While we’ve taken Maelle out to eat with us multiple times, we haven’t really taken her to a restaurant for dinner now that she’s eating real food. We definitely didn’t set ourselves up for success and it was somewhat on the fly, but it went rather well.
I hadn’t planned on going out to dinner, but went with it when Andrew suggested we eat out after our errand to Lowe’s. I stocked the diaper bag with a couple pouches and her mesh teether and hoped for the best.
Despite JUST READING THIS POST about bringing your baby to a restaurant, we were terribly unprepared. We did not have enough food, anything for her to sit in, a cup for water or anything with which to wipe her up. (Again, if I’d known we were going out for more than 30 minutes before we left, I might have heeded some of Kath’s advice. But, points for spontaneity.)
Maelle was happy to play with some toys for awhile, but soon wanted to get out of her carseat and began to let us know she was hungry. In what seemed like two minutes flat, she’d downed both of the food pouches I brought and was looking for more. It hadn’t occurred to me to bring purées; she doesn’t really fit in a high chair yet and I figured spoon-feeding would just be a giant mess anyway. We have this chair and this chair, but had neither with us. It’s probably time to start keeping one of them in the car.
Maelle never fussed, and we took turns holding her and feeding ourselves. She munched on her teether filled with steamed veggies and sucked on a slice of steak. I think we’re in an ‘in between’ time since she’s an early eater and needs to eat a meal while we’re out, but she’s not big enough for high chairs or able to feed herself much yet. Going forward, we’re just going to have to make the clamp-on chairs work, and bring purées and finger foods for her.
On the plus side, the napkins were plentiful and we didn’t leave a mess under the table!
