GIVEAWAY: $1000 Target Gift Card + Go & Gro Mix-ins
Yesterday, I posted “12 Problems Dining Out with Kids” on the Mommy Shorts Facebook page and asked parents who felt like they had mastered the art of family dining (no, not the kind where they put a large plate of pasta on your table for everyone to share) to comment with their best tips and tricks.
I culled through all the responses and put together a master list, which includes some tips of my own. Some are obvious, some are more inspired. Some I practice regularly and some I clearly need to try.
28 tips & tricks for dining out with kids
1) Practice playing restaurant at home. Tell your kids what kind of behavior is expected when you eat out, like proper table manners and staying seated.
2) Always check menus online first to make sure they serve food your kids will want to eat. There is nothing worse than sitting down at a table and discovering there is no chicken fingers available.
3) Keep a mini tackle box or special bag on hand with crayons, small toys or dollar store items that your kid is only allowed to play with in a restaurant. This way he is excited to pull them out. You can even switch them up and surprise him with something new.
4) Eat out early in the evening when there are less people and more families who are sympathetic to your strife. Or, they’ve got their own kids to deal with and couldn’t be bothered paying attention to yours.
5) Opt for large busy restaurants where the noise decibel level is higher and more likely to drown out your rowdy kids.
6) Go to a buffet if possible. Kids think it’s exciting to pick their own food. You can even sneak some new foods for them to try without wasting your money on an entire entree they probably won’t eat.
7) Get a booth if it’s an available. This way your kid can move around more without disturbing other people. You can also put them on the inside and trap them in their seat.
8) Buy triangle crayons— they don’t roll off the table!
9) Make sure each child has the EXACT SAME SET of crayons; you don’t want one kid sobbing because his brother is the sole owner of the only purple crayon.
10) Use the stuff on the table to create games, like sorting sugar packets by color or jelly packets by size. We also play a game where everybody closes their eyes except one person who takes an item off the table and hides it in their lap. First person to guess the missing item wins.
11) When kids get older, games like tic tac toe, hangman and dots can be wonderfully distracting while waiting for a meal to be served.
12) I always carry a pair of dice for impromptu restaurant games. You can make up a game while you are waiting for you food and they can be used as an eating game to get your kid to take more bites.
13) Bring your own cups until your kids are responsible with the covered cups at the restaurant. Or they make universal sippy cup lids that can stretch over any standard cup or glass.
14) Bring your own portable placemat. For babies and toddlers, they make silicone mats that have an edge to keep food in place plus a lip to catch the food that falls. For older kids, reusable coloring placemats can be a lot more fun than whatever is supplied at the restaurant.
15) Often bad behavior in a restaurant is a result of the very challenging hunger/impatience combination. Pack a few healthy snacks so your kid has something to munch on before the food arrives.
16) Treat dinner out like a ticking time bomb. Ask for the bread and water as soon as you are seated and ask for the check as soon as the food comes. Then eat fast and get out!
17) Always ask servers if there are any ingredients in the dishes that aren’t listed on the menu. I can’t tell you how many times I have been burned by parmesan cheese.
18) Ask for your kids’ meals to be served as soon as they are ready. In addition to staving off a hunger tantrum, you can cut their food before yours has even arrived and then eat your meal hot.
19) If their food arrives early enough and they finish before you start, that’s a perfect time to buy them dessert. Nothing is better than eating your entree in peace while your kid is consumed with his ice cream.
20) I’ve also been known on occasion to feed my kids at home and then take them out to a restaurant afterwards. Mike and I order entrees and order desserts for the kids to eat at the same time.
21) Ask for an extra plate to cool hot food on— a few strands of spaghetti will always cool faster than a whole plate!
22) If your kid is refusing to eat the protein and the vegetables and sticking purely to bread and rice, use Go & Grow Mix-ins to supplement the nutrients missing from their meal.
23) Never force vegetables at a restaurant. That’s a battle you should save for home when nobody can hear the screaming.
24) For the love of god, if your child acts up, take them outside! Better yet, be willing to pay and walk out even if it means taking the entire meal to go. Making your kids get up and leave in the middle of the meal for bad behavior is a great lesson that will likely be remembered.
25) Arrange with your spouse ahead of time to split responsibilities. If your spouse eats leisurely while you tend to the kids during the meal, then it is his/her job to take the kids outside or for a walk so you can eat in peace after they are done.
26) Don’t worry about what strangers think. Unless they are being actively attacked by your kid with a fork.
27) Always leave a healthy tip for the server. The bigger the mess on the floor, the bigger the tip. It’s the right thing to do plus, they won’t be so annoyed the next time a family walks in the door.
28) The biggest family dining trick of all? Don’t bring the kids!
Hope this helps everyone including me!
GIVEAWAY: $1000 Target Gift Card Plus Go & Grow Mix-ins
Today, I am giving away one $1000 Target gift card plus a supply of Go & Grow Mix-ins from Similac!
Go & Grow is a powder that comes in small to-go packets that are perfect for dining out with kids. They can be stirred into foods like rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, oatmeal, applesauce and pancake batter to give an extra boost of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and DHA without your kids noticing a difference. They are GMO and gluten-free.
Check out Similac.com/toddlermoms for free samples (while supplies last), store locators and more information about how Mix-Ins help your child maintain balanced nutrition.
To enter:
1) You must be a Mommy Shorts subscriber. If you are not one already, you can become one by clicking here.
2) Leave a comment below telling me a tip, trick or funny story about dining out with your kids. It could be a success or a failure. For instance, here’s an awesome story posted by a mom named Jen on Facebook:
We were running late from an outing and needed to stop to eat. My kids begged to go to Olive Garden but I was reluctant because they hadn’t been so well-behaved the last time we were there. We had a conversation about what constitutes good behavior; sitting still, being quiet, etc. and I told them we could only go in if they promised to behave. They promised. The hostess saw us (one mommy and three little kids) and tucked us into a corner table. The table across from us had 6-8 thirty-somethings who were drinking and kind of loud. We were there less than 10 minutes when my 5 year-old looked over and shouted, “EXCUSE ME? COULD YOU BE QUIET PLEASE? WE’RE IN A REST-AU-RANT.”
Winner will be selected at random and announced on June 22nd.
Good luck!
winner update:
Congrats to Arielle, who’s daughter is still holding a grudge about the time she cut her bagel in half. Please contact annie@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize!
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This post was sponsored by Go & Grow Mix-ins from Similac, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
We were at Red Robin and didn’t realize it was so easy to purchase the games on the tablet they have on the table. My three year old bought Bejeweled 2. It ended up being the best $2 spent without our permission ever. We got off easy. A friend’s daughter ordered three appetizers to the table and they had no idea until they showed up!
Go early is so true!! When the restaurant is relatively empty, your toddlers can wander a bit without bothering anyone. My son’s favorite thing to do is stand up in the booth and waive incessantly at the next table, which I’m sure is cute the first and second time, but after that people just want to eat in peace!
My favorite tip for eating out with kids is just to be at a restaurant that is loud enough to drown out the noise of my children.
So, dining out with my two ladies is usually fun. Except when mom is newly pregnant. We are at a Mongolian grill place, and the chef is grilling meat and veggies right in front of us. The smell of meat suddenly makes me completely sick, and I grabbed a plastic bag in my purse and wretch into it. Super. My 8 year old gets sick at just the sound of barfing, and before she could turn her head, she pukes all over the grill right in front of us. Sizzling vomit smell all over the restaurant. The sweet chinese hostess comes to our table and asks us if we need wet towels. I didn’t not know if they were for cleaning ourselves up, or to swab the vomit off of the grill. What is the protocol? We collected ourselves, left a 20 on the table, And have decided that Mongolian grill isn’t our jam.
After a long week of being trapped in the house with my 18 month old, my mother sweetly offered to take me and baby out for a nice dinner. About 20 minutes after sitting down, my little guy looked like he was going to be sick. I tried to quickly grab him to get him to the bathrooms, but we didn’t quite make it. As soon as I got him out of the high chair, he vomited all over me, or table, AND THE TABLE NEXT TO US. Thank goodness the guys sitting at that take were so gracious. So my tip? I dunno. After 7 years of raising children, I still can’t seem to figure out how to get them to behave in a restaurant. It’s like my Achilles of parenting. I think I’ve resigned myself to not going, or only going when I have a sitter so I can leave them at home!
I am a single mom with two kids. One of each. It never fails that when we go out to eat, one (if not both) has to use the bathroom. When they were smaller, this was a HUGE issue. One time this happened and I couldn’t find my server to tell him that I had to take the kids to the bathroom, that I’d be back, we were not done eating. So I took both kids with me to the restroom. While helping my daughter get on the toilet seat, my son decides to crawl on the floor. I spent nearly 10 minutes in the restroom trying to clean him up. When we came back to our table, it had been cleaned and new customers were already sitting there! My kids were having a meltdown because their food was gone, the server had thought we had dined and dashed. After that incident I got to the point that I had a friend or family member join us, so as not to have a repeat performance.
A perfect storm… And I should have known better! Typically, my son has PT and OT on different days but this time was not the case! Back to back therapy left him tired and a little cranky. My brilliant idea was to grab something quick at a family friendly restaurant rather than wait for me to cook something for lunch. 10 minutes in a full blown, kicking and screaming two year old tantrum which got th one month old started. We left with to go boxes and a sizable tip for our unfortunate waiter.all three of us were in the car crying that day!!
I’m a single mom of 1. We like to go out to eat a couple times a month. It definitely helps to know what’s on the menu beforehand & to have something to draw on/with.
My daughter pretty much gets one of three types of food when we go out- chicken strips (don’t forget the ranch!), cheeseburger (with absolutely nothing else on it), or grilled cheese as a last resort.
Once we were at a restaurant that we hadn’t been to before & she told the waitress she would have “the usual”. 🙂
We went a long time without eating out . But we finally started to hit up a few kids eat free nights . All was going so well( should have been the first clue) boys were behaving without even getting to electronics yet. Moment of truth.. Food arrives.. Kids start eating.. And then BAM throw up everywhere! Got it cleaned up and before we could get the rest of our food and bill to get the hell out of there.. Round two every where!!
We went out to dinner, when my son was about 2 years old, to celebrate a few birthdays in our family. As we were all signing happy birthday to each other, my husband turns to check on our son, who WAS just sitting in his chair singing along, to find him shirtless and making faces at the couple sitting at the table behind us. I’m not one to get embarrassed easily, but that one had me apologizing NON STOP and completely red faced.
My family usually chooses to eat out at either a Mexican restaurant in town or a restaurant that serves breakfast food all day. That way we’re guaranteed to find either of the two things my daughter will eat – quesadillas and waffles. Upside? Margaritas at one, mimosas at the other!
My husband and I took our 3, 2, and 1 year olds to a sushi restaurant and they ate everything, including the heaping pile of ginger. The wait staff thought that was hilarious. And didn’t mind that the 1 year old spilled a bunch of rice on the floor.
We were out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and just when we got our entrees, both of our boys reached peak craziness and the noises coming from them and the fits that ensued were clear signs that we’d be taking our meals home to enjoy. Thankfully, we had already ordered beverages, so we poured the water from their kiddie cups with lids into our water glasses and poured our adult beverages into them to take home (the kiddie cups from the restaurant are solid red…thankfully!) and enjoy with dinner. Hey, there has to be some advantage to all of the kiddie cups on the table!
Wow, we’ve been pretty lucky thus far (knock on wood, fingers crossed!) with our 3 going out to eat. I guess it ‘helps’ that we don’t really go out much. The only thing I can think of is that my now 3yo (middle child) has a lovely habit of ‘not needing’ her afternoon nap/rest, and then will pass out on the WAY TO go eat in the car, then just sleeps in the booth! I’m pretty sure other parents think we drug her. But man, if you wake her up and she’s not ready . . . ALL HELL WILL REIGN UPON YOU!
I try to avoid bringing their Ipads. I do bring a few small toys, crayons and book (since not all restaurants provide them). We also only go to “family friendly” restaurants that provide kids menus or easy to eat foods.
My then-9 month old was coming off a bad stomach bug. We were 2 das out of the woods (or so I thought) and I had bad cabin fever so I insisted on eating dinner out. We went to Bertucci’s because they had a wide-open restaurant and got there at 5pm before the dinner rush. Half way through dinner, my daughter started getting squirmy and antsy, wanting to get out of her high chair. I picked her up to avoid a meltdown in front of everyone and that’s when I discovered she had explosive diarrhea that had somehow come out of her pants ALL over the high chair and was now all over my hands since I was holding her. To this day, I’m still not 100% sure how all of that came through her diaper and clothes. I didn’t want to make a scene either, given the embarrassing fact that my daughter and I were covered in diarrhea. I left my husband to clean up the mess, pay the bill and leave 100% tip… as I ran out of the restaurant to the car with my daughter. Of course a huge table of 15 was entering the restaurant and I had to excuse us in the politest “Get the F out of my way” tone possible. Luckily I had a plastic bag in the car to plop my down between my daughter in the carseat for the ride home. It took 6 months before we went back to Bertuccis.
While out to eat with our then 2.5 year old who was just toilet trained we encountered our first public bathroom experience. I thought I was prepared for anything, had Clorox wipes, (public restrooms scare me), a portable seat so she could sit better, extra underwear and an outfit. I cleaned the seat, got her situated while trying my darnedest to prevent her from touching ANYTHING, she did her business, then as I reached for the toilet paper, in typical toddler/ninja fashion, she hops off, grabs the entire toilet paper roll, and throws it in the toilet. Now I’m panicking as I have a half nude, proud as can be toddler and I have to retrieve a sopping wet roll of toilet paper. Gross. Needless to say we have perfected our public bathroom routine over the last year, I pack less, and always check to make sure the toilet paper is secured and/or out of reach.
All I can say is: go where you feel welcome! Our friends own a great Hawaiian restaurant, and we’ve gone there ever since our kids were little. They always had a bunch of toys in the back room/office, and the kids would go play so we could finish eating in peace!
Tip: If you are going to a place that allows peanut shells to be thrown on the floor, be sure your child knows that it is ONLY peanut shells they should be putting on the floor.
How do I know this…
Story: Out at a Texas Roadhouse with a certain little boy. He saw people tossing their peanut shells on the floor and thought that was cool. Halfway through the meal and we start to notice that next to him is shells, lettuce, piece of tomato, french fry, onion, etc. He had interpreting the shells being thrown on the floor to mean you throw EVERYTHING you don’t want on the floor. He had made a huge mess, which was embarrassing in the moment, but now it is one of those memories that cracks me up.
As a family of 5 seating arrangements were always a struggle. We would end up playing musical chairs at least 3x by the end of our meal. (Apparently I’m pretty popular to sit next to) This happened quite often and we looked like a family playing Chinese fire drill in the middle of the restaurant. Because we normally order a dessert after our meal I realized the kids were being rewarded regardless of their behavior. (my sweet tooth’s fault) I told them if they could make it through the entire meal without switching seats or complaining about seating arrangements a dessert would be ordered otherwise no dessert would be ordered. It took exactly one dinner for everyone to get that Mommy was serious. It’s nice to stay in one seat…….now to agree on a dessert!
The Kindle Fire that we got my 2 year old for Christmas is the only thing that has given us any amount of time to eat while dining out. And even then we better scarf before the little is ready to move..
True story. I was 8 months pregnant with baby #2 so I decided to spend some quality one on one time with my 3 year old daughter before baby came. We went to the book store then stopped at Chillis for lunch. While walking to our table me daughter wasn’t watching where she was going and slammed right into a table getting a bloody nose and lip. We sat and the waitress brought me napkins and ice water. I immediately dipped a napkin into the ice water and tried to
Clean up the blood, in the process of her scream/crying/tantrum she managed to spill the ice cold water right into my very pregnant lap….which clearly sent my bladder into a fit and I literally peed myself right then and there (you mamas know how that goes!) Yup, covered in blood, ice water and now piss. Needless to say we took our food to go and I’ve never stepped foot in there again OR took my daughter out to eat on my own ever since!! Talk about an embarrassing nightmare!! At least I can laugh about it now…..kind of!
We frequent a pizza/sandwich place, but not for their pizzas or sandwiches. Their salads are ah-maze-ing, and QUICK! We never have to wait more than 10 minutes or so, and our salads usually hit the table before our appetizer!
When we take my almost three year old with us, she gets the hoity-toity grilled cheese sandwich, and we have to remind the server to please hold our salads until her sandwich is ready…
It is a pain trying to explain to a child why mommy and daddy have their food, but she doesn’t have hers yet. 🙁
One time at breakfast, I cut my daughters bagel in half…and she freaked…and still hasn’t forgiven me…and it’s been 3 years! (And she’s six!) Lesson learned on my part…make sure my kiddo is ok with me cutting her food up before I do it or everyone in the restaurant will suffer and your little one will leave hungry! (Cause everyone knows cut up food is totally inedible)
I am convinced my daughter had a restaurant sensor in her bowels when she was a baby. LITERALLY every time we went out with her, she would poop within 2 minutes of the food arriving. Thankful she grew out of that one!
While visiting family we went to their favorite local seafood place. My sister in law bought our toddler a new shark shirt so of course he just had to wear it! When our food arrived he took a few bites and got choked. He puked all over his new shirt, highchair, and the floor. I felt like every eye was on us but I’m not even sure anyone noticed. I was too embarrassed to look up!
When we go out to eat with our 15 month old son, it is a constant game of “who can grab what faster”. Nothing like trying to enjoy your food while also being mentally alert enough to be quicker at the draw than he is, haha. Our table conversation consists of “grab that!”, “no!”, “honey!”, “oh shit!”, and other quick comments 🙂
I bring a fun toy with called squigz for our one year old. He loves trying to put them on the table and then pull them off! (That’s my tip) my story is he was playing with them while we were out on the patio of a restaurant and while trying to pull one off he bumped the waitress and caused her to spill all the drinks all over me. So if you use these toys, make sure your child is on the inside 😉
I have two very active kids, 4yrs & 2yrs. To keep them quiet and happy at restaurants, I bring a zip lock with 4 mini Play-doh cups and a couple small shape cutters. The kids LOVE Play-doh and they make their pretend food while waiting for their meals. I also recently picked up some fun shaped blocks from the dollar section at Target. The kids only get them when we go out so they’re always entertained. Plus, if we accidentally leave the blocks or Play-doh at the restaurant, I’m only out a couple bucks 🙂
We used to live in Chicago and would go to the sane breakfast place every Sunday. It was super crowded but we loved the food and it was our outing for that day with our newborn. Being new parents we thought we had to have our baby in a stroller so we would roll our huge Bugaboo into the restauarant and they would ask us if we wanted to park it in the front and we would insist that the baby needed the stroller. Looking back now – people probably hated us taking up all that space for our oversized stroller but we knew none the difference!
My best tip (that I never remember) for eating out with kids is to bring their dinner with you. When we were on vacation, I brought my son a PBJ to the restaurant because it was getting really late and it was a seafood restaurant so I wasn’t sure what he would eat. Dinner went SO well! He ate his PBJ and a little of our sides and was are more than he ever had in a restaurant setting.
When we take our 4 and 5yo boys out, we nearly always go to a Mexican restaurant….then the kids have chips and salsa almost immediately to occupy them!!
Do not, under any circumstances, let your child crawl under the table to go see with the other party/parent (should there be one). My husband took me out to a very casual restaurant on Mother’s Day (one of my favorites), and we sat in a booth. Our three-year-old daughter gets super antsy no matter what we bring with us and constantly wants to take turns sitting on opposite sides of the booth. Before I could stop her, my daughter climbed under the table to go sit with my husband. But she didn’t resurface. A few second later, I peaked my head under the table, and she had her face buried in her hands. Knowing good and well she was doing something she shouldn’t, I asked her to remove her hands from her face. AND SHE HAD GUM IN HER MOUTH. When I asked her where she got it (already knowing the answer), she pointed up at the table. My husband barely kept from vomiting, and I was pretty mortified as well. At least she’s building her immune system, right?
I generally try to limit screen time, but if we’re going out to eat, they always get to bring their tablets and they can use them as much as they want as long as they’re sitting down and being quiet.
We sing all the time at restaurants while we are waiting! My 5 year old also loves going up to the counter alone to order her ice cream. It’s a great opportunity to work on social skills!
My son is one and a half. The most embarrassing thing he has done so far is pointing at our waitress and screaming MOOOOOOO! (He saw that she was bringing him milk). We had to explain that Moooo meant milk to him. 🙂
A few days after getting over a stomach bug that swept through my house, my husband 2yr old and I decided to have a light dinner at outback. We sit down order drinks and a couple appetizers to snack on. We figure we will see how the kid does then order more food. First off right after we order my daughter accidentally knocks her cup off the table and I am now covered in hi c. We get a couple wet cloths and get everything cleaned up. Appetizers come and not even two bites into it my daughter violently vomits all down the front of herself, the table and all over the floor. I quickly grab our server and get a couple boxes. Husband takes daughter to car while I wait to pay. I get to the parking lot and there is my husband trying to to vomit all while stripping our kid down to our diaper. We haven’t gone back to that out back since.
I swear by Melissa & Doug Water Wow activity books. No mess, no fuss – and even if the brush leaks a bit, it’s just water!
We are very fortunate that our daughter (20 months) is so well behaved at restaurants. I swear by a few things…
1) Our Regalo travel high chair. It clamps to tables and has a 5 point harness so it keeps her contained better than most restaurant high chairs.
2) A stash of fruit snacks. It helps tide her over until meals arrive.
3) Knowing when she’s really and truly done.
Thanks for the giveaway! Love your blog! The best restaurant story we have is when we took our 3 daughters to a Shwarma joint. My husband took the orders, brought the trays to the table and went to wash his hands. I bent down to fish baby wipes out of my diaper bag and when I sat up witnessed my 3 year old emptying the pitas into her hello kitty backpack so she could “take home meat for the dog”.
Needless to say it was a mess to clean up but a good laugh for years to come!
My kids can only last exactly one hour at a restaurant. My last 2 experiences dining out, my kids hit their expiration point, and the servers were no where to be found to bring the check.
From now on, I will be asking for the check immediately after the food is served.
My biggest tip is to practice eating at home the way you want them to eat at a restaurant. Breakfast and lunch are more lax around here. But dinner is always a “formal affair”
Ok not formal but more structured.
Also no phones for the kids or for us while our. Everyone is engaged in games and conversation. And it helps to have a few restaurants the kids are fans of too. They seem to wait more patiently at those places.
The best my daughter ever acted at a restaurant was after she had a procedure done where she was put under. I brought her to Olive Gatdn as a treat and she just sat there and ate. Probably not a trick I recommended using on a regular basis, but if the opportunity presents itself, take the opportunity to go out to eat with drugged up children.
Our son is usually done eating long before we are. If we are absolutely desperate we will bring along an old smartphone or tablet on which we have we loaded a few kids games. It’s not the best solution as it’s more screen time, but at least he’s quiet while we eat. We try crayons and toys first, but those lose their enjoyment pretty quickly for our little guy.
Mine is a pretty light hearted story because we need those too right? When my now 18 month old (who is hitting the terrible twos early I might add) was just learning the words hi and bye he was VERY social. Anytime we went out to eat he would wave hi to anyone and everyone who walked by. But it wasn’t just a ‘hi’ it was a high pitched hhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Luckily most people laughed and smiled.
Our best tip is to order the kids food first (as soon as the waiter come to take your drinks order! Then you have some time to decide what you want to eat and our food comes after the kids so we actually eat hot! We also always pack one of this little activity book from the dollar store… It keep them busy for the whole dinner and me and my husband usually have time to talk (my kids are 4 and 6).
We put names of restaurants in a hat that myself, my husband and our 5 year old all would like to go. We let our son pick out the restaurant out of the hat. We usually put kid friendly in there, places he enjoys. By allowing him to feel add though he made the choice on where to go, he takes ownership of the decision which makes for a pleasant dining experience.we give both kids ( 5 ur old and 11month old) some cheese and crackers prior to leaving so they’re not famished and grumpy at the restaurant. We also give our 5yr old the GPS so he can “give us directions” on how to get there making him feel extra important. More often than not, this leads to a great night out for all. We always make sure to have easy quick distractions in my purse in case one or both get fussy while we are out.
I love getting little toys from the dollar spots at Target and Walmart. I introduce some new ones while we’re waiting on the chips and salsa. (My kids’ favorite.)
Grab and go play packs are great for dining out with kids! They have crayons, stickers and an activity book not to mention they’re small and easy to fit in a purse. My kids love them! Also, my kids never eat their entire meal so we have them split a kids meal and then order an extra kids side (fruit or veggie) that way they have more options rather then just what comes with one kids meal. Happy dining!
my kiddo is only 16 months old so we haven’t had any major issues at restaurants quite yet. he loves to people watch and actually eats better (more willing to be fed) when he people watches. (he does eat with his fingers but when he’s people watching he sorta “forgets” to eat…) one time we were in red robin and he was having a good time because we had just let him down from the high chair. he was sitting on my lap, grabbing at things on the table. my husband and i were kinda chatting and suddenly we realized that he’s been quiet for a while. i also started feeling something wet on my lap. thinking it was his drool, i looked down and noticed he had gotten a hold of those single-serve creamers and was biting through them!! he doesn’t usually get to eat anything sweet so he loved it!! he totally had the milk moustache.
I should start off with we live in a large city with public transportation. A few of my husbands old Army friends came to visit the summer our oldest son turned 1. I had to work but my husband took them “sightseeing” with our son. First I get a picture of him at “Beer works” for lunch. Then another picture at a “bar and grill”. Finally I meet up with them after work at a tavern. Our son is sound asleep in the stroller with only a tshirt and diaper on. Apparently they took our son on a walking bar crawl feeding him french fries and dessert at every place to keep him happy. Shockingly my husband was surprised that there was no changing table in the mens room and changed his diaper in the stroller. They ended up going to 5 different restaurant bars and only actually seeing 2 sights!!
My baby is only 8 weeks old, and she was a champ at our first restaurant experience. She slept the whole time, and I got to have an actual conversation with my husband.
My dining out tip would be to make sure all your phones are charged! As long as my kids have some entertainment they are pretty good out. My youngest guy on the other hand-I make sure I bring along a variety of snacks, because he can hardly wait for the meal to be served…fear not he will still eat all his meal too! ?
STOLEN IN PLAIN SIGHT!
We were dining at a buffet and my son just happened to see the server take his half eaten plate away. He screams, “that lady stole my food!”. His 4 year old sister jumps up yelling “I will rescue it!” and proceeded to chase the server across the room, almost knocking her plates askew. Memorable but still at 8 years old, he guards his plate and has someone “protect” it if needed.
We stopped by Red Robin after a trip to the mall. They have something on their kids menu called chicken stickens , just grilled chicken on a stick. I ordered my toddler the broccoli on the side instead of fries because one can dream. Once she finished a stick, we tried putting the broccoli on the stick and by golly she loved it! Evidently food tastes better on a stick.
We had the BEST waitress last night! In addition to bringing paper plates for the kids, keeping food out of reach, and moving quickly, she offered to bring my girls a small ball of pizza dough to play with while they waited for our food!
IF I KNOW MY KIDS ARE TIRED OR EXCESSIVELY HUNGRY I WON’T TAKE THEM TO A SIT DOWN RESTAURANT. I HAVE TWIN 5 YEAR OLD BOYS AND THERE IS MUCH, MUCH PLANNING PUT INTO A SUCCESSFUL SIT DOWN MEAL. TABLETS? CHECK. HAND SANITIZER? CHECK. MP3 PLAYER AND HEADPHONES? CHECK. AND IT STILL DOESN’T ALWAYS WORK. I HAVEN’T HAD A WARM MEAL IN FIVE YEARS.
It’s been many years but, my daughter once flung herself out of a wooden table-height high chair that the restaurant provided. She was unharmed but, we didn’t dine out for a long time after.
Note: The bold green type indicates the prize as a $1000 gift card. The “fine print” says $100.
Dining Tip: when my husband and I go out to dinner with our kids we find ourselves visiting Joe’s Crab Shack. We get to enjoy our delicious and messy meal on the deck while we watch our kids play on the jungle gym. It is the best of both worlds. If you have a Joe’s Crab Shack near you, go check it out! You won’t regret it.
My little guy is only nine months old so I am sure the real horror stories are yet to come… However when he was about two months old I went to dinner with a friend, I reluctantly let her hold him (he was so content I didn’t want to ruin it!) and sure enough he just lost it. Screaming his little head off! I rushed him into the bathroom so check his diaper (new mom, first time to dinner w/out hubby and first public restroom diaper change), that was a bad idea.. His screams were x10 in that bathroom and it was so horrifying lol.
I feel like my subsequent children have gotten worse at restaurants. My first was a pro and we brought her out from birth. My second had a period from 6 month-one year where we couldn’t take her out. My third…well we took him out at birth but once he got out of the random napping phase…forget it. He is 14 months and anything longer then 20 minutes and he starts to melt down. We have gone to breakfast a few times…and McD’s is okay lol.
If I win, I will use my Target giftcard to buy lots of frozen dinners for when I want to go out to eat but can’t. Haha, just kidding. I’ll probably buy diapers and kids clothes…because that’s how I roll 😉
We live in the suburbs of Denver, and eating out isn’t really an option (the food options are, shall we say, subpar). So we joined the local country club and eat there occasionally. My three year old is not the best diner, but he finds the doors to the kitchen at the club to be quite funny. They are those swinging doors. Every single time someone goes in or comes out of the kitchen, he laughs. Loudly. It’s so funny that it’s hard for the staff to hate him.
My husband was out of town for a week which left me solo parenting (kudos to those who do it 24/7 – 365). I took my kids to a sit down restaurant because apparently I thought it was a better idea than just throwing on a pot of mac n cheese for dinner. However, my kids were actually really well behaved which may have been slightly due to the fact that I was passing them gummy bears under the table. But regardless, a lady approached me as we got up to leave and said, “I just have to tell you, your kids were so well behaved this entire time…you must be so proud. And good for you!”
I thought I was living in a dream. My kids are amazing but I have 2 boys under the age of 4 so if you can imagine I don’t get too many compliments…more so side eyes. It reminded me how wonderful it feels when someone reaches out to you and shows you support.
We rarely eat out, but when we do its to a place with a playground! As I try to enjoy my lunch, my toddler climbs to the top of the enclosed/tube playscape and is too terrified to come down. With my baby strapped to me in a wrap, I had to climb upIto he maze to retrieve him. Why do I even try!?
my son will pick an unsuspecting dinner and stare at them until they look at him. then he smiles sweetly and begins to tell them his whole life story or at least a weeks worth. with details. he will not break eye contact until he is done. at first they think its cute then they get nervouse. then they start to look like deer caught in headlights.
This year for my birthday we attempted to go out to dinner with my 3 year and 9 month old sons. We went a little early on a Sunday evening, specifically choose a trendy pub close to our house thinking it would be okay if the kids were a little loud. There was a major flaw in our plan – the Patriots were in the middle of a playoff game and we live in Boston, and since my husband is a New Yorker, (go Jets), we were oblivious to said playoff game. Another coincidence, my 3 year old’s name happens to be Thomas. Tommy is a sensitive kid, sensitive to loud noises and he is a people pleaser. Things weren’t going to so well for the Patriots and the concerned and rowdy people of Boston in the pub were letting “Tom/Tommy” know their displeasure with his performance. Our Bostonian friends were of course talking about Tom Brady; however, my poor 3 year old Tommy couldn’t understand why everyone was yelling at him. He broke down, tears, hands over hears, hiding under the table, begging people to stop yelling at him. My husband had to take Tommy out, while I ordered the entire families food – to go of course. The good part in all this is I did get to have a drink while waiting on our to go order, even if it had to be drank while simultaneously wrangling a squirmy infant.
We ALWAYS bring snacks/extra food to keep our daughter occupied/hold her over til food comes.
My motto (I have 4 kids and 1 on the way!): when all else fails and your tips and tricks have failed and your kids are still being loud, whiny, and well…. kids, then buy the drinks for the table closest to you!!! A simple gesture always turns into smiling faces and happy people!!!
Our friends offered to take our 15 month old off of our hands (we had not been on a date since she was born!) and they took her to a restaurant. She was potty trained but still needed lots of reminding, which we forgot to tell our friends. She began to get fussy at the table, and was not able to communicate what was wrong, so she stood up on the bench and wet her pants. Needless to say, they never offered to watch her again.
Our most memorable (and worst) dining experience- when my toddler started projectile vomiting in the middle of a meal out with friends. A friend helped me get her cleaned up in the bathrooms while our husbands sat around dumbfounded. We all lost our appetite after that, and have not been back to that restaurant since!
We try to go to restaurants that have Keno. For a dollar per game, it keeps my kids entertained. My daughter is actually good at picking numbers too. She usually wins more than we paid in and we put it in her savings account for college. That negates the gambling, right?
Every single time I go out with my kids they eat my food. So I’ve learned to order my food, extra plates, and another order to take home so I can actually eat my food later.
Straws! My kids seem to enjoy playing with straws. So when they start to get antsy, I’ll give them a straw or 2 or 3 and let their imagination run wild.
We went early to a local Mexican restaurant thinking it wouldn’t be too busy. However there was a large birthday party going on that we were seated near. We had a booth and sat our two year old in the corner thinking it was the safest place for shenanigans. She seemed to be sitting nice but we discovered she had been taking pieces of the wall off and there was the biggest mess all over the floor. Then as we left she grabbed blinds covering a large window and managed to swing them hard enough they took down a stack of presents at the birthday party. That’s hard to relive.
Last week my husband and I went out to dinner with my 4yr old, 2.5 yr old, and 2 month old boys. The only reason we went to that specific restaurant is because they had patio seating and there was a small grassy patch right next to the patio where the kids could play and run around on. When out food FINALLY came out, after over an hour, I was nursing my 2 month old and I hear my 4 year old scream “Chase is getting naked!!!”. I look up, along with the other 50 people on the patio, and sure enough the 2.5 yr old is butt naked with his pants around his ankles. I stand up as quickly as humanly possible, hand the baby to my husband, try to cover my boob and sprint to get the naked child running around next to everyone eating! Thankfully most of the people though it was hilarious. But between exposing my boob and my son in ‘all his naked glory’, we probably won’t be going back there anytime soon!
We usually go to Chinese restaurants because they are loud and usually cater to large parties. Since everything is family-style, my toddler can try a variety of foods. We also usually go with family, and they graciously take turns taking him on walks outside when he’s done eating.
I keep crayons in my purse so they can color on the placemats. Crayola crayons since the ones at restaurants always break.
Tips? French fries and kid-friendly apps – that’s all I have to say! Be brave my fellow parents! We shall hide no more behind takeout and pizza delivery!
Five words: projectile mac and cheese vomiting
Love all these good tips! I always have to bring crayons and paper just in case the restaurant doesn’t have it! I dread the day my daughter gets bored with coloring.
My almost 3 year old has been doing so well in restaurants, so we went to a crowded restaurant while on vacation. She sat nicely at the table, played with crayons we brought, and then the woman at the next table, with connecting booth to ours, made the mistake of smiling at my daughter. Before we could stop her, she leaned over and gave the woman a nice big lick all down her arm. ??
Took our daughter to a fancy restaurant when she was 3 ( she was our only child at the time so we knew no better ) she stood up in her seat and started peeing .
I *love* disposable plastic placemats that have sticky backs for the kids – I don’t have to worry about dirty tables or my little one pulling the plate off the table.
I don’t think my three kids are too bad at restaurants – although my husband, who works in a restaurant disagrees. But I always bring triangle crayons, books, stickers and little toys along. Or even an iPad for my youngest. People don’t like seeing kids out at restaurants I know, but whatever gets us a meal out sometimes works fine with me.
This past Valentine’s Day, a girlfriend and I decided to take our 4 year olds out on their first date. We decided to go to Johnny Rockets for milkshakes (super excited for the cutest photo ever of them sharing ?). When the milkshakes arrived, my friend’s son looked at it, shouted “I HATE milk!” and climbed over the booth into someone else’s table. My daughter followed suit “This doesn’t taste like ice cream at all!”. Oops?
My husband & I were out with all 3 kids and the evening had gone surprisingly smooth (considering my brood). The hubs & I got into a mild disagreement when the baby began to fuss seemingly for no reason. He couldn’t seem to comfort her and she just kept getting louder. Eventually, I stopped eating and made a big display of picking her up and soothing her immediately – you know, because I’m the better parent and everything. My husband scowled silently but didn’t say anything. As a final attempt to rub his nose in it, I began lightly tickling and “dancing” with Baby as she sat in my lap. Just as I was about to send one last smirk my husbands way, my kid up and starts vomiting – not near or on me – but DOWN my shirt (as she’d just leaned in for a kiss). It was wet and hot and smelly and I was so shocked I couldn’t move the entire time she emptied her belly. Even my older 2 toddlers didn’t know what to say or do. We laugh about it now but it was definitely our worst dining experience.
My cousin and I decided to take our 3.5, 1.5 and 1 year olds out to eat. Obviously, we ordered drinks. My son immediately knocked over a full beer covering as much of the table and us as possible. The waitress was super nice and helpful, we got the table all cleaned up, new crayons and paper, the works. Then he declares that his pants are wet and drops his pants and underwear in the aisle. I think only a few diners were scandalized, and thankfully I got him to put his pants back on.
No real tips or tricks, just glad that my guy is still little enough that he’s entertained just people watching. Unfortunately he’s too busy people watching to eat…
I had it made when my oldest was a toddler. She was an angel at restaurants. Never loud, always sitting. Dream child. No surprise, we decided to have another one. Baby #2 was the perfect baby. Barely cried, slept through the night. She saved it all up for toddler years. We went to Denny’s for dinner with my family. #2 is running up and down the aisles, running her hands over the backs of people’s chairs. We get to a booth, place her in between myself and my parents. She proceeds to jump on the bench, crawl on the table, bang the fork on the table. We got the most dirty looks I have ever seen! Then came the little one. I bought an ipod. Problem solved.
When I go out to lunch or dinner with my 4 year old son, I bring his firetruck lunchbag (which he has never used for lunch, it literally is a bag used for his toys only) full of toys and a coloring book with crayons in my purse – it keeps him busy throughout the meal and that makes this mommy super happy!!
We have four boys. Our best tip is to realize that kids have their limits. We don’t try restaurants with huge waits. And we make sure they aren’t starving if there will be any wait. Also sometimes we just take them places they want to go like cookout or McDonald’s. They aren’t healthy but an occasional treat is always fun!
We don’t often go out to eat with 4 kids, but decided to splurge after a soccer tournament recently. We chose Applebee’s because it was on the way home, and my toddlers now call it “the fancy Apple restaurant”. Worth noting, the food was really good, I was pleasantly surprised.
We tend to take our kids to the restaurants that have the tablets where they can play games while we wait for our food. It is $1.99 well spent. They play happily together and don’t complain about waiting for their food!
We’ve always had good experiences eating out with our daughter with only one exception. We were dining out at a family restaurant with a friend and her toddler. The kids were giggling and singing their ABCs together, but were being well-behaved and not loud. However, the young twenty-somethings in the booth across from us were obviously annoyed at sitting by us and asked the waitress to be moved to another table not near any children. She couldn’t move them far, as it was dinnertime and the place was full of families eating. Right after being moved, a grandmother and her grandson were seated right next to those young women. The boy promptly turned around in the booth, got up on his knees, and stared at the girls while they were taking and eating. Not going to lie, my husband, friend, and I enjoyed it! I would never let my daughter run around, destroy anything, etc., but she and her friend were not misbehaving. A family restaurant with a mascot, free cookies, huge kids menu, coloring placemats, and so on is not the restaurant you should choose if you don’t want to be around children!
We seemed to be having an uneventful And pleasant time at the restaurant. As we were getting rEady to leave I took my toddler to the restroom while my husband was waiting With the rest of the kids in the Front area. As I am coming baCk I hear some NoIse. My Son vomitted his meal All over!!!!
Must follow tips and tricks. Thanks for sharing.
We have two littles, ages 3 and 4. We have learned which restaurants are good to go to with them, and which ones to save for date nights. We also try to order their food with our drink orders so that their food comes as quickly as possible.
After my kids have screamed in a restaurant, ran around like wild chickens and puked all over me at a buffet we no longer take them out to eat! Maybe they will be allowed to by the time they are teenagers ( 3& 5 right now).
My family owns a restaurant. I have a three year old son and we spend a lot of time there with his “Me-Ma” my mom. There are two doors in the back, one door everyone uses…for shipments for visiting or drop offs and exits and everything in between. The other one has a door bell on it and is only used by strangers, or people who don’t know better to use the other door. Well anytime someone uses that wrong door, the doorbell will go off and then a knock, then you hear Me-Ma say “Oh that damn door.” Well one night all the family is at the back of the restaurant and my 3 year old son, my grandmother (his great grandmother) and I are visiting and sure enough we hear “knock knock…doorbell” and my grandmother says “was that the front door?” and sure enough without hesitation my 3 year old son yells “No grandma thats the damn door!”