How does your LO eat at restaurants?

NewFamily09

Some friends of ours told us that they make little placemats that suction onto a restaurant table that a baby can eat off of instead of a plate or the table itself.  I've seen disposable versions.  Does anyone here use a kind that's not disposable?  Do you recommend it?  Where did you buy it?  DS isn't quite ready for plates.  He likes to throw them.  It's better to be able to put food on a mat.

Starlette1983

We just got this Tiny Diner. ?We moved DS to a booster chair, and had the same problem with him not being ready for a plate, lol. ?We've only used it for a couple of days, but so far I really like how it works! ?It is easy to clean as well, and you can roll it up and put in your diaper bag or purse if you are going to a restaurant.?

ivs112

We have suction bowls. They work great. The ones we have are sassy brand.

hisbabybear

We have the tinydiner too and LOVE it! You can get it at BRU. We dont go anywhere without it.

DS still sits in a highchair and just eats finger foods on the tinydiner and all is well. 

macchiatto

We have two of the Tiny Diners. They didn't work that well for us; our boys would just rip them off the table, so we stopped bothering. Now they finally do OK with plates but for a while we'd just thoroughly wipe the table off and let them eat off of it.

aglenn

Yep, we use the Tiny Diner, too.  It's great, but DD has figured out how to pull it off the table and roll it up.  Usually that's not until she's done eating, though, and still not as messy as throwing dishes!  Those suction cup bowls she just pulls on with all her might until they go flying....

JoLiz

hisbabybear:

We have the tinydiner too and LOVE it! You can get it at BRU. We dont go anywhere without it.

Love it!!  Works so well!! It is now one of our favorite gifts to give!! 

excitedforlittleone

Call me gross but I always bring goldfish and let him eat them or crackers right off the table top.

christiney06

we buy the cheapo plastic mats that stick to the table.  he can't pull them off and then when we are done we put all his trash in it, roll it up and throw it out.   the ones that aren't disposable are a PITA b/c you have to clean them at the restaurant before you leave.

hereonceagain

we have the tiny diner one too and love it.  I've received so so many compliments on them when we are out.  I feel my LO is getting a little too old for it, but recommend it to all those with kids under 24 months!

DesignsOnYou

She's always been too interested in eating to even consider throwing the plate so I've always let her use a small plate at the restaurant.

I carry antibacterial wipes in my purse and will wipe down the table / chair before she eats b/c I know she will probably drop food on the table then eat it.

MTAngel

We also have TinyDiner and I love it! Even though DS does much better with plates now it still keeps the mess down and catches a lot of stray food! We also got ours at BRU - I definitely recommend getting one.

mavilabride4evah

Wow I didn't even consider something like that.  Thanks for posting this. We have the issue with her trying to drop the plate on the floor so we just feed her off of our plate.  This is a much better option.

NDwife07

macchiatto:

We have two of the Tiny Diners. They didn't work that well for us; our boys would just rip them off the table, so we stopped bothering. Now they finally do OK with plates but for a while we'd just thoroughly wipe the table off and let them eat off of it.

This exactly. I'm sure we get the side eye from some folks about letting her eat off the table, but I'm honestly not that worried about it.

Sage Mommy

before DS could have a regular restaurant plate, we tried the suction cup mats as well as the disposable kind. he always pulled them off. I opted for  wipes to sanitize his table area instead.

outnumbered

I have always  sanitized where they are sitting and let them eat off the table.  I like to keep it simple, with three children I do not want to be hauling extra stuff around.

mandyclaire579

Sage Mommy:

before DS could have a regular restaurant plate, we tried the suction cup mats as well as the disposable kind. he always pulled them off. I opted for  wipes to sanitize his table area instead.

This. We got the Tiny Diner and it just didn't work. It didn't catch anything and was a pain to clean. At that age, he just ate from our plates or I sanitized the table while waiting for food. He's never thrown plates, so it wasn't an issue for us. Sometimes we just brought a little plastic bowl for snacks and I made sure he always had something to munch on like bananas or green beans. Then we just gave him bites of our food every so often.

NewFamily09

Thanks for the recommendations!  DH just found the tiny diner at toys r us.  Can't wait to try it.

ToBeMrsC6907

We have the disposable placemats, love them!!