Dining Out with a One Year Old?

I don't understand why you don't think she can't have what you're eating. By age 1, kids are more than capable (and should be!) eating normal food so whatever you are ordering should be fine. They may not have the molars yet for chewing but they can gum anything... none of my kids had a single tooth until after their first birthday and they were eating normal food (ie, what the rest of the family was eating) by around 8-9 months.

Try to go early, like around 5 or 5:30 when there's no waiting. Or feed her at home before you go so she might be more intersted in playing with toys instead of eating. Or, just gracefully give up for awhile -- don't go out for a few months. Age 1 is tricky at a restaurant simply due to their development.... most 1 year olds simply can't control themselves. They want to move... 15 minutes of sitting at a table is pure torture for many. I know some can do it, but the majority of 1 year olds are simply not developmentally ready.

On the rare occassion we went out to eat with a 1 year old (like when travelling), we had to tag team it. We would sit down to order with toddler on one of our laps. Then my husband would take the child on a walk around the restaurant and to the lobby area until the food arrived. When food arrived, we'd plop the child in the highchair, give him/her some food from our plates and eat quickly. We would be done and ready to leave about 20-30 minutes after the food arrived. We found each child had different limits. Our son had a 45 minute limit in a restaurant... if we left before then, he was fine and it was a pleasant experience. If we took 55 minutes, he was in an all-out meltdown that made everyone miserable. Our 2nd child could make it an hour and our youngest is still pretty portable and doesn't care.

With each child, though, by the time they were 2.5 they were great in restaurants. We don't go out to eat often... maybe once every 2 months. Some people believe you must take the kids out often to teach them but you do not. We insist on table manners at home so when we go out to a restaurant, which is a rare treat, they know how to behave. We don't like going out to eat often because most restaurnt food is too expensive and even the 'healthy' choices on a menu are much more nutritious if made at home.

There is a time period where it is just not any fun to take your kids out to eat. We have a 3 yr old and a 9 month old and it is no fun taking the 9 month old out to eat, so we just don't do it. With our 3 yr old, it eventually became ok again to take him out, which was around the age of 2 1/2. We tried everything like you did, and it just wasn't worth it.
The only suggestions I have, would be to go after nap time and make the visit a quick one. Also, there are some toys that will attach/clip to the high chair or table, so you don't have to keep picking them up. Good Luck!

I'm not sure what you mean by "she can't eat many of our foods". At one year, they can eat just about anything as long as take in to consideration choking hazards. If eating your food is what makes her happy so she's not bothering other customers, let her eat! ;)

HI Sarah,
I feel you pain I have a 13 month and a 2 1/2 yr old. Try the mexican again and try these foods. I order a side of flour tortillas and pull them into strips so the baby can gum on something other than the chips. I also get cheese quesadillas and cut them up. My little one loves the guacamole and I often order avocado on the side of my dish for him b/c it is so good for them anyway. I will also ask for the shredded cheese in a bowl. With tacos I get soft only with meat and cheese and usually serve the beef out of it. It is so hard and worse with two but you can't give in. As far as behavior, I try go early and if not just keep doing what you are doing and pack and arsenal of toys or books. It will get better. We eat carrabbas some as well for the pasta and breads. I also like to do thai places you can get noodles or veggies that are stir fried. Hope this helps. Hang in there!

I have a 14 month old, and we have taken her to restaurants (usually several times a week with extended family, that's just how we operate) since she was tiny. It has recently become very challenging! It helps soooo much to have other kids with us, my husband and I don't usually go if it's just the 3 of us due to lack of entertainment. However, places like MCL are great, since there's no waiting to get your food...and she loves the mac n cheese and green beans there--they cook them so long that everything is really soft. So my advice would be to go someplace that waiting is kept to a minimum and just get used to that for awhile until she's older (Panera, Paradise Cafe, MCL, Bob Evans are places we frequent)! Save the good restaurants for date nights, haha!