what is the best way to manage cooking when...........

I think the best thing for you to do is do your cooking when your baby is sleeping. Think of the dish you want to cook then you wont waste your time from thinking on what to do, in that case when bby's sleeping you can start with it straight away.

I usually do the chopping and the messy stuff when they are asleep. I do the main cooking when they are busy with their own activities. If it is some stirring to be done, I usually can do it with baby in my arms...but I make sure he is kept away from the stove...and I stand in such a way that he is nowhere close to the stove and able to pull at anything by mistake. Fortunately, I have a big kitchen and there's nothing on the other side that he can pull at. Sometimes, I even give him some spoons and plates to play with while I cook. His favourite is the mortar and pestle (both kids actually loved it and would be at it while I cooked). It's very few times that I have been harried to cook when the baby is hungry or sleepy. Most of the time, if they are not hungry or sleepy, they are fine on their own as long as they can see me and talk to me.

Well, they make these wonderful things called highchairs. When I had my nephew and needed to cook lunch or dinner I would put him in the high chair and give him some plastic bowls and and wooden spoons and let him have a field day. He would beat on them and have a blast and I knew he was safely restrained from getting under foot.

i put mine in her highchair when she was really young, or in her carseat. Now she is 18 months as long as the oven isnt on i let her roam around. But she usually likes to sit in her highchair still so she can see what it is i'm doing. and i tell her what i'm doing and making as we go along. Helps with them learning to talk i think. Also sometimes i'll prepare the foor at night time when she's asleep and put it in the crockpot so that in the morning i just take it out of the fridge and put it on low, and it cooks while we play!