Toddler pack lunch in cafes

[Casheeeew]

I eat a about 3 cafes near me regularly, but only once per week, occasionally twice. I have always taken my son (18months) a full packed lunch, and I buy myself lunch and a coffee.

Its never occured to me to question this until today. Is he too old to be having home brought food?

They do have a kids menu but I prefer him to have a selection of things to pick at that I know he'll like.

Aibu - or if not, how long before he's too old?

It's not something that would have occurred to me to do...surely there would always be something suitable on the menu

Not always, no. Depends on where you are going. There’s a cafe up the road where DS eats pancakes, and we have options in most Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Indian restaurants. He loves pasta and pizza. Not picky at all.

But I’ve been in “family pub” places, and traditional cafes, where the only kids options are sausages and chips or spaghetti bolognaise, and we’re vegetarian, so nothing he can eat. Our local gastro pub only does full size Sunday roasts at the weekend, or spaghetti bolognaise for kids, neither of which are any good for a four year old. You’d be surprised how often the kids menu is completely shit, in otherwise good restaurants and cafes. And you don’t always realise that before you go in.

@Changechangychange

It's not something that would have occurred to me to do...surely there would always be something suitable on the menu

Not always, no. Depends on where you are going. There’s a cafe up the road where DS eats pancakes, and we have options in most Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Indian restaurants. He loves pasta and pizza. Not picky at all.

But I’ve been in “family pub” places, and traditional cafes, where the only kids options are sausages and chips or spaghetti bolognaise, and we’re vegetarian, so nothing he can eat. Our local gastro pub only does full size Sunday roasts at the weekend, or spaghetti bolognaise for kids, neither of which are any good for a four year old. You’d be surprised how often the kids menu is completely shit, in otherwise good restaurants and cafes. And you don’t always realise that before you go in.

I just give them some of mine!

You’d be surprised how often the kids menu is completely shit, in otherwise good restaurants and cafes. And you don’t always realise that before you go in

I do sympathise especially with the veggie issue. But surely you just leave rather than whipping out a picnic?

@Casheeeew, I think a couple of snacks - a biscuit, or a rice cake, or similar is fine, but I was responding to ‘a full packed lunch’ which I was imagining to be a sandwich and fruit and yoghurt or equivalent.

The kids menus are often shit because so many parents feed their kids that type of food. Cafes serve what will sell.

@CocoPrivileges

Oh pleaseeeeee🙄 perfect parent alert.
My child was fussy because of teething and it really put him off his food so what’s the point in wasting money on a kids meal?
All children are different… mine was offered a variety of foods thanks.

[quote BrambleRoses]@Casheeeew, I think a couple of snacks - a biscuit, or a rice cake, or similar is fine, but I was responding to ‘a full packed lunch’ which I was imagining to be a sandwich and fruit and yoghurt or equivalent.[/quote]
To me, a snack could be a piece of fruit or a yoghurt. A biscuit is a treat snack.

Snacks are snacks whether they come in plastic packaging or you made them yourself by slicing cheddar and putting it in your own Tupperware.

Oh come on - ‘a full packed lunch’ is not a ‘snack.’

When I got to a cafe with my DD's I take them snacks but I will always buy them something too. So will bring crisps, fruit pouches, banana, water.
Then I'll buy them sandwich/pasta/toast/crumpet etc.
They are 9 months & 2.5 years.

Why do such tiny children need snacks as well as a meal in one sitting?

@Xds1453 nothing really to do with being a "perfect parent". It's just common sense that a child is less likely to try new things if their parent is always ready to whip out a box of the same old favourites.

Teething can be an issue, but I don't see why a teething child is more likely to eat food from home than soup/toast/scrambled eggs or whatever is available to buy in a café.

Feeding a child a packed lunch in a café - allergies or special needs excepted - is just rude and embarrassing. But this thread shows how many people think basic courtesy doesn't apply to them.

@Iwannabewherethepeopleare

What age do people think it is acceptable until? If you think op is NBU, I mean?

I would say the age that kids menus in cafes are mainly aimed at, so 4/5 +

Ordered toast. It came with a packet of salted butter. So DS has plain toast, so glad I did bring other bits :(

@Casheeeew

Ordered toast. It came with a packet of salted butter. So DS has plain toast, so glad I did bring other bits :(

He can have salted butter! It's a tiny amount that would be in a portion that covers a slice of toast.

What did you order? Could he not have had some of that?

Yeah he can have salted butter. Its better at home if he doesn’t, but it wouldn’t bother me at all to give salted butter for one meal. Just give him dinner with none/ less salt.

I just did some rough calculations and I think the butter would have given him about 1/20th of his daily salt allowance. Really not a problem.

And did they only have toast? Most cafes that do breakfast would do eggs various ways, beans, crossiant, yogurt or fruit etc. you can order off menu usually as well. Ie if they have pancakes with cream and fruit, I would just ask if it’s possible for a small bowl of the fruit for Ds or just the pancakes. No where has ever said no

You are being very PFB. A little smear of salted butter is not going to hurt him - we do require a certain amount of sodium to live!

Def too old to bring own lunch, unless allergies which he doesn’t have

Most cafes do toast crumpets pasta Sarnie jacket etc

So can have that

Fine to bring a bit of fruit as many don’t have that but equally toddler won’t starve and can have fruit at home

you should be using the cafe food, not taking your own, they are a business.

Okay perhaps I am PFB about salt.

Ordered toast. It came with a packet of salted butter. So DS has plain toast, so glad I did bring other bits

A little bit of salted butter once in a while isn't going to do any harm! How much salt can there be in one of those tiny packets? In any case - do you give him bread at home? Bread has salt in it.

I think it's fine. By 2 probably not. The vast majority of places I went when mine were babies were fine with it. However, there was once a cafe in a park that myself and my friend went to with our toddlers. We bought a coffee and cake each plus a drink and a teacake. When we'd finished we decided to have another coffee and my friend went up to the counter. The DC were a bit fidgety and I gave them a babybel each. The owner told my friend off so we didn't order more coffee and never went back there. I mean it's the owners right to decide she doesn't want toddlers being given a small snack but I'm not sure it's good for business. The longer the DC are happy the more drinks/food the parents will buy! To be honest if there had been anything healthy I could have bought for the DC in the cafe I probably would have done but there wasn't.

Feeding a child a packed lunch in a café - allergies or special needs excepted - is just rude and embarrassing. But this thread shows how many people think basic courtesy doesn't apply to them.

You might find it embarrassing but OP does not. Perhaps she’d find it more embarrassing to order a kids meal and have the waitress take 90% of it away to scrape in the bin.

They can have 2g of salt a day at 18 months and realistically how much salt is going to be a small scraping of butter. He definitely didn’t need to have dry toast!

I'd say under two is fine. At 18 months DS would eat anything but not reliably eat a decent amount of anything except at dinnertime. If I bought food it would be a waste. That said, he'd usually just share with me rather than have a packed lunch.