Eating Out
Last night we went out to dinner and the Pink Door with some of my wife’s work friends. Oh, and we took the baby.
I have to admit, i was a little hesitant about taking the baby to a restaurant like this. Kind of like a old cabaret style place, eclectic decorations, dimly lit, and a strange band that sounded like the one playing in the Cantina from Star Wars.
As soon as we arrived at the place i scanned for other babies… there were none. But i did see some high chairs, so they must be somewhat tolerant of babies. Luckily, Marley is a really good baby, and I didn’t think that she would be too much of a distraction for the other patrons. She did a really good job.
But I think that it was in part to our careful preparation.
When taking the baby to a nice restaurant, there are some things that you can to help make the evening better for everyone.
1. Make sure that the baby is well rested, sleepy babies are fussy and hard to keep happy
2. Have some food for them to eat as well. This will keep them feeling like part of the group, and not be ignored
3. Have a Perimeter Place Mat- I made one of these out of vinyl. This is basically a piece of plastic that you can put in front of your baby, partly to keep the table somewhat clean, but mostly to keep everything away from the baby. Waiters don’t usually know how far the baby can reach. This mat, will take the guess work out, and the table clean.
4. Tether everything to the high chair so that when the baby tosses stuff to the ground, it wont get lost.
5. Suction Cup Toys, are great for entertaining the little ones, and will keep the entertained for a whale
What tricks to you have? Leave a comment with your tricks and i will post them to share with the group. I am still a new dad, and i am sure that lots of you have better tricks…share
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I think you prepared as best you could. It’s tough to take babies and very young children out to a nice restaurant (heck, it’s difficult when they’re 4). The only suggestion I have and it goes without saying is to be ready to take them out if they cry or misbehave. People pay big $ for atmosphere and a nice evening out.
LOVE the placemat and the tethers. I always have snacks on me to hold them off from crying out like starving maniacs. And I *always* ask for the check early (even before I’ve finished my meal) so that when we’re ready to leave, we don’t have to wait for change or anything. I get funny looks sometimes, but hey – it works!