Help Making Dinner W/ 19 Month Old

My 22 month old is much the same while I am cooking. I often put a big bath towel down under his highchair, give him a bowl of soapy water and some smaller things to play with in them, and let him just play. He's usually quite happy to play in the water while I am cooking. I just have to give him some dry clothes before we eat.

The few days that we actually had snow, I brought some in from outside and let him play with it. I gave him little cups and scoops, and put some food coloring in it. He had a blast. Dinner was great ;-)

Put him in his high chair. Problem solved.

Not necessarily age appropriate boy behavior, as you also seem to be describing my two year old daughter!! :)

Strap him in his high chair at the kitchen table and give him something to do. You can continue to attempt coloring, but there are so many little things you can busy him with.

A string and some big chunky beads.
Lacing cards.
A box of straws.
A box of foam shapes.
Etc...anything works...I kept "special" kitchen toys for that very purpose, and the only time they came out was when I needed them.

Alternately, you can enlist his help...again, with him safely strapped into the high chair. Give him a toddler knife (plastic, no sharp edge) and have him smear peanut butter on apple slices. Give him a stack of napkins to fold. Tell him to make a design with carrots and celery...you get the idea! :)

These things worked for me (and still do)...hopefully, they'll work for you.

(If ALL else fails, I turn the computer screen around and Youtube it up. Desperate times call for desperate measures.)

***EDIT*** I also LOVE Queen of the Castle's idea. One of my daughter's favorite things to do is play with water, and I often fill up a dish tub, give her some measuring cups, spoons, etc, and let her go to town. I never thought of using this while cooking, but I'm adding it to my repertoire.

My Husband is never home during "dinner" prep either.
He is at work. That doesn't matter if he is home or not.

Your 6 year old must be in school.
The 3 year old, is he/she in Preschool?
If so, with both of them being in school (and only 1 at home then)... THEN, when they are at school, THAT is when, you prep dinner/meals.

Me: my kids are now 6 and 10. BUT, ever since they were born, I prepped dinner when they were napping. Or, when they were in Preschool.
Now, with both my kids in school, THAT is when, I prep dinner.
And yes, even if that is in the morning. By the time I pick up my kids from school, dinner is already prepped, or already made... and then all I have to do is cook it or heat it up. Homemade, made from scratch, meals.

Just make use of your timing... to things.
Time management.
Dinner does not have to be made, AT dinner. It can be made, at any time PRIOR, to the actual dinner. ie: when the kids are not there.

Then, when your kids are there... kids typically get cranky/naughty... because they are either: tired or overtired, or hungry.
Do your kids nap?
But my kids, even in the late afternoon or early evening, even when they were younger, they didn't make much trouble at that time even if I was in the kitchen, busy.

OR, get a Superyard play pen, and put your 19 month old in that, while you are in the kitchen. Or put him in a room with a baby gate on it.
Then tell, your other older 2 kids... do not go by baby. ie: when my youngest (my son) was so active when he was a baby... I simply told my eldest child, "don't go by him.... or there will be trouble." And my eldest understood completely. Because, ALL kids, do not have to be in each other's hair... they can, play by themselves or somewhere else. Not being IN the other kid's personal space. And I know my kids moods... and sometimes they just get more fussy, when the other kid is in their face. So as siblings... my kids have learned each others cues. And they know when to stay away, from the other, if the other is grumpy or whatever. And that solves a lot of trouble.
I taught my kids, to know the vibes/cues of their sibling.

I think I'd throw him in the high chair with something to nibble on or play with.

I made dinner during nap time.

One thing we did with my grandson (I don't remember his age), was put him in his high chair and give him play-doh and play-doh utensils to play with while we did dinner prep....

If he eats it, don't worry... it is non-toxic.

A special toy that was brought out only during dinner prep.

I put plastic bowls and wooden kitchen utensils on the floor. Bang away, kid.

stick him in a high chair and throw some frozen peas or frozen corn on his tray, sunflower seeds (the actual part you eat, no shells) are another good thing. These will take a while to eat cause he has to do them one by one, and they are healthy. Toddlers LOVE frozen peas and corn, trust me.

put him in the highchair and or a playpen. problem solved. give him a light snack while your prepping dinner. I have been there and done that lol. My boys were new born 5yr and 6 yr and at 19 mo the youngest was also into everything. But just because a child is able to do something doesn't mean he should be allowed. it is ok to trap a kid. it is ok to say no and it is ok to let them scream while you do something else. There is nothing wrong with saying you will sit here because I am busy.

on a separate note: there are ways to cut down on the confusion / chaos during meal prep times. I do most of my prep on the weekends. You can buy large cuts of meat and cook them and then freeze what you need for later in the week.
roast on sunday = soup later in the week
baked chicken breasts on monday night = casserole later in the week
spaghetti on wed = another pasta dish later in the week.

just double up what your making and then pull it out later. never throw away veggies throw them in a container in the fridge then use them for the soup later in the week
left over chicken is great in pastas, salads, sandwiches, wraps, tacos etc

I buy 6 lb packages of hamburger and fry it all up at once. drain it and then put it into 1 lb increments (small freezer containers) you can pull those out thaw and wala you have tacos, spag, chili, casserole, sloppy joes etc don't wait until suppertime to figure it out do some of it on the weekend when its not so hectic

and as a last resort a swat on the behind might put an end to the throwing / hitting. I know most people are against it but my kids are living proof that a swat on the butt will curtail bad behavior immediately and they are all law abiding members of society. not a criminal in the bunch lol

Instead of trying to address your child's behavior, maybe the answer is to change your approach to making dinner. Can you block out some time on a Sunday afternoon or evening when your husband can entertain the kiddos? Then make ahead all your meals for the week, or at least prep them. That way, when dinner time comes, you're just pulling meals from the fridge or freezer and heating them up. Rachel Ray has a whole series dedicated to this idea. She shows you how to take ingredients and create a weeks worth of dinners with one session of cooking. I'm sure you could find it on Food Network's website. Maybe check it out! Happy cooking!

Put him in a "safe" area. Gate off a room or area in your home he can't get out of, with no toys or games of his older siblings to desttoy. Leave him there with toys to play with, blankets in case he crashes, he needs to learn to entertain himself. He may throw a fit, but he's safe and you can prepare a meal.

Hi C.,

I have a few suggestions that have sometimes worked with my kids as toddlers. First, you could try to have your 19-month-old stand on a chair and help you make dinner. I've had kids dump in pre-measured ingredients, stir things, push the button on appliances, etc. I don't think 19 mos. is too young. If you're concerned about safety, they make these tower things for kids to stand in. I'm pretty sure I've seen them at onestepahead.com.

We also still wear our son (now almost 23 mos.) on our backs sometimes when he is wanting to be held and we are trying to get things done (like make dinner). (We did this with our 5-year-old when she was younger, too, but now she's pretty good at entertaining herself.) We have the ErgoBaby carrier, and the weight limit is something like 40 lbs. There are lots of video tutorials on the back carry online.

Failing that, I have sometimes had success putting a little one in a high chair with snacks (or paper and crayons) where s/he can watch me. Or in view of a TV with Sesame Street playing.

Good luck!
R.

Give him some pots and pans to help you "cook".

My DS is about the same age and is fully into helping. So he cooks blocks for dinner, which he dutifully stirs and tastes.