Top 10 tips and tricks to enjoy stress free restaurant outing with toddlers.
It’s not fair to forgo restaurants until you feel kids are “old” enough to go and then suddenly expect them to behave appropriately. Ask yourself how can you expect kids to know the correct way to act at a restaurant if they are never given the opportunities to learn? Taking them to restaurants consistently as they grow up allows them to learn what the expected behavior is for restaurants over repeated trips.
Think about your typical dinner at home does it involve minimal sit-down time and mom and dad running around getting task done while the kids eat, or everyone sitting down for a 20/30 eat time and then being able to get up and go play, or maybe it involves mom dancing in the kitchen for entertainment while hoping the kids stay content long enough to load the dishwasher. When you take them to a new setting where they are expected to sit in a seat, do a lot of waiting, and entertain themselves of course are going to be fans and it is unrealistic and unfair for us to expect that.
It’s creating a scenario that gently forces you to stick to your parenting methods. For example, if you are at home trying to do chores or cook and your child has a meltdown, it’s easy to grab them a popsicle or pick them up, etc. but I’m a restaurant setting you do not have this luxury, and have a better ability to focus on them, and therefore can work on other methods of interacting and teaching them without having the caveat of giving them whatever it takes to satisfy them.
Going to restaurants with young kids also gives them an opportunity to socialize in a different environment. Like waving to people as they pass by, interacting with a server, or seeing other kids at different tables. Which is different than how they may socialize say at a park or community event. New surroundings provide an opportunity to teach and experience new things. Are there pictures on the wall you can show your kid, or different colored walls, or taxidermy that can be used to explain what a bear is and what noise it makes. With the right mindset and our top tips and tricks you will start to enjoy restaurant outings with young kids.
Here are my top 10 best tips and tricks to enjoy restaurant outing with young kids.
- Be smart about the place you pick
- This is not the time to go to a fancy restaurant or that place with all the trinkets within our child’s grasp.
- Many places now are more kid/family friendly now and are perfect for these outings. Especially during the warmer months places with patios or area for kids to play are great.
- Feed kids before you go
- Now why would we take them out to eat if we already fed them? Seem counterintuitive right? Well, if they are hungry when you head to the restaurant it will almost always not end well for anyone. Before leaving for the restaurant offer your child a filling and nutritious snack or meal. We also use this to waste less food at restaurants and spend less. Using this method, we gage how much the kids ate, then most of the time order one kids meal for them to share or they just share our food.
- Bring snacks
- One part of eating out is that it can take a while for food to arrive at your table. This wait will feel much longer if you have a hungry kid or kids melting down. Pack some smaller more time-consuming snacks for while you wait on your food. Personally, this is where we utilized puffs, yogurt melts, cheerios, etc.
- Take time to review the menu and know what you’re getting before you go
- This has saved me countless times and has multiple benefits. First you can order faster and therefore if you need to make it a shorter dinner you are not stuck waiting on food. Second it allows you to be present and engaged with your kid/kids instead of trying to read through a menu and decide what you want.
- If this is not an option or you don’t have enough time or you just forget the strategy, we then switch off who gets to look at the menu and who is engaging with the kids.
- Activity kits are fabulous!
- Seriously these are amazing. I have a whole post on making them here https://healthybalanceparenting.com/how-to-create-activity-boxes/
- I got 3 pencil cases from the dollar store and fill them with a random assortment of toys/activities. These are only used for outings. Each time we use one I cycle out what is in it. This makes sure they do not know what to expect so they don’t get bored with toys. This also doubles as a surprise for them when they get to see a toy they had not seen in a few weeks.
- Alternatively you can find activity books or busy boards on amazon https://amzn.to/3XsYhpq
- Utilize things at the restaurant to keep kids entertained
- Like number 5 when kids are engaged the outing is more fun for everyone. Often the most fun items can be the ones already at the restaurant that the kids find a way to play with. We use the straw to blow the wrapper off then to blow the napkin across the table. The table drink menu was fun to stack toys in. We played name the colors of the condiments. Stack the cups…only if they are plastic. If the crayons are in boxes, then we put them in and out of the box. There are many possibilities here and it inspires imagination in both littles and parents.
- Make the outing a fun big deal
- Kids feed off our energy so get yourself in the right mind space to go out with excitement and to be ready to enjoy the time together. Also be intentional with your word when talking with your kids about how we GET to go to a restaurant tonight and how it IS going to be exciting to try new food and have someone wait on them. This does wonders for them and for parents when you are looking at it with excitement and not dread, you expect the best not the worst.
- Find something special they can be excited about at restaurants
- What small thing can you use to? Maybe they only get fries when you go out to eat, or dessert is first at restaurants, or they get to have lemonade, whatever it is that makes them excited, and they don’t get it at home.
- This provides something for them to look forward to and to be excited about when they get to eat out.
- Sometimes the simplest things are what work. For my littles the key was ice. Seriously ice! When we go out, I often give them a small cup of ice. They loved it! It was fun, it was different than what we do at home, and it was something they could look forward to.
- A little sidetracked back story: Our ice maker has never really worked so we have large cube molds that we use for ice, so my kids had never seen the smaller ice chips before. We went out one time and their cousin who is 7 months older than then had a cup of ice. The twins were intrigued so we gave them each one and no joke they sat still for 30min. It was shocking!
- Ask for the check before you need the check.
- This way if all else fails and a quick exit is needed you can take it.
- Have realistic expectations for your kids
- If a normal dinner at home for them is 30min it is not fair to expect them to sit quietly for 2 hours at a restaurant
- Remember that they are learning, it’s a process, and it is ok
Now will every restaurant experience be great? NO! Just like us, kids will have good days and bad days. There are times where you will breathe a sigh of relief on how much easier is getting to eat out with kids and the very next time you might swear you will never eat out again. Remember it is all about finding the right balance and what works for you and your kids. Continue to learn just like your kids are. Laugh at the unbelievably crazy moments, learn from mistakes, and don’t let anyone make you feel ashamed. You are doing great, and it is good to get yourself and your kiddos out of the house. You got this!
Let me know your favorite tip or what works for you below!
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