quick clicks

recipes today articles

recipes today q&a

message boards

research baby names

prepare a birth plan

content channels

ip channel rss feeds

read birth stories

read parenting stories

recommended books

e-newsletters

safety recalls

ip diaries

ip store

mom of the month

dad of the month

editor's letter

letters to the editor

Maternity Meals

Surviving the First Weeks at Home with Baby

By Renee Roberson

When Heather Meininger from Charlotte, N.C., brought home her daughter, Caroline, four years ago, she was lucky enough to have her mother stay with her and prepare the family's meals for a week. But after that, she and her husband were on their own.

"I couldn't believe how difficult it was to even get dressed, much less worry about making dinner for us," says Meininger, president of The Mommies Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping moms find friendship and support in their local communities. "We had takeout a lot and for a family getting used to a one-income household, that was really not a good idea. We racked up a lot of credit card debt during those first few months, and I know a lot of it was because we ate out so often rather than eating at home."

What you are going to eat after you return home from the hospital or birthing center often gets left off the pre-due date checklist, especially for first-time parents. They don't realize the first few days are going to go by in a blur of catching up on sleep while the baby is napping, entertaining visitors, trying to keep the house straightened and nursing the baby or preparing bottles.

Here are a few tips and quick meal ideas that will enable you to still eat nutritiously without having to call for takeout every day.

If that slow cooker you got as a wedding gift is still sitting in its original packaging, now would be a great time to break it out. Slow cooker meals are quick, easy, convenient and require little cleanup. You can throw a few ingredients in the cooker in the morning and by dinnertime a delicious meal will be ready. There is an abundance of slow cooker recipe books on the market right now, and you can ask your friends for their favorite recipes and start stockpiling them.

Want to see more?

• Check out our Article Library.
• Nutrition After Baby: Now You're Really Eating for Two
• Two of Everything, Please: Debunking the Myth of Eating for Two
• A Cheer for Chopsticks: Eating Asian-Healthy During Pregnancy
• Talk about it!

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.