Infant Care No Dinner

[CherryFrozz]

Hi...bit troubled here.. just found out that our infant care doesn't provide dinner. And my baby already 7+mths & have started eating solids...

Some more my hubby & I are those type that always the last to fetch (@ 7pm)...just wondering in future when baby older how???

dont wanna feed baby so late @ nite (too near his bedtime - @ 8+) , but @ same time, infant care no dinner, so means ceral all the way until 18 mths??? Correction.. the affiliiated childcare also no dinner... so is cereal all the way till he able to stay up late???? Sigh!

Just wondering any of you face same problem before & how you resolved it?

 

[diymummy]

Most centers do not offer dinner for any of the sessions, be it infant care, play group, N1, etc. The only center so far that I heard of that offers dinner is Little Skool House at OCBC center.

My son's center also didn't offer dinner. I usually pick him up at 6.30 when he was at infant care. He had cereal for dinner at the center up to 1 yo but for lunch he would be taking the center's porridge.

One of my hubby's cousins brought home packed food to the center and the center would use their steamer to heat it up. Not all centers would agree to parents doing this. So you'd have to check with the center.

My son is in PG now and also sleeps between 8-8.30pm. I would have his porridge in the slow cooker already done cooking, then I would steam his fish and vege which I already distributed into food cubes.

Now, my son is almost 2 yo. He would eat rice and I would cook very simple dishes when I get home.

How old is your kid now? It actually depends how fast your kid finishes his food.

 

[siongnelly]

yes, most centres do not provide dinner....
i will bring milk for my son & his teacher will make for him at around 5pm...

 

[CherryFrozz]

Most centers do not offer dinner for any of the sessions, be it infant care, play group, N1, etc. The only center so far that I heard of that offers dinner is Little Skool House at OCBC center.

My son's center also didn't offer dinner. I usually pick him up at 6.30 when he was at infant care. He had cereal for dinner at the center up to 1 yo but for lunch he would be taking the center's porridge.

One of my hubby's cousins brought home packed food to the center and the center would use their steamer to heat it up. Not all centers would agree to parents doing this. So you'd have to check with the center.

My son is in PG now and also sleeps between 8-8.30pm. I would have his porridge in the slow cooker already done cooking, then I would steam his fish and vege which I already distributed into food cubes.

Now, my son is almost 2 yo. He would eat rice and I would cook very simple dishes when I get home.

How old is your kid now? It actually depends how fast your kid finishes his food.

So u managed to cook for ur son & feed him @ home? But I dun think I can ley.. hubby will fetch son @ 650-ish to 7 then reach hm @ 7++. Me, I reach hm @ 7++ also after work, I compute by time finish cooking (no matter how fast), close to 8 liao le.

Now my son 7 mth ++ so temporily still ok. @ most can ask them to feed cereal @ evenings lor... but when older I dunno how liaoz...

Home packed food is an alternative, but is food (eg.porridge) still safe to eat after one day? If cook @ nite, bring in morning...by dinner-time.. the food shld b abt one day old liao?

 

[Hedge]

The night before I will wash the rice required and put it in the freezer, it will take shorter time to turn the rice into porridge.

Then in the morning I used stove to cook the rice into porridge. After it has been cooked, I put them into 2 thermal jars; lunch and dinner. This way I do not need to cook at night since by the time we reach home is quite late.

If you dont have the time to look after the fire, you can use the slow cooker. Use hot water to cook instead of tap water to let it cook faster but you need to wake up in the night in order to have the porridge on time.

 

[diymummy]

By the time your child hits 1, maybe he can sleep slighly later at 8.30.

You can prepare the food 1 night in advance and put it in the freezer. When you come back, just heat up and feed. Then it's faster.

 

[hpc]

U can get a part-time nanny who can fetch him home at 5pm-6pm n provide dinner

 

[foreveris]

buy a timer and use it to set your slow cooker.. in the morning, put in the rice, water, veg (carrots, sweet potato etc) and dried stuff (anchovies, scallop).. set to cook at say 4pm.. when u get home at 7 plus, then put in your meat and cook for 15mins..

 

[CherryFrozz]

Thanks mummies for your valuable inputs... checked with the infant care liao.. they said no way they can feed dinner - coz too busy in the evenings.. sigh...

On separate note, they feed the "lunchtime" porridege at 10am. so curious.. in general infant care feed lunch so early one meh?? so young start having brunch?

 

[diymummy]

My infant care goes according to my schedule until my son was 13mths and he was moved to the older infants area where they have 1 nap time.

My son usually has his breakfast at 8am and then lunch between 11am to 12pm.

You can ask them to feed your child last if you're afraid that 10am is too early.

 

[CherryFrozz]

My infant care goes according to my schedule until my son was 13mths and he was moved to the older infants area where they have 1 nap time.

My son usually has his breakfast at 8am and then lunch between 11am to 12pm.

You can ask them to feed your child last if you're afraid that 10am is too early.

yah.. 10am is definately too early for my son. His breakfast is abt 8am+ to 9 rite now. wat was the arrangement like for u? I suppose ur infant care also cook by batch, so where did they store the porridege in the meanwhile?

The infant care teach. @ my side suggest asking the kitchen to leave the porridege in the pot (i.e. means cook loooonger), but I dun tink good idea ley. If can, I wouldn't wan my son to eat over-cooked porridege everyday.

I asked them to put in fridege then heat up for him when time comes. But they dun seem too keen... maybe too mah fan bah.. sigh....

 

[diymummy]

I'm not sure how they cook the porridge but I think they use the slow cooker to keep it warm, eg switch to low mode. Their lunch is usually 11am-12pm, so all the porridge will get fed during that time. They won't keep leftovers.

Why not ask if they can feed your son last? Then maybe he will get fed around 11am.

 

[Spiralng]

yah.. 10am is definately too early for my son. His breakfast is about 8am+ to 9 rite now. what was the arrangement like for you? I suppose your infant care also cook by batch, so where did they store the porridege in the meanwhile?

The infant care teach. @ my side suggest asking the kitchen to leave the porridege in the pot (i.e. means cook loooonger), but I dont tink good idea ley. If can, I wouldn't want my son to eat over-cooked porridege everyday.

I asked them to put in fridege then heat up for him when time comes. But they dont seem too keen... maybe too mah fan bah.. sigh....

I put my son in infant care when he is 6mths old. I am not sure about the others but my infant care fed the kids every 3hourly. In the morning, they will feed the kids ceral if the children arrived around 7-8am. And between the timing of 10-11am, they will feed the kids with porriage.

As all the children's feeding time are almost the same, it's easier for them to take care. The rest will be milk all the way. The last feeding of milk will be around 4.30pm-5pm so by the time u bring your child back around 7-7.30pm, u can feed your child porriage cooked using the slow cooker.

Personally, I find that it's easier to try to follow the infant care feeding schedule then for them to fit your schedule cos otherwise, the hours might be either too long or too short. I am always the last parents who bring my son back.

 

[CherryFrozz]

Hi Spiralng, if can fit in the schedule lagi best.. but the prob is, my son also feed 3 hourly & normally he will wake up to drink milk @ abt 5am+... datz y next feed is always 8am +.

Actually quite torn whether to change his feed schedule (disruptive for baby) or ask e infant care to make allowance for exception (disruptive for infant care - plus they may nt agree!)...guess will talk to them to find out more.

 

[diymummy]

When my son first entered the infant care at 3.5 mths, they suited my schedule. When my son was 6 mths and started on solids, they still tried to suit my schedule but are also training him to suit theirs. When me son hit 1 yo and was moved to the older infants class, I had to suit theirs because of group dynamics. But all these was a slow training and phasing in for my son so my son still adapted pretty well.

Sometimes I think there's really not much a choice with infant cares as they have protocols to observe. Schedule is just a part that can affect your child but there're other aspects which your child will learn too. Eg, when he is napping when everyone else is awake, then he would miss mingling with the other kids. My son used to nap at weird hours and the infant care helped me to "train" him to suit their schedule so that he can mingle with the other babies. They even taught my son to rock the babies, sayang the babies.. Now my son loves younger kids. He would always go sayang them or hug them. So cute.

Having said that, if you really want your schedule to be followed strictly, you might want to consider a nanny, then the attention would be 1-to-1.

 

[Spiralng]

Hi Spiralng, if can fit in the schedule lagi best.. but the prob is, my son also feed 3 hourly & normally he will wake up to drink milk @ about 5am+... datz y next feed is always 8am +.

Actually quite torn whether to change his feed schedule (disruptive for baby) or ask e infant care to make allowance for exception (disruptive for infant care - plus they may not agree!)...guess will talk to them to find out more.

My son initially also wake up at 5am but slowly i adjust his timing. Important thing is not to rush the child and infant care are pretty flexible in terms of an hour difference. Cos most of the time, the child will be spending almost 1 whole day in the infant care so for your child to suit their timing is easier.

 

[Spiralng]

When my son first entered the infant care at 3.5 mths, they suited my schedule. When my son was 6 mths and started on solids, they still tried to suit my schedule but are also training him to suit theirs. When me son hit 1 yo and was moved to the older infants class, I had to suit theirs because of group dynamics. But all these was a slow training and phasing in for my son so my son still adapted pretty well.

Sometimes I think there's really not much a choice with infant cares as they have protocols to observe. Schedule is just a part that can affect your child but there're other aspects which your child will learn too. Eg, when he is napping when everyone else is awake, then he would miss mingling with the other kids. My son used to nap at weird hours and the infant care helped me to "train" him to suit their schedule so that he can mingle with the other babies. They even taught my son to rock the babies, sayang the babies.. Now my son loves younger kids. He would always go sayang them or hug them. So cute.

Having said that, if you really want your schedule to be followed strictly, you might want to consider a nanny, then the attention would be 1-to-1.

Fully agreed wif u.....cos if u r too rigid, and they really follow sometimes, your child's timing might be a bit off. Your son so clever still know how to take care of babies....the centre really train your son well...:001_302:

 

[Ting]

since your baby is alr 7-8mths old, u shld just train him to slp thru the night so he wont wake up for night feeds and he wont hv his last "night" feed at 5am, so he can wake up at arnd 7am to hv his first feed. then later hv lunch in sch n milk all the way.
for dinner, u shld just prepare b4hand. like the others mention, set a timer n let the slow cooker start cooking arnd 4-5pm n when u reach home u can just feed your son immediately.
pushing back his slping time 1/2-1hr shldnt be an issue.


a child's feeding and slping habits change periodically. there is nth disruptive for the child as long as the hrs r not pulled wide apart. as long as the child eats at an appropriate timing and hv enough slp thruout the day, why not just change n adjust the timing for the kid? it makes things easier for u, the sch n the child.
babies at this age adjust very quickly to changes.

also just to share, in infant care/childcare. they hv a schedule themselves and the parents n kids r to compromise and follow that schedule and not the other way round.
if u find that this infant care's schedule is not suitable for u n your child, then perhaps u wanna look arnd and find one that can suit your needs. but honestly. almost all CC/infant care hv similar schedules.

 

[CherryFrozz]

Haaa... begin a first time mummy maybe i over-react a bit bah.. coz alwayz tot that lunch timing shld b around 12pm. When they told me 10am - I was like huh?!?

Checked with them they say is 10ish...closer to 11am... so still not too bad.

 

[apollo]

Haaa... begin a first time mummy maybe i over-react a bit bah.. coz alwayz thought that lunch timing shld b around 12pm. When they told me 10am - I was like huh?!?

Checked with them they say is 10ish...closer to 11am... so still not too bad.

actu i think shd be ok.. u see, all the babies are following their timetable when they are in infantcare. ds is 17mth old. he had his 1st milk at 7am, brekkie at 9.45 (sometimes 10am) and lunch at 11.45am. which means, his brekkie and lunch is just 2 hrs apart. as long as ur son is having meal/milk within the 'right interval', is okay =)