - leters, numbers, and Target has some cool match em up famer magnets for the frig - or make a chalk board with chalk board paint if you think he can handle it. That way he's still in the kitchen where you can wath him, but hopefully busy. These kept my daughter busy for a bit and I could stop and play with her for a few minutes. Then as he get older I would let him help you our DD starting helping out around 18-20 mos using the little knife that came with her silverware set, cutting up cheese just like a big girl.

Good Luck!

Hi Jamie,
As I recall it seemed I allowed my toddlers to "wash" the dishes. Yes, it was kind of a wet mess but they were able to stand on a stool and slop around in the water. Remove anything sharp or breakable of course but it seemed to work out o.k. Also, my kids enjoyed all the pots and pans etc. so you might try that too. God Bless, L.

It is not easy no matter what you do. Tricks of the trade: prepare what you can during the one nap, take 5 min breaks (set a time so he can hear it) and play with him for a few minutes), give him a fruit juice popsicle (kids can take an extraordinarily long period of time to eat something frozen), make easier meals (use jarred garlic, grill dinner--veggies can be cooked on a cookie tray on the top shelf of the grill, just drizzle with olive oil and season cook until beginning to carmelize/browning up). Oh,and in 8 months (at 2) if things are really tough, record Sesame street and let him watch it while you cook dinner.

Good luck,
R.

One thing that helped me was to prepared the next days meals the night before and put them in the freezer or fridge. It's easier to heat up already cooked meals. Your DS goes to bed so early, it might help to make those meals then. Good luck!!!

I had the same problem, and one thing that really saved our dinners and my sanity was getting a CROCK POT! There are a lot of great slow cooker recipe books out there now that use fresh, healthy ingredients - you can even make lasagna in a crock pot. I would fill the pot up while my son napped and dinner would just cook away on the counter with no danger of him pulling it off the stove or opening a burning oven, and then it would just be ready when it was time to eat. Couldn't be easier. I don't use it everyday, but it is a great help when I just can't deal with cooking with my son underfoot. Other than that, he often watches a video while I cook.

What worked for me was to designate one bottom drawer in the kitchen to my toddler. I would have little toys, a small pot with lid, a wooden spoon, etc. All 3 of my children were entertained and happy while I was able to cook. You do have to change up the toys every few days so your little one doesn't get bored with the toys. Oh, a roll of toilet paper also seems to be incredibly entertaining, but I would only use that trick occasionally. (A roll of masking tape works pretty well also, but involves a little more clean-up! Hope this helps!! Christie:)

I agree with the mom that said pushing nap time back may help. My 2 1/2 yo sleeps at least 1 1/2 hours, usually closer to 2 1/2. We have a cupboard for the kids to "use" in the kitchen. It's only okay to play with while I'm in the kitchen, so that usually means they're pretty occupied during meal prep time. It has old pots and pans, wooden spoons, pitchers, cups, bowls, and plates, most of which I got second hand, so I really don't care about it. I also used play pens and backpacks at that age. Playdough in a highchair. With a little time and a lot of consistent work, you should be able to get at least 30 minutes of fairly undisturbed time to fix a meal. It really helped our kids to be in the kitchen with me. I just marked off a line where they had to stay so they knew their "safe" boundaries. These are some of the things we've done. Something that helped us get to this stage was from the very beginning they had a blanket that was theirs. Any where we went that they had to be somewhat contained, that blanket went with us and they were taught to sit on it. I started with that in the kitchen for the safe area. GL! I hope you get into a system that works well.