Children + restaurants

[FHmama]

At what age was you able to take your child to a restaurant and sit down and eat your meal for the duration?

My toddler has just turned 2 and he won't sit still at a restaurant, is too distracted by everything around him to actually eat - always end up chasing him around and if he's confined to a chair/his pram he will scream the place down.

I know this is normal toddler behaviour and he's a lot easier to manage in almost every other setting but holidays, days out etc I always dread the restaurant bit!

So how old was your child when you could all sit and eat a meal whilst in a restaurant?

Is it only when you go to a restaurant that your child sits at a table?

Why not practice at home until they get the idea that it’s not a game?

This is something that is v important to DH and I so we practiced with DD1 from birth. She's nearly 3 now and can be relied upon to eat nicely, sit in her chair, chat to waiters etc, but we do need to bring colouring or a puzzle or both for before food/between courses. It's all about practice imo.

I’ll be honest… 8 I could enjoy a pub meal when my eldest was about 5 but now he’s 8 we could go to nicer places and he’d not get bored or fidget, problem is our 4 year old would so we still don’t go out anywhere nice to eat.

Just from the beginning. Eating out is part of my life so my kids have been since birth. Never any problems.

@Riapia he sits perfectly fine at home and nursery eating and has done since he was 1 but he's like a different child when it comes to eating out, he couldn't care less about the food on his plate - is more interested in what everyone else is doing

My 2.5 year old dd will sit in a high chair in a restaurant quite well as long as the meal isn't dragged out.

We usually go to family friendly restaurants, order her a simple starter & main (just main courses for us) so she has some time pick at while we wait for the mains
We also take distractions with us (colouring book & crayons, small figures to play with) or play I spy and sometime we get out our phone for her to watch a cartoon (sound turned off) if she finishes long before us.

We definitely don't let her run round or scream and shout

Honestly, since DS was born I've been taking him with us to restaurants and cafes. I don't believe that having children should stop you from being able to eat out. He's 3 now and it's easy enough to just bring things to entertain him with until food arrives and if all else fails, I don't have an issue with just putting on something for him to watch on my phone. Once we get near to the end of the meal he's usually fed up and wants to start running around, which is when we typically leave. But I enjoy eating out and I don't plan on stopping just because I have kids.