Dining Out with Children: Tips for Food Choices, Behavioral Solutions

Do you avoid going to restaurants with your kids because you are afraid of the way your children will behave? It is a common fear among parents of young children to not go to sit-down restaurants.

I remember the first time I took my little boy to a sit down restaurant I was mortified. I thought everyone was looking at me and wondering why I had brought my child there. Well I soon got over it and now my son can sit in a restaurant and rival the behavior of much older kids. Of course lately I've noticed my 9 month old can rival the behavior of most teens in a restaurant. By taking your young kids to restaurants they learn how to behave at an early age in public settings. Yes, there will be embarrassing moments but you can get those anywhere you go with small children. I have a few ideas on how to keep your children in check at sit down restaurants.

First things first, lets not confuse sit down restaurants with five star dining, your kids don't need to know what a salad fork is nor do the waiters want to teach them what a salad fork is. Your best bet is to choose somewhat loud and familiar places. Remember you are introducing this new concept to your child, they will not get it at first and you have to be prepared for that. Kids will be excited and want to explore the new surroundings so getting them familiar with a certain couple of places is the best way to go. They will soon begin to remember the restaurant and become less distracted with the surrounding environment, in some cases they will also remember the menu and this is when they really enjoy going out to eat.

You always want to remember that kids do not get the same amount of enjoyment out of sitting around a table chatting while waiting for your food as an adult would. If you notice the food is taking a really long time to come and your child has exhausted all his or her activities you may want to take them outside and let them play for a little bit. This will not only solve the immediate problem but it will create some excitement for the child when it is time to go back in and eat. Some people say that you should always sit next to your child in a restaurant, I don't necessarily agree. If they are babies than obviously yes, sit next to them but if they are older and in the age range of 3 plus let them sit wherever they want. Sitting next to them to control them will only work when you're there so you might as well get over it to get them ready for when they go out to dinner with someone other than you.

The biggest mistake people make when eating out with their children is to order them something you think they might like. Let me give you some advice, it is hard enough to get a kid to eat something they do like in a restaurant, don't complicate things by getting them something they won't eat. Along with this, make sure the restaurant you are going to has a kids menu. Usually with a kids menu there are crayons and activities to do but you should always carry a bag of stuff for your kid to do to help pass the time. Remember that a child will struggle enough with waiting for the food so you probably shouldn't go to a restaurant that has a 30 minute wait, it will only make your kid more anxious and harder to control.

Like anything, the more you expose your children to something the more comfortable they will be with it. I'm not saying to take your kids out every night or even every week, but don't wait months between taking them out with you. They will forget what it was like and it could be like re-living the past over and over. It really is fun to be able to go out with your whole family and have a good meal together; it makes it so much more enjoyable if your kids are well behaved.