Dining Out w/ a Little One
Eating at restaurants is one of my favorite pastimes because...well...food. I was horrified at the thought of not being able to go out anymore because we were having a baby. Because that's what everyone says...
However, while on maternity leave, I met a group of mothers with similar aged babies at a nursing support group and we started blowing off group session in order to go out to lunch. Who knew that six new mothers with SEVEN infants could all have lunch and leave relatively unscathed?! I'm so glad I had that experience with them because it gave me the confidence to still go out to eat with my husband and bring the baby. Here are my tips:
Picking a restaurant -
- Let's be realistic - while you can definitely still go out, do not bring your baby to a Michelin star fine dining meal. You will be so nerve wracked that the baby will make a peep and ruin someone else's expensive meal that you won't enjoy yours
- Pick places that are loud - breweries & noisy bistros have become our go-tos
- If you have a newborn during the time of year that it's warm out, capitalize on dining al fresco - less germs for them before they are vaccinated and a nice breeze can sometimes lull them to sleep
- If your baby is old enough for a high chair (usually post 6 months), make sure the restaurant has them. If you are unsure, call. I made the mistake of not confirming once and had a squirming 1 year old crushing Cheerios all over my lap throughout a very un-relaxing meal
- If your baby is young enough to be in their stroller/carseat combo, make sure it's a restaurant that has the space for it
- If your baby is old enough for table food, restaurants that have a kids menu are a score. We usually pick out choices we know will rock her world (i.e. chicken tenders, french fries, mac n'cheese) and save the healthy agenda for at home. We all three want to have an enjoyable meal, so let the baby carb up! The other plus is they can never eat the whole kid's meal, so you usually get a lunch/dinner to-go
Stocking the Diaper Bag - it's worth it to do a scan before you leave for the restaurant to make sure you have what you need
Babies 6 months & younger - make sure you have your boobs (ha), bottles, formula, are wearing a nursing bra & have a cover (if applicable) - whatever you need to feed that baby, make sure it's there. Step one is that they aren't hungry/cranky! Throwing in a couple toys they like that don't make a lot of noise is also a good idea
Babies 6 months & older - now they eat more than milk! Along with whatever their milk supply is, make sure you have baby spoons, pouches of food, puffs, Cheerios, Goldfish, water cup & whatever other snacks they like. Feeding them at the restaurant is an activity and holds their attention for some of the time you are there. Again, bring some age appropriate, quiet toys
- I also really like these stick-on place mats a friend recommended to me. We stick them onto the table, and then we can pour some snacks or cut up food in front of her so she can look around in her high chair and have her own access to food, which she likes. As she's gotten older, she's started paying more attention to the animals on the place mats, which is like a little game for her
- I bought one of those fluffy high chair covers and literally never use it - I feel a little bad when I see other babies sitting in their fluffy little thrones, but with everything else you have to bring...oh well...
- Lastly, you always have your phone, am I right? At this point (16 months), our baby is perfectly happy playing with the lock screen. Literally, the lock screen...
Timing -
Babies too young for a schedule - let's hope they fall asleep in the car and you can just transfer the car seat to the stroller and roll them in. Invest in a car seat cover for these coveted moments (the one I used is linked). It's kind of a crapshoot on whether babies this young will sleep, but if they don't fall asleep in the car, hopefully you can feed them when you get there and they'll snooze. I've had many a one armed brunches when I was too scared to wake her by putting her back in her car seat...the things we'll do to brunch...sigh.
Babies on a schedule - DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go to a restaurant during nap time. You are setting yourself up for failure. When baby is on two naps a day (~9-11 and ~2-4), this is perfect timing for lunch in the middle when they are well rested and happy. When baby is on one nap (~1-3), early lunch or brunch, it is (or an early dinner)! When they are well rested, they are more likely to be happy looking around and smiling at other customers instead of screaming. This seems intuitive, but...we've all seen the toddler melting down at the restaurant around 1 pm...
And finally, you gotta know when to call it and go home. Like the time when we were out for sushi and baby threw a bowl of spicy mayo onto the floor, shattering ceramic and splattering sauce everywhere. Uh, yea, could we get this to go? But, hey, you gave it the old college try and practice makes perfect!
Do you have any other tips for dining out with baby? Let me know!
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