Want to have a nice dinner out with the kids? Great suggestions on how make mealtime easy for yourself and the kids.
So many times we as mums want to enjoy a meal out as a family. We often decide to stay home because the trouble of dining out with kids is sometimes not worth it. Below are great suggestions on how to make the evening easier, enjoyable and worth doing.
- Book a table earlier for dinner such as 6pm, restaurants are normally quieter then so the wait for food can often be shorter.
- If your child normally eats earlier than this maybe feed them afternoon tea a little later than normal.
- If you are a mum who is breastfeeding, try feeding before dinner and plan to again when you get home. That way you can sit there without having to worry about feeding the baby and the distraction that can come with it.
- When booking the table, ask if there’s a highchair you can use. If not you can take your own or a highchair attachment to put on a chair.
- Look at the restaurant’s menu online if you can so you can choose a meal beforehand that you think your child will eat. Whether it’s something from your meal or a children’s meal, or just order an extra serve of vegetables to supplement some of the food that’s being taken from your meal.
- Take something small for your child to eat while you are waiting for your food to come out. Evening if you bring a small serve of precooked veggies begin eating while you wait, since little ones aren’t as patient for food as we would like!
- Remember to take your child’s usual cutlery with you for them to use. Not all restaurants have children’s cutlery and instead of the hassle of trying to feed them their entire meal, or watching them try and manage (even if it does make you giggle) adult size cutlery, throw a fork and spoon in your bag as you leave! Also don’t forget a good bib to save on messy clothes when you get home!
- If you have smaller kids who are not pro’s at cups yet, bring their sippy cups to save the mess of water down their fronts from spills!
- Take a variety of books and small toys for your child. For the older kids, flash cards are a small item that might interest them or encourage them to focus on those. Also, puzzles are great for the older kids to try and finish through the meal.
- If they are old enough for colouring in there are pages on websites such as Disney where you can print blank colouring in pages just with the picture in black lines, then you just need a pack of crayons. http://home.disney.com.au/activities/?int_cmp=chrome:activities
Enjoy your evening out!
Janell is a work at home mum and combines caring for her 2 year old daughter Addison with making and selling Breastfeeding Covers and other Baby Products.
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