Eating Out

Geneviève - posted on 01/21/2009

Whenever we go out to the restaurant, we make sure to give him a good snack before we leave. I always bring Cheerios also to eat while we are waiting. If the restaurant offers crayons, take them! That'll keep your little one busy! Also, we do not use the high chairs the restaurants provide anymore. We have a booster seat that folds up. He uses that one all the time now, so we take it with us at the restaurant, its familiar so I guess that might help. We also bring lots of different toys to occupy him. Last time we went to the restaurant, I made the mistake of taking him out of his seat while we were waiting for the bill. oops, he was running all over the place! Anyway, besides that, we go earlier so the restaurant isn't as busy!

Jennifer - posted on 01/21/2009

Mine loves washing his hands at the sink, so we make a couple of trips to the bathroom while we're waiting for food, etc.

Seema - posted on 01/20/2009

We often see other kids sitting quietly in their high chair while ours is barrelling around the restaurant with an adult in tow.  But he seems to be getting better at staying put in high chair longer and longer and now we can even get him interested in a book for a few minutes.  It'll get better.

Elena - posted on 01/20/2009

We are going through the same thing! We went out to lunch the other day and I brought crayons and paper. That kept her occupied for a little while. I also brought some new toys that she could play with. We got a booth and I just let her roam the seat. Good luck!

Christy - posted on 01/20/2009

We are in the same boat. Usually one of us gets to eat while the other is walking around with her. It really sucks, but hopefully won't last long.

Tina - posted on 01/18/2009

We are going through the SAME thing with our son. He was ALWAYS so good and now forget it. We are just going to stop taking him for awhile, and if my husband and I want to go, we will get a sitter!!

Kerrie - posted on 01/18/2009

When we take our daughter out we try to get a booth.  We let her roam free with in the confinds of the booth seat.  I bring her favorite snacks.  We also have one of the chairs and attachs to the table the one we have is made by Chico.  She likes that seat because she is at the same hieght as we are and she can reach everything.  We love it because it is much more secure then the resturant chairs.  Those resturant chairs always seem to be about 6 in to low and I worry she is going to smack her head on the table.  We just try to keep her busy with anything she seems intrested in. 

Ana - posted on 01/14/2009

My daughter has suddenly decided that she doesn't need to sit down while she eats to eating out has become quite an adventure.
They may get a little messy but I agree that when I give my daughter the fork she has a great time trying to feed herself and of course it takes forever. We also try to only give her a little bit of food at a time so that she doesn't start pushing it off her plate. We also keep adding different food from our own plates so each new flavors gives us more time to relax and eat. Crayons are now becoming entertaining because for so long she treated them as appetizers.

HelenJane - posted on 01/13/2009

I normally don't have any issues with my son, but I do carry goldfish with me. I will order something for him right away and then we order, if the resturant isn't busy, I will take him for a little walk around maybe go to the bathroom and wash our hands. If his food isn't there when we get there, I will take out a couple of goldfish and feed him them.

Also, I have tried to start teach him how crayons work, he still hasn't got the concept down, but it does take a few minutes off our clock. And now that he eats better when he tries to feed himself, I take along his own fork and spoon, all he wants to do is try.

Oh and another thing that we used to do, was the resturant that we frequent most, serves rolls, I have asked for one so that he can munch on that until his food arrives.

I think it is important to keep taking him, I think it is a good basis to teach them to behave in a resturant and public place. I hope something works for you.

Good luck

Danielle - posted on 01/13/2009

One thing to try is to go really early, my husband and I joke that we are like old people when we go out to eat with our 14 mo old. Can you try giving him a toy or something that he is not normally allowed to have? This may keep him interest more. I have found that my daughter likes the crayons when we are out because she does not get them at home.