Tips to Have a Good Time Eating Out with Young Children:
You should first think about where you want to eat out. You are looking for a decent meal, so you should probably stay away from restaurants that are meant for children only, e.g., Chucky Cheese. These types of places will not have meals that are very nutritious and are very limited in what they do have. You should also stay away from restaurants that have a quiet, intimate setting. Your children will stand out more in these restaurants and possibly disrupt the other guests.
On your way to the restaurant you should be planning what you are going to order. This way when you are seated with your menus, you can order right when the server comes to your table. If you wait, it can take minutes before they will come back to see what you want to eat.
In case your child is a picky eater, bring some food items from home that you know they will enjoy. Some restaurants have limited kid's menus, so this way you know they will be getting something you approve of and know they will eat.
Children have a hard time setting in one place for more than a certain amount of time without something to do. Bringing a couple (quiet) toys is a good idea to keep them occupied so they do not get upset while at the table. Most restaurants usually have place mats and coloring crayons for children to use. You could also bring you own coloring book and crayons in case they do not have any. This is a good quiet way to keep your child busy.
You should get to the restaurant during a non rush period. If the restaurant is busy, it will take longer to be seated, get service, and receive your meals. Time is an important part of how your child reacts. The longer you are there, the more chance they will become unhappy. If you get there earlier, you will get more attention and faster service.
Right when your food gets to your table, you should pay. If your child gets unruly you will not have to wait for the server to come back, take your money, and return again. You can simply leave when you need to.
Following these steps will help give you an enjoyable meal at a restaurant while still bringing your children along.
Published by Jason Spansel
Father, Husband. Grew up in Idaho, now living in Oregon. View profile
Five Tips to Teach Kids to Eat HealthyA look at how to encourage healthy habits in your children.- Tips on Protecting Your Child from the Dangers in the HouseWhen babies start crawling or walking on their own, they are tempted to get hold of almost everything that they can reach. The problem is that they do not know the dangers involved in grabbing some of the appliances i...
Ten Tips to Help Improve Your Creative Writing SkillsOne of the fun challenges about writing is that there is always room for growth and improvement. It is an on-going process that can benefit from the passage of time and practice...
10 Ways to Save Money Eating OutRestaurants are reprinting a lot of menus these days. Each one has higher prices than the last. Here are some great ways to take the bite out of the cost of eating out for you...- 5 Tips to Keeping Dinner HomemadeOne mom shares her ideas on how to get back to the "good old days" of home cooking and family dinners.
- Top Ten Tips for A Successful Disney World Vacation with Young Children
- Dining Out with Children: Tips for Food Choices, Behavioral Solutions
- Taking a Holiday Trip with Young Children
- Summer Travel Guide to Washington D.C. On a Budget for Families with Young Children
- Surviving Car Travel with Young Children
- Tips for Car Travel with Young Children
- Tips for Airline Travel with Young Children
20 Comments
Post a CommentGee, I remember. Hey, what a darling child in that photo!
Sadie looks like she already has an opinion about everything :) Great article. Thanks!
Trying to get kids to behave while eating out is impossible sometimes- very true!
Awesome article with excellent tips. These will definitely help me to feel a bit more secure about taking my FIVE children (1 with ADHD) out to eat again.
Good advice, I never would have thought to pay right when we get the food.
I am a real stickler for kids and manners in resaurans now if only my little girl were too. Good read.
You can also get children used to table manners at a restaurant by "practicing" frequently at home and at increasingly sophisticated restaurants, starting at the low end with McDonald's. Once they learn the rules for behavior, they tend to be very proud to show off how grown-up they are. (except for my youngest, who used to "melt" off the seats when he was unhappy -- but that was a different issue entirely!)
Good tips, now if only people would follow them
Great article! I just took my two year old daughter with me out to eat for the first time recently, and she did surprisingly well. She did yell a few times "Where's my food?", but that was a small price to pay for the chaos she could have created.
I really like the tip about paying as soon as the food arrives--I have never heard that before, but it makes soooo much sense! And you're right--taking toys and books and coloring books along is incredibly important...otherwise you are reduced to trying to entertain your child with stacking the saltine packets or something like that. LOL