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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
restaurants and toddlers
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Anonymous
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A second for the magna doodle! We don't go out without it.
Have you seen the placemats with the sticky backs (like these)? They sell them at BBRU, and maybe even at the grocery store. They are more expensive than I remember them, but they are biodegradable now... |
Anonymous
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The best place we've found near us is Fajita Coast. It's on University/Colesville (4 Corners) in Silver Spring, very close to the beltway. There are always lots of toddlers. We go early- by 5:30. It's a big space.
We also like the Parkway Deli. Again, we go early. |
Anonymous
| I would recommend training them a bit at home first. By making them stay in their seats at while dining at home until you have finished eating, giving them small toys for amusement, telling them "No" when they scream and not doing what they want until they learn NOT to scream, not returning the items they throw on the floor (which is what they want), you will be helping prepare them for what you expect in a restaurant. You will also be sparing other patrons the worst of the behavior. We took our children, now 5 & 8, to restaurants from birth on and never had a period where we "stopped" because they were too terrible. We did go through a period when they were having a harder time controlling themselves (around 2 usually) so we would hurry up, like sometimes getting the bulk of our (adult) meals to go. However, this did not last long and they never became out of control because we also expected them to behave when we had meals at home. It makes no sense to expect a child to use behavior in public that has not been taught at home first. Also, a public forum is not a good place for teaching these lessons, not good for the child or for the other paying patrons or good for the serving staff that has to clean up the mess some of these "terrible ones" leave behind. |
Anonymous
But don't go to Tara Thai in Tyson/Pimmit. We saw two roaches crawling on the wall. It's not kid/people friendly! |
Anonymous
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Dude, those of you who are saying "get a babysitter" or complaining that your meal will be ruined by screaming kids....DON'T EAT OUT AT 5:30 PM!
Seriously, if you want a date night that is kids-free, go to an "adult" restaurant at an "adult" hour. Otherwise, if you are eating at early bird hours at a family restaurant, its all fair game. One thing to consider (speaking as a former waitress): try to not leave the table a complete disaster. Letting the kids throw food everywhere, opening tons of sugar packets to make their own lemonade, and generally trashing the place. You can leave a reasonable mess, but so many people let their kids absolutely trash a table in a manner they would never do at home, then don't even leave a nice tip for the poor waiters that spend 10 minutes cleaning everything up. Not very nice. |
Anonymous
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Please start with kid-friendly restauarants and kid-friendly times. I think you will find the crowd around 5:30 to be very very tolerant of children. The more kid-friendly you go, the more patience and tolerance you will have (plus most restaurants are kid-friendly in the early hours and you don't have to deal with loud drunks spewing out curse words).
I pack lots of wipes, crackers, milk (you just never know), crayons and paper, and a few favorite toys. Since we rarely go out, I also often pack something the kid has never seen. but this can be a very cheap toy or pad of paper. The beauty of going out early is also, quicker in and out times. I know it used to be fun to linger, but with twin todders, now is NOT the time for leisurely meals. |
Anonymous
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OP here---thanks again for all the advice.
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Anonymous
| I've eaten out quite a bit with my 3 year old and it does go in cycles. Sometimes he's great, and sometimes not so much. I do always leave a VERY good tip if we've caused any distraction or made a mess (or broken anything, oops!). I really like the idea of training them at home a bit first. |
Anonymous
| We like to go to Sunday brunch at Artie's in Fairfax with our 6.5 month old. There are plenty of families there, and our baby is generally in a congenial mood around 11ish (after his morning nap). |
Anonymous
| Since you love Lauriol Plaza, try Cactus Cantina in DC. It's the same owners and it's VERY kid friendly. If you arrive around 5:30-6pm, it's almost all families eating out. Other families tend to be more patient with kids. They have a kid's menu and provide crayons. Also, they have a machine that makes tortillas where you can get a ball of the raw dough for the kids to play with while they wait for their food. |
Anonymous
Totally agree! They have about 15 or 20 high chairs. Seriously. Any place that has that many high chairs and a huge childrens' menu, definitley is kid friendly. 
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Anonymous
We have a 2.5 year old plus 7 month old twins. the only place that I like to take the 2.5 year old is actually Lauriol Plaza. Now, granted I have not ventured out w/2 (the twins stay home, poor guys), but I love Lauriol at 5pm on weekends. While you can't let kids run around service is very quick and DS loves chips and rice/beans. It's also loud and the waiters don't seem fazed by the mess we leave behind. I actually do not like Cactus Cantina b/c I've found service very slow there. To me, what makes the eating out most sucessful is speed, surrounding noise levels (to drown out any crying), and going early in the evening (latest at 5:30). Another tip that your twins might be too young for, but we started to deploy at 28 months is a lollipop. This works to distract DS for 10 minutes and allows us to concentrate on our own food. DS actaully does not really eat the lollipop, he just likes to stare lovingly at it and touch it to his cheeck, hand, etc so it has the extra bonus of not even ruining teeth or destroying appetite. It's been 3 months since we discovered lollipops and their novelty has not yet worn off. I highly recommend them (but again, at 16 months I would probably hold off for a while since I don't know about possible choking hazards)! Another option you might want to try is the IHOP near Target in VA. That's the first place we ventured out w/older one and where we are planning to "test the waters" with taking all 3 out (when we work up our courage). Oh, one more thing, I also have found it helpful to bring (i) a sippy cup since many cups given at restaurants don't seal as well and (ii) one of DS spoons or forks - the restaurant ones are often to big and hard for him to handle so they become weapons. good luck! |
Anonymous
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Why not try them at lunch as kids that age generally are in a better mood at lunchtime rather than dinner.
Start small and see how they do...what about Chick-fil-A? I have 5 kids under 5 and we go out to dinner - but do not plan to be forever at a sit-down restaurant. I agree it's great to start taking them out so they know how to act, but make sure your expectations are reasonable for their age! |
Anonymous
| If your twins set each other off (and most siblings do), you might want to start wtih a "divide and conquer" strategy, where each parent takes one child out for lunch or brunch. My kids go to a nursery school which releases at noon on Fridays, and I take one or the other out each week for lunch. It's a good opportunity to work on restaurant manners and get one-on-one time with each child. |