Eating out....HELP

[shelliz]

I hope posting this question here is alright. I really need some advice.  My dd is almost 6 months old and since birth (practically) she has hated her car seat. She pretty much screams the entire time we are in the car until she falls asleep.  Now she is to the point where she is old enough to play w/ toys...so she will do that for a while. After a few minutes she will get bored and begin crying until we get to our destination.  I can deal with the car seat issue. Where the big problem comes into play is when my DH and I take her out to eat.  She will sit in her seat for 20 minutes max and then she starts whining which escalates into screaming if we don't remove her from her carrier and hold her. After a few minutes of holding her at the table, she begins fussing again until I pick her up and walk around the resturant.  This gets very tiring and I am worried I am creating a problem. I know she is not old enough to really know that it is not o.k. to get out of her seat at dinner. I am curious what other moms do in this situation. I just don't want it to become a habit/big problem. We love to go out to eat and we want to be able to take her along with us. I think she just does not like to be confined to her carrier/car seat. I have thought about starting to practice with her in her highchair as she is about to start solids in a few days. Or maybe when we eat dinner at home I should leave her in her carrier then as well. ?  ???Any ideas would be awesome. 
Thanks in advance!
Shelby

[Critter]

She might like the high chair more.  The only thing that I've noticed is that sometimes the restaurant high chairs were too big for Luke.  Does she like her stroller? That's what we put Luke in 9 times out of 10 before he could sit in the big high chairs in restaurants

[CaedensMama]

They have some nice, easy to take high chair styles out there too - some clip to the table, others attach to the chair. that may be the easiest, use the same thing at home so she knows it is "dinner" time in that seat - and now that she is starting to sit easier she may like to be able to look around.

The other thing I have done is take the LO out of the seat while we order and wait for the food and save that "20 minutes" of quiet for when the food gets there and is hot - we can usually get most of the dinner eaten quick! That way he is in my arms and bouncing around when I am not trying to eat

Also, as she get a little older, you can try some finger foods to help extend her happy time - cheerios, a sippy cup, teether biscuits - check with your dr before you give solids, but she is getting close I would think!

Hope that helps!

[Gigismom]

honestly i think we went out to eat with dd only about 2-3 times from ages 0-9 months.  she just couldn't handle it.  but then at about 9 months, she started eating finger foods.  so that is what we would give her at restaurants and she really enjoyed it.  she does great now.  she loves being out, looking around, coloring at the table, etc.  i think before that age, it's just hard because they don't know where they are, what's going on, and the attention span is really short.  i know it's hard, but she'll grow out of it...sooner than you think! 

[Mariek]

Hi,

I'm just moving this to the feeding forum as it belongs in there really,

cheers

[EmMUK74]

We always take DD out of her seat immediately when we get to a restaurant (unless she is asleep) and let her look around and get familiar with the place and comfortable that she is safe.  Then after 15 mins on our laps whilst we order we put her into a high chair (have done since 6 months when she could sit up on her own) and give her a toy to play with.  We include her in the conversation and change her toy every 5 mins to make sure she doesn't get bored.  I will also now give some of the healthy bits from my plate for her to suck on and play with which is good for boredom and for inclusion.  Usually she can stay happy like this for about an hour after which time she will sit on our laps again.  I have never walked her around a restaurant just because I want her to get used to how you sit at tables (she also sits with us and eats when we eat) and because I think it annoys other people but then we have been taking her out since she was a few weeks old.  That said, whatever works is perfect as long as you don't find it difficult or awkward.  I would say the most important thing is pre planning with toys, foods and high chairs.

hth

[shelliz]

Thank you ladies for your ideas and support!  My dd is six months on the 15th and she just started sitting up last week. So...I think I will start trying to put her in a highchair and hopefully soon I can give her something to munch on (maybe in a feeder bag) while we eat. Great ideas!  I am new at all this and I just want to do the right thing w/ Jessica. I will try these ideas the next time we go out to eat!

Love to all!

[shelliz]

I am glad it is not just my lo!  LOL....we just had some friends visiting and their lo who is only one month older was a angel!  He would just sit there and look around, not making much of a peep.  Here is my Jess, fussing up a storm until we get her out of her carrier or walk around.  It is very tempting to stay out of the resturaunts, but I know this is just a phase!

[JennŠ]

We tucked a blanket around dd in the high chair to help her fit for a few weeks.  On the car seat issue, once we went to a convertable seat, she was much happier.  I think we did it about 5-6 months.  Wait 'till the food throwing starts.       Mommyhood- a great adventure!!