Eating out with LO

pb_bride · June 2013

Questions for those of you who eat out (often) with your LO -

We rarely eat out, the last time we did was 2 months ago before DS was started on solids, and before he could sit up unassisted, so he was in his bucket seat the whole time.

My questions are:

1) Do you bring along bibs or smocks to the restaurant?

2) If you do BLW, do you bring your own food, or do you feed LO whatever you order from the menu? Also, do you leave the food on a plate on the table for him/her to pick up, or do you have one of those "roll-up" mats?

3) How do you keep your LO entertained? How long can your LO tolerate before fussing/meltdown?

Any other insight and advice is most welcome!

candaceleigh21 · June 2013

Eating out can absolutely be a nightmare if you dont have food for him. We bought one of those seats that strap down to any chair and it has a tray. I put puffs on the tray and then feed him in between my bites. He gets a few bites of puree and a few bites of whatever I have. He tolerates no more than about 45 minutes. We request to sit as far from other people as possible since he is a squeeler these days. I always bring a bib, pretty much everywhere just to contain the drool if nothing else.

lady dixneuf · June 2013

I've done it a lot. I don't necessarily feed him while we are there. You need toys and a meltdown is inevitable. It's becoming less and less enjoyable.

eshee8198 · June 2013

We go out to eat with DD fairly frequently. I try to bring toys, food and a bib for her, although I'll also order things off the menu, like sweet potatoes or steamed broccoli and other finger foods. When in doubt, two plastic cups to bang together keep her thrilled. She's usually good for an hour or two.

pb_bride · June 2013

eshee8198:
We go out to eat with DD fairly frequently. I try to bring toys, food and a bib for her, although I'll also order things off the menu, like sweet potatoes or steamed broccoli and other finger foods. When in doubt, two plastic cups to bang together keep her thrilled. She's usually good for an hour or two.

DS loves banging plastic cups, but they make an awful lot of noise plus he loves throwing/flinging them. am afraid that may not be appropriate at a restaurant???

lady dixneuf · June 2013

I think the noise is the part they like the most! E sure likes to bang on things!

eshee8198 · June 2013

pb_bride:
eshee8198:
We go out to eat with DD fairly frequently. I try to bring toys, food and a bib for her, although I'll also order things off the menu, like sweet potatoes or steamed broccoli and other finger foods. When in doubt, two plastic cups to bang together keep her thrilled. She's usually good for an hour or two.
DS loves banging plastic cups, but they make an awful lot of noise plus he loves throwing/flinging them.  am afraid that may not be appropriate at a restaurant??? 

The solo type cups aren't too bad. And we only really take her to casual dining restaurants, and they don't seem to mind. Honestly, if we're somewhere fancy, I want it to just be me and DH, and the wine.

DD is also a "talker" so she makes more noise than anything else. Although she does have these wooden beads, which she slammed on the glass table of an outdoor dining pub the other day...i thought DH was going to stroke out.

LaurenBullock · June 2013

We eat out on a lot I am not a great cook and for the most part it is just DD and I when my husband is gone. She eats for the most part whatever I order. I keep throw away bibs in her diaper bag and a throw away place mat so that way I don't have to worry about leaving something. DD loves being out and to have people look at her, and she makes conversation with whoever is around lol. When we go out to eat we tend to eat around "family time"56 so that helps a lot. I always bring some sort of toy just in case she goes into diva mode but for the most part the food and people keep her happy.

ChrisG83 · June 2013

All of what the others girls said. We bring toys and don't break them out all at once. I put her snacks in a small plastic container so she can shake it. Also eat out before the dinner rush. When we can tell we probably won't make it through dinner we will ask for our check while we are eating so we don't have to wait a long time.

chricast · June 2013

We eat out pretty frequently with our LO. I bring a highchair cover and she sits in there to eat I start with puffs and a sippy cup when we are waiting for food. I order off the menu for her (we do BLW) usually a side of veggies, then she has some of whatever one of us is eating. I always ask for her veggies to come out as soon as they are ready that way I can help her start eating before my food comes. If she is super squirmy in her seat after she eats DH or I will hold her while she plays and one of us eats then we switch and the other one eats. It sounds like a pain the a-- but we dont mind and I love to eat out. I bring toys that will entertain her, we can usually last about an hour or hour and a half.

AMT1107 · June 2013

lady dixneuf:
It's becoming less and less enjoyable.

So true! We try to bring cheerios or the cheese curl looking puffs with us (they last longer). We can usually only make it about 45 minutes, it's so frustrating.

Mrs.RockyM · June 2013

We have a big bag that we keep in the car with all sorts of stuff for restaurants. In it we keep a high chair cover to put over the high chairs they have at restaurants, a bib, a few toys as well as a strap to attach it to the high chair (so it doesn't fall) some spoons mum mums and some disposable sticky placemats.

The toys and mum mums and puffs (if we have them) tend to keep her entertained most of the meal, when she's not eating food or drinking her bottle. We also try and have her facing all the action (or DD1), so she can people watch. We try and have quiet toys (a chew ring, a little book for her to look at, maybe a dolly, etc.) Sometimes towards the end of the meal she'll get a little fussy, usually she just wants out of the high chair and she's fine when she's on one of our laps. She'll last maybe 45min - an hour and a half depending on where we are and what's going on.

We haven't started food yet at restauants with DD2, we usually just bring purees, but we'll probably start soon. So based on DD1, as for bringing food vs buying it, it depended where we're going . Sometimes it was just cheaper to bring food from home especially since she didn't eat much. I mean a side of avocado is like $2, and she wasn't even going to eat the full side. Other times it was just easier to give her some of what we were eating.

We typically go to family type restaurants that are loud and it's not a big deal if DD2 is crying or screaming.

CLLDLL · June 2013

pb_bride:
Questions for those of you who eat out (often) with your LO -
We rarely eat out, the last time we did was 2 months ago before DS was started on solids, and before he could sit up unassisted, so he was in his bucket seat the whole time.
My questions are:
1) Do you bring along bibs or smocks to the restaurant? Yes. I really like the Munchkin disposable bibs. Roll up throw away. No need to worry about the mess getting into your diaper bag.
2) If you do BLW, do you bring your own food, or do you feed LO whatever you order from the menu? Also, do you leave the food on a plate on the table for him/her to pick up, or do you have one of those "roll-up" mats? Depends on where we are eating. Some place like McDonalds I bring my own food. Some place that has a good salad bar or that I can get un-salted steamed veggies I order off the menu. I like to bring a roll-up mat, but only because I feel sorry for the poor employee who'd have to pick up after my kid. His new favorite game is to pick up food with his pincher grip, get it close to his face, pretend like he's going to eat it, and then quickly drop it on the floor!
3) How do you keep your LO entertained? How long can your LO tolerate before fussing/meltdown? I bring a sippy cup with water and a small toy or two. He love his sippy so that usually keeps him entertained for a good 30-45 minutes. That's usually all the longer we stay at any restaurant anyway.
Any other insight and advice is most welcome! Not for now, but if you find yourself out to eat at a nicer restaurant with a toddler, don't be afraid to ask them to bring LO's food out first. That way you aren't listening to a hungry kid complain the whole 30 minutes it takes them to make your steak!

Mrs_Lady · June 2013

So far we have just made sure he was fed before we went out. Again it just happened to be like that we dont go to restaurants often!

Once we brought his food and fed him there, brought toys, his fav book and we were fine for about 90 mins including a diaper change. We do take him out often though! It was fine

cardiganmom · June 2013

Do you bring along bibs or smocks to the restaurant?
Yes, the plastic ones that wipe off easily.

If you do BLW, do you bring your own food, or do you feed LO whatever you order from the menu?
We don't do BLW and I haven't fed her purees at a restaurant yet, but I've brought puffs.

Also, do you leave the food on a plate on the table for him/her to pick up, or do you have one of those "rollup" mats?
I wipe the table down first then just put the puffs on the table.

How do you keep your LO entertained?
With small toys, puffs and others holding her.

How long can your LO tolerate before fussing/meltdown? It depends on the tine, if its later, she'll more likely have a meltdown. But we've been out from 1 to 2 1/2 hours and no meltdowns yet. She'll just get restless and we'll switch what she's doing.

NoelBird · June 2013

When eat out fairly often but I haven't braved feeding him at a restaurant. Sometimes I give him bites of what we are eating but he doesn't have a full on meal. He is a really messy eater at home.

To keep him entertained we bring a few toys but he mostly loves to look around and flirt with the waitresses. If he starts getting fussy I take him to the bathroom and change his diaper, the change of scenery for a few minutes helps. If it gets really bad I hold him for the rest of the meal and he is fine.

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