Resiliency and schedules
A few times lately, we got comments on how resilient M is. Between changing places, having adventures, and everything else in life that we cannot control, one thing that we try to keep constant is our meal schedule. Now I’m not going to try and claim that consistent meal times is the reason M is resilient but it definitely helps.
When M was a baby we needed her to sleep through the night. I went back to work at twelve weeks and I needed to be able to function. One of the books we read about sleep training suggested nudging M to a four-hour interval feeding schedule. The general premise was: if we feed M every two hours, then during a twelve hours night she would miss six feeds and that’s too much. Therefore, she would wake up hungry in the middle of the night, asking for a feed. If she was used to being fed every four hours, each feed was more substantial, and she only missed two feeds. That worked very well for us.
We also found additional benefits to feeding M on a set schedule. One was being able to plan our day better. We knew that lunch is at midday and thus planned where we’d have lunch. We also used to plan flights around meal times. Second was building higher levels of trust between us and M. M knew she will be fed, so she didn’t need to cry asking for it. A third benefit was better understanding why M cried. If it was afternoon tea time and we were not on time, M got grumpy and pretty much told us off. But generally she was a calm and happy baby.
One thing we discovered is that having a consistent meal schedule helped M be more resilient. There are many reasons why things change all the time. Travelling to different time zones, new adventures, unplanned events, or holiday schedules. But when everything else keeps changing, one thing stays consistent. Meal times. Every day we try to have breakfast at 8am, lunch at 12pm, afternoon tea at 4pm, and dinner at 7pm. Now, sometimes we do sleep in a bit on the weekend, or just feel a little lazy, and thus the times shift slightly. But even after more than six years, we still keep this schedule on most days. And M knows that her day makes just a little bit more sense.
This week’s photo is of Lachlan making pizza, featuring Carla Hackett’s handwritten pizza sign
Here are this week’s recipe suggestions for you to try:
- Caprese Zucchini Casserole — a summery (or spring?) dish. Think a caprese salad in a baking tray
- Cheesy spinach triangles — homemade burekas FTW
- Vegetable chowder with potatoes — gluten-free and with different textures
- Filipino garlic rice recipe — a side dish that is just so good
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Super simple nut biccies:
- 150g self-rising flour
- 100g nuts of your choice, blitzed
- 100g margarine
- 100g sugar
- 1 egg
Preheat oven to 180c/350f. Process all the ingredients together. Portion the dough onto a baking pan using a tablespoon. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool a touch before digging in.
Our meal plan from last week can be found at: https://foodfamily.app/public/meal_plans/420aec64-3ef8-443d-b92a-70ebf6b311c9
Once again, please let us know if you make any of these recipes, how you found them, what you changed, or just drop us an email to say hi.
Thanks and see you next time,
Elle, Lachlan, M, Ginger, and Edward