Do you babywear when eating out?

[JustSimplicity]

My husband and I are planning to babywear when the LO comes in February. We have a convertible car seat so are planning to leave that in the car and actually *hold* the baby when we bring him/her someplace instead of lugging around the infant carseat. BUT last night we were eating out and I noticed a mom with an infant bringing in the carseat and placing it next to her in the restaurant. That got me thinking: what do you do when you're eating out? Do you just hold baby the whole time? I know when they are older you can use a high chair but what about the first 4-5 months?

[katelove]

No experience yet but that's what we're planning to do. We plan to adhere as closely to the in arms phase as possible which means that the baby will be held by someone anytime he/she is not in the car or asleep in bed with us. Well, that's the plan anyway

Watching other people do it, it seems fairly straightforward although sometimes the wearer has had to turn a little in their seat to accomodate a slightly larger baby.

[lifeguard]

I used to wear ds in a ring sling all. the. time when we went out to eat. Usually he would bf & then fall asleep for most of the meal. We went out to eat about once a week when he was little (we were living somewhere with great restaurants). It got a bit harder when he was about 4-6 months 'cause he wasn't as content to stay quietly in the sling when I was sitting & was really grabby. But once he could sit in a highchair & eat it got easy again.

We used a bucket seat in a restaurant once. It was a pain 'cause I ended up putting him in the sling anyway & we had the seat to slug around.

The hard part is not dropping food on the baby!

[Liquesce]

I still really prefer the bucket seat while eating out with an infant, personally. : But it does depend more on what's going to make the baby content.

[Adasmommy]

I wore my baby in a wrap while eating out and it was SO convenient! My hands were free to use silverware, baby was content (eating or sleeping). Super easy!

I did have to pay some extra attention to not dropping food on the baby

Later, when the baby was older and not so easily content when sitting still, I'd have her wrapped up unless or until she got fussy--then we'd take turns holding her, passing her around. I don't remember it being a problem.

We've also used our wrap as a seatbelt for the wooden restaurant high chair

[prothyraia]

We would just wear the baby at restaurants most of the time (unless he wanted to get out and look around more).

Be prepared to dust crumbs off their heads, though. :

[akat]

Ofttimes my son would fall asleep on the way to the restaurant, in which case I'd take him in the bucket and hope he stayed asleep while I ate. If he was awake, I'd put him in the sling.

[GreenGranolaMama]

I am with you in terms of leaving the car seat in the car- DS is almost 5 months old and I wear him pretty much everywhere, including eating out. We've seen couples set the car seat down on the floor next to the table (or resting atop a highchair) - our main concern is some one tripping over or spilling hot food onto our lo. I do get crumbs or ice cream on him now and then but I brush them off/wash the mei tai and he doesn't seem to mind!

[ChetMC]

No Bucket

I have always worn our kids while eating out... until they could sit in somebody's lap or in a highchair at least.

Our kids have had a lot of crumbs and condiments dropped on them but they're okay.

[batsister]

Our son is 8 weeks old, and I usually hold him in the sling when we eat out. We also have a stroller that lays all the way flat (we have a convertible carseat, so no bucket seat), and he has slept in that once or twice as we ate, but he's usually sleeping/eating in the sling, or just being held by someone else.

[littlemizflava]

i always had my kids in a sling/carrier, in arms or on my lap while i ate. this goes for at home as well as out. i always have had the thinking that meals are a family time so they have always been at the table from day one.

[tessie]

Babywearing whilst sitting does not work for us. Well, I don't mind but she objects loudly! As a tiny she was happiest either in the pram (if asleep) or being held. As a bigger baby she is happiest either in a highchair or on someone's lap.

I have one of those cloth chair things that fits over a normal chair which is invaluable as not everywhere has a highchair (or one with working straps).

[Carrruth]

I always ate with my LO in a carrier... still do sometimes, although now she grabs my food! When she got older, we let her sit in the high chair at the restaurant, but she was happy to be in the carrier when she was little. And she did get lots of food on her head, but it comes off!

[woodchick]

We've done sling, wrap, meitai, bucket, stroller, laps, highchair... and sometimes more than one during a single meal.

My best advice? Be prepared to be flexible and always sit at a table and never a booth. You'll have more options that way.

[Nicole730]

We wore or carried DS at restaurants. The hardest age was about 5 month when he wasn't ready to sit in a high chair, but wanted to grab everything! Even now, at 16 months, he usually starts out in the high chair, but ends up in our lap.

I only brought in the car seat a few times and every time I ended up regretting it. I love carrying my baby, but hate having the car seat in the other hand.

[ASusan]

Ergo on the front while eating out, most often. I could even do the prep at the Mongolian Bar-B-Que.

Worked until he got too tall - and I couldn't eat over him!

[pumpkin]

We used the bucket once when DD was asleep on arrival. Then she woke up and I used the ring sling. At 6 months she now just sits on my lap unless she is sleepy.
We always get a table, not a booth so there is room to sit a little further back. I tried a booth with DD in a ring sling and there was no chance we would fit.

[baturay]

Well, it'll really depends on the baby. For my first two, I was able to always wear them when eating out (until they were old enough for high chairs and even then I still wore them). Then came my third. Totally different ball game. He's just 6 mos old and the boy does not sit still. He jumps in the carrier and grabs anything in sight and toys do not entertain him when there's my fork, my food, my plate, my napkin...So, for him, I bought this cheap, but in good condition, infant carseat to use just at the restaurant. We (my family) probably look really funny when we walk in the restaurant. I wear him in and my husband carries the empty carseat. But, I'm so happy! I get to finish my meal. Though, with three kids under 4, our restaurant meals don't usually last more than 30-45 minutes! LOL I put baby in the carseat next to me once my food is in front of me, so that I can maximize the amount of time I have to eat.

[Maluhia]

We did both.

We ate out with M in a sling on me but since we had the bucket if she was already asleep I'd leave her in it until she woke up.

[Gnatty]

Originally Posted by littlemizflava

i always had my kids in a sling/carrier, in arms or on my lap while i ate. this goes for at home as well as out. i always have had the thinking that meals are a family time so they have always been at the table from day one.

This is what we did as well for the most part. We never had the easily detachable bucket seat, anyway, so it was a giant pain to unbuckle and buckle it back in.

Plus if you're eating dinner, you know the baby will want to have some dinner too. :