When in restaurants ...

The other night I let one of my girls sit in my lap in the booth at a restaurant because we were out of town, it was late, and she was cranky in her high chair and disturbing other people. Well, this opened the floodgates and now she won't sit in a high chair in restaurants anymore. Tonight we went out to eat and she threw a fit when I tried to put her in the high chair. So, we thought we'd try a big girl seat, the booster, in the booth, and that worked for awhile but pretty soon she was standing up on the seat, looking over the rail, and generally having a blast. At one point we tried to make her sit back down in the booster and she screamed her head off, and people were looking over at us, so we gave up (she found a way to get her way!). She didn't try to get down off the booth, which is good, but I'm worried next time she may try to do that or climb or disturb other people. Did I make a mistake by not making her sit in the high chair? I am not sure, but I hope this doesn't mean we have to stop going out to eat. Or maybe, we'll just have to find really loud, family friendly restaurants where no one cares!

 

I'll tell you what I'd do... I'd pick a time when you can go ahead and leave if she doesn't cooperate and a family-oriented place. Tell her that she has to sit in her "big girl chair" (highchair) or you're going home. If she won't do it, leave. I know with my guys, a threat of leaving is a huge motivator since they LOVE to eat out but it only works if they know you're serious. If you do end up leaving, try it again soon after so she doesn't forget.

I also opt for buffets most of the time so there is no waiting period when they either get bored or fill up on crackers/rolls. We do go regularly so they are used to the routine (tightening the straps down so it takes a while to break free helps, too ). We've tried boosters in a booth a few times and it's a struggle yet for them. So, we used highchairs when we went out tonight and they did much better. The hostess does tend to look at you funny when you ask for highchairs for your 2-year olds but I'd rather get a funny look than have them being disruptive.

 

I think debid had great suggestions. Really, we don't take the kids out unless it's somewhere that we're willing to leave, and on occasion we've done just that. And we always either order a buffet for the kids or order their food first. And we pretty much only go to family oriented places so we get a lot fewer looks of irritation and a lot more looks of understanding when we do have trouble By about 2.5, we were really able to actually enjoy a dinner out as a family with careful planning and timing

 

We travelled and ate out alot when twins(and other kids) were all ages and never had any trouble with highchairs,except the occassional crankiness,etc...try bringing some special toys or something they really like to do that they only get to use in restaurants(mini magnadoodles are great for that or those mini aqua doodle pads,etc...).
HTH!!!

 

I have the same problem.....

 

That is when my guys started doing that. It is so much better now, we always go somewhere where we know they have booths. The boys sit on the inside of the booth and me and DH on the end, opposite from one another.

A place we eat at a lot if Pizza Hut, because we can call our oder in ahead of time, so it is ready when we get there, and we pretty much just sit down and eat so we aren't there long enough for them to get too rowdy.

 

We get that occasionally, too. If we're somewhere like a pizza place, I'll let ds walk around a bit before the food gets there & follow him closely. After the food arrives, though, there's no more wandering & he has to sit either in a high chair/booster seat or in our laps. There's been a few times he kicked & screamed, but I just held him till he calmed down. That was in pizza places, though, which to me are much more family-friendly. So I agree with going somewhere like that the next couple of times, to get her used to sitting again. Personally, I don't care if people look. What, they think they never screamed when they were a kid??? Sometimes if I can kind of sense they're going to be fidgety, I'll order an appetizer or soup or something that can get there quick, so they have something to eat.

 

My DD will want to get in our laps too (both will) but we just put them back in their booster when it's time to eat, or not get them out till we are finished and THEN they can get in.

The couple of times my DS wouldn't stay he was getting sick, so that was rotten. I like the op's ideas too!! Just keep trying!