The last couple times we've taken my LOs (14 months) out to eat, our waiters have asked if I wanted a children's menu for them. They have been delayed in moving entirely to solids (although they do very well now) and are still iffy about certain textures. I usually bring food for them (as clean of items as I can - like plain noodles, cheese, Cheerios, peas, so we don't make a huge mess), but do you think it's rude not to buy them food from the menu at this age? They've never eaten things like chicken nuggets or hamburgers, but they will eat peanut butter sandwiches and steamed veggies which I know are on the children's menu at the restaurant we frequent. We're going out for dinner tonight... Would you feel obligated to order something from the menu or just keep packing a meal for them? When did you make the switch for your LO?
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She's almost 2 and I still don't usually order stuff from the children's menu for her. DH and I usually just share our meals with her.
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We started at like 12 months. But she was eating all solids at that point. If we thought that she would eat something we were going to order then we would just give her part of ours. But usually we order her a meal and she gets the leftovers the next day for lunch or dinner.
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We do it about half the time with my 20 month old. Depends on what it is, whether I think she will eat what DH or I ordered, whether DH and I are sharing or not. I don't think it's rude not to order something for them.
From my experience (as a waitress and as a guest) a lot of waitstaff are pretty young and have no idea how old kids are or when they start doing stuff. I've had hostesses ask if my 4 month old needed a kids menu.
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C is almost 2 and we still bring food for her and give her some of our meals. I was wondering at what point I should start ordering for her. The thing with the kids menu is most of the time it's just really overpriced unhealthy food... I usually bring pouches and cheese for her so it won't make a mess at least. C also won't eat sandwiches or pizza so many of the kids menu items wouldn't work for her anyway (though she would eat chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese I'm sure).
I was thinking more like 3 or 4 is when it just gets to be wrong but maybe it's earlier?
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@mrs.shinerbock: also sometimes the kids menu is something they can color on. C will color or ask me to draw on the menu even if I don't order from it.
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It depends on where we are. Sometimes we just share our food with DD but sometimes we do order her a meal. We started ordering around 12 mos
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I would love to be able to order off the kids menu for my 18mo DS - or even to share my restaurant food with him but sadly he is too picky. So I always bring stuff - pouches, sandwiches, fruit etc. I've never felt that the staff minded.
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We share our meals with our two year old still. We have ordered stuff for her before, but she ends up eating off our plates still.
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@Foodnerd81: yeah most of it isn't healthy, but a lot of places have apple slices or other fruit, so we get that for her. She is so picky. I am dieting so eating a lot of salads and there is NO way she will eat any of it. I try every time to get her to try one bite.
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Pretty sure we were ordering him food around 18 months. 9/10 times, it's off the kids' menu.
Before D was eating, I swore I wouldn't order food off the kids' menu and he'd just eat whatever we're eating. I was so sure he'd be a good eater, and I didn't want MY kid to be one who lives off of standard kid food "junk." Fast-forward to my 2yo picky eater, and guess what - he gets chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, or hot dogs when we go out. Whatever. It may not be overtly nutritionAL, but it's nutrition. And sorry but I'm not paining my ass to pack a sandwich for him every time we go out. He likes chicken nuggets. They're protein. Win.
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I didn't start until closer to two (or it might have been after 2, I can't remember). Before that I would just ask for an extra plate and split some of my food with him.
The servings are so big and eating out gets expensive. *shrug* gotta do what you gotta do.
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We order when there are options for kids. Usually one kids meal for both LOs. I think we started around 18-24 months?
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We started ordering LO her own meal sometime after she turned 1 – counting leftover, it often ends up being 2 meals for her, so the price isn’t so bad that way.
Another thought, if you don’t want to order a kid’s meal is to look at what sides the restaurant offers to order al la carte. A lot of places offer like steamed broccoli/other veggies, roasted potatoes, etc. and if your LO eats those, that’s a good size for them (plus a bit of your food, or food brought from home).
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At about 9 months. T has always been an excellent eater and went fully to finger foods at 8 months. We were on vacation with my mom and out to eat, and she said, "What are you ordering for T?" I just looked at her. I thought he was too young. I always Gave him little bubbles of ours or packed him some snacks in advance. But we ordered him a dish from the kids menu and cut it up into bite size pieces and he happily ate along with us. We used a table mat then. But now he's big enough to eat out of a plate and not pull the plate into the floor. Lol
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Around 2.5 or so I noticed that I didn't get to eat much if I didn't order something extra for LO. I started out ordering him a healthier appetizer or salad, because a full meal was too much. I don't think it's a problem or rude to bring food for a child who is still quite young (maybe 4 and under?).
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We very rarely order off a "traditional" children's menu for her. She's always shared our food or now we would order an extra appetizer or menu item for her.
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We do a bit of both. Mostly she shares with me, but if there is pasta on the kids' menu then I sometimes order her that. She's 2.5 so I don't mind ordering her her own meal, but I find child meals are often burgers, nuggets or pizza and although I wouldn't mind her having them occasionally, she won't eat them so it's just a waste.
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@yoursilverlining: That a good idea. Maybe I'll order them a side of broccoli or a sweet potato and see how that goes.
@littlebug: If I had any confidence they'd eat chicken nuggets or a piece of pizza I'd totally let them! Alice appears to be a fruititarian and Blake only likes fish (weirdo!) so I don't think they'd touch chicken! We're still working on diversity in their diet, haha!
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LO is so picky and won't eat a lot of the stuff on kids menus, so we try to order something off the main menu we can share with her. We recently went to a brunch place and she hates eggs so I ordered a pasta for her... She ate 3 bites.
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@twodoghouse: Ha! Fruitarian always makes me think of Notting Hill. No, I feel you. If D ate absolutely nothing off the kids' menu, that'd be another story. So in your case, yeah, I'd probably be packing food. And to answer your original question, I think it's perfectly acceptable to bring along food no matter how old. You never know if someone has allergies, texture/sensory issues, etc.
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It has only been recently (the past few months) that we've started buying for C off of the kid's menu. He turned 2 this month. I still bring my own food for M who is about a year.
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We do about half of the time now at 20 months. It really depends on what's on the kids menu vs what's on the adult menu and what the portion sizes of the adult meals are.
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We've ordered off the menu for him practically from the beginning (of him fully eating solids). I guess there was a short time when he shared our food, but either he'd end up eating all of my food or want nothing to do with it entirely. And usually we go out to eat because we're out running around or so we get a break from cooking. So it just doesn't really occur to me to bring or make food for him to take with us.
I don't really like a lot of kids menus, but we can usually find him some grilled chicken and fruit. He also loves fish, so I'll order that for him when I can. I don't like his side being french fries, but a lot of places I've been able to order an adult side, like a sweet potato or corn, and give him that instead. I also once was completely dissatisfied with kids menu (Uno's Pizza) and the manager came over and offered to bake him some fish, which DS LOVED.
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Both my LOs are great eaters (variety and quantity). Starting around 1, we would order off the menu (either kids menu or get a side dish for them and supplement from our meals).
Whatever wasn't eaten, would come home for leftovers. I'm pretty picky about where we eat, and most places we'd go with the kids have items like grilled chicken and fruit/veggies on the kids menu.
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I ordered my son a meal when he was about your LOs' age. He shocked me by gobbling up his whole burger and finishing it off with ice cream, I felt bad not taking him out sooner! However he's still at that touchy age and last week he threw his food on the floor. So it probably depends on the kid and their mood.
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@twodoghouse: I definitely don't feel obligated to order her something, and I don't think it's rude to bring food for a toddler to a restaurant. But I usually take into account the extra hassle for the waiter and the extra room we're taking up and leave a big tip - like 20% plus some extra "sorry about the Cheerios on the floor" dollars.
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I don't think it is rude at all to bring your own food. That being said, I'm lazy and started ordering off the kids menu - or ordering a side for her - when she was about 11 or 12 months old. At that age, I could order a side of broccoli or a sweet potato and that was plenty for her in addition to bites from my plate. Now, I usually do a true kids meal like grilled cheese with apples or broccoli.
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We started ordering his own meal around a year I think. He has a pretty good appetite especially if it is not something he frequently gets at home so he usually does a good job eating it then the rest goes home for lunch the next day. I definitely wouldn't feel obligated to order his own meal though, its just our preference so we can order what we like without worrying if he'll eat it.
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We started letting S order for himself when he was 2 1/2. Before that I would just order a side I knew he would eat and give him that. I wouldn't bring my own food to feed them at a restaurant.
One of the restaurants we go to in town here keeps plain cheerios and puffs and stuff on hand to give little guys as "kid appetizers" another includes a "baby side" with each meal if requested (it is mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, or plain rotini noodles). That one gets a LOT of extra business from mommies in my mommy group!
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We always get a menu for him to draw on etc, but even at 2.5 he usually just eats whatever we order! We've ordered off kids' menus a few times, but it's never really worth it!
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DD is 19 months and we've only ordered off the children's menu a handful of times. She doesn't eat much so as long as we're getting good she likes, we just give her some of ours. I do often get her a side of fruit or roasted veggies though.
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We started ordering food for LO around 18 months. I almost always regret ordering from the kids' menu. I've switched to ordering an adult entrée (expecting leftovers) or side dish for her.
If LO wasn't likely to eat much I would not order out of guilt/etiquette. I only order out of self defense since I'm a hungry mama.
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LO is 15 months...I'm not sure exactly when we started ordering for her rahter than just having her eat of our plates, maybe 13 months? Usually it's something that we will also eat since she absolutely will not finish it--like, usually when we eat out it's brunch, so we will order a kid's order of pancakes or french toast. she'll eat a few bites of that, plus some of our food, and we either eat the rest or take it home. And we still give her snacks from the diaper bag until the food comes to keep her from losing her cool while she waits
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Wow our daughter is 4 and there are still frequent times that we do not order her her own meal. She doesn't eat a lot for dinner, so we usually just say that she will be eating off of our plates. She eats like a few bites of protein and some veggies usually. Not worth paying the $5 for a meal! Now that we have two kids, we have started getting a kids meal and letting them split it.
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i dont think its rude if you don't order anythign for them. i always pack fruit for my son because thats they only thing i can always rely on him eating for sure. if there is something on the menu that my husband or i want to eat that my son will eat too then we get that and share with him. if there is nothign on the adult menu that he will eat then i might get him something off the kids menu, but even from the kids menu, its not a guarantee that my son will eat it. usually if i could just get a side of mashed potatoes, fries, rice, or plain pasta then we're good to go. i find that at some places its cheaper to just add a side of one of those items then to get a kids meal which my 2 y/o wouldn't finish anyway.
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We share meals with our older LO (Char is almost 3) but we actually order a kids meal for our son (just turned 1)-- he eats like a tank!
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My son is a pretty big eater, so we frequently order a kid's meal for him. We probably started around one. Sometimes we just order an extra side or appetizer or share our food, because he won't eat chicken nuggets and I hate the idea of paying for plain pasta at a restaurant. He's easy to feed though. I'd probably decide based on whether your kids will eat the menu options and/or are likely to eat enough to need a meal. I don't think it's rude to bring food for them to eat, especially when they are so young.
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I don't think you HAVE to at this age. I don't and I don't feel badly at all. I do always tip extra for the mess. And we're always out of there fast so at least they can turn the table over.
That being said I only don't order food for her because of her allergies and it is too hard to figure out what is made with/on dairy and soy. If she was fine with those I'd always order for her because it is easier for me! I don't really worry that much about what she likes and what she doesn't like because she is good about trying everything and even though there is a lot she doesn't like, a lot of times if I keep giving it to her she eventually likes it. (But if she doesn't eat anything then I do give her some tried and true stuff at the end of the meal to make sure she doesn't go hungry).
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@yoursilverlining: that's a really good idea - a bowl of broccoli is something my kid would actually eat!
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