take them out to a restaurant?

Has anyone taken them out to a restaurant, but not in the infant carriers?

My dh thinks it would be too much (work,stress,etc) to take them out to Chilli's on our MoM funraiser night.
It will be the night before their 1st birthday. And it would be just us,party of ...4?!
What am I going to be in for???

 

We were just talking about this today. I think my Mom and I are going to take them to lunch and use the highchairs there and see how it goes. My Mom has more patience then hubby so I will use her for the test run.

 

Mine used to do well in their pram but they love sitting up in their highchairs. I find if I take some toys & books they will eat then play with their toys. Eventually they will ask to get down for an explore. We recently went out with our LOs and we sta in the garden. As yours are a little younger they will probably last longer in their highchairs! Try it and see, you can always get the check early!

 

Mine loved sitting in the highchairs (still do) at restaurants. They are big people watchers. We bring some toys and books to keep them occupied and I will usually at least know what their order will be when the waiter/ess comes to take the drink order, so they don't have to wait so long for their food. Good luck!

 

Depending on their age we've taken them out to eat in slings, the strollers, carriers, or have used high chairs. It's nice when they can sit in high chairs because they entertain themselves, practically.

 

Shoot we've been going out to eat since they were just a few weeks old! First in infant carriers, now in the double stroller. We just specify we need a table with room for the stroller along side!

Ditto the toys/books and coloring books when they get older! Sometimes we each end up with a baby in our lap, which is fun when we're trying to help the older kids eat, but it all works out in the end!

 

Mine love the high chairs!! I have some that hook onto the tables and we've also used the covers for the wooden ones...they love to watch the people! and now that they can eat pieces of bread and the like we give them that to play around with too Good luck and have fuN!!

 

My boys were out of their infant carriers around 5 months and it didn't stop me one week from eating out! Before they could sit up, they stayed in the stroller and once they could sit up they did great in a high chair! Have a wonderful time! We did lunch most of the time b/c the boys go to bed so early we thought it would be pushing their cranky time.

 

We didn't go out to eat with all three until they were able to sit in highchairs. LOL! We have been a handful of times with them around here and spent 6 days in Disney eating one meal a day at restaurant.

Suggestions:
Work around their nap schedule. We always go right at 11, not much later or they get cranky.
We use high chair covers, germaphobic over here.
Lots of snacks to keep them entertained before their food arrives
Order their food first so that it has time to cool and they can start eating.

 

I say go for it! We've been taking ours out since they were 5 weeks old and although it's a little extra work, it's totally worth it. Now they love to go out and each time gets a little easier since they are in their high chairs now and able to entertain themselves a little more. We take toys that can clip on to their high chair covers so they don't fall on the floor and we try to time it just right. We head out after feeding and place our order asap and then ask for our check when the waiter comes back to check on us after our food arrives. This way we can enjoy our food and not worry about the waiter taking too long to come back with the check. Good luck and have fun!

 

our fundraiser time is from 4:30-11pm. granted I don't have to be there long. Even the to-go counts towards our group, but now
I'm hoping we can go as a family. It will be pushing the night routine a bit.
We'll see when we get closer I guess.

 

I also say go for it. Our children love to go out to restaurants. My recommendations are to make certain the restaurant will have enough high chairs in good condition before the night of the event (we went to one restaurant that had four high chairs and only one had its straps intact). I also use high chair covers (you can't believe the grime I have seen on some highchairs). Bring some snacks from the home for your babies to eat while they are waiting for their food and some sippy cups or bottles for eating at their normal time. We usually order one children's portion and split it (it still ends up being too much food). A few small toys from home are also nice, and we have used cracker packages, crayons (suppllied by the restaurant), silverware, straws, and sugar packets for entertainment when they are bored with their toys. GL! It really does get easier and a lot more fun the more you do it.

 

We take them in their single umbrella strollers to "family" restaurants that we know like kids (Friendly's, Ground Round etc.) and leave them in their strollers. We ask for a table in the corner away from the server's path, and ask them for straws, which make GREAT toys. Sometimes we ask for 2 or 3 straws apiece. Servers are very cooperative (guess they want good tips). (Of course, we pick up the dropped straws to make it easier for them to welcome babies in the future!)

We find it amusing that we're always asked if we want the children's menu. People don't realize that they're only 9 months old!

 

I would also suggest going before or after lunch/dinner rush. When it's more "quiet" and less busy the server will have more time to help out, food will come faster, and you can rush or take your time depending on what mood your kids are in. Have fun!

 

we've been taking our guys (also 11 months) out to restaurants since they were about 9 months or so. it's been a lot easier than we expected. they enjoy the activity and they smile at other diners and really seem to enjoy themselves. we do two highchairs and we each tend to one while we eat. we also bring babyfood for them to eat while we're eating.

do you have any plastic links (like these)? most restaurant high chairs have a small enough bar across the front that you can hook a chain of links on and hook a toy onto the other end. that way if they drop the toy it won't land on the floor or roll away. we bring a pair of chains of links and a selection of toys and if they get bored with looking at other diners they can always bang a toy around.

 

My husband works nights and I work days so we don't see much of each other, so every weekend we go out to at least one meal as a family. It's way easier now that the girls can sit in the high chairs. They love sitting up with the rest of us and I agree take cheerios or something small for them to eat while you wait for your food. The only problem I've ever run into was once we went out on a Saturday night to a family restaurant and there were not enough high chairs for us. Also, when you sit at a booth they put the high chairs on the end and then the servers don't have much room to give you your food and most of the time if they don't pay attention they put the food right in the babies space.

Have fun going out!

 

We have been going out since very early on - and now they love the high chairs. They make a big mess - which I try to clean up - and they can be loud - and no it is not relaxing - but they have to learn and we love to eat out so we go places that are usually a bit louder and are okay with kids and that serve quickly.

 

I've done it at that age & had pretty good luck. I always packed some snacks (Cheerios, crackers, cheese) that they could eat while we were waiting & they usually loved watching all the people & the new sights and sounds. I say go for it & let us know how it goes!

 

Thanks everyone! Let's see if I can convince my dh.

 

We go out to eat every now and then and put them in the high chairs. We went out to breakfast on Sunday and we brought their Mesh Food Feeders and ordered a bowl of fresh fruit and put fruit in their feeders and they were super happy the entire time. We also could have put Ice cubes in there as they like those but didn't need to. We brought Puffs and some small toys. They were quite happy and we could eat peacefully. Good luck!

 

The boys have always done well eating out (that's not to say they haven't had their moments).

At 11 months I was still taking their food with me (Graduates or such) and would feed them while waiting on our food. Then while we were eating we could enterain them with bites from our plate, their toys or snacks and sips of water from our straws.