Hellobee Boards

We have this down to a science, since I love to go out to eat

*We get a highchair or booster, disposable placemats from Target or our rubber placemat from Babies R Us (suction cups, so it doesn't work on all tables). This prevents the table licking and I feel less guilty with the clean up since he can be quite messy.

*I keep a little tub full of rice puffies- these are his appetizer while we order and wait for food. Keeps him busy for a while.

*We also have a sippy cup or give him water with straws, this can buy us 5-10 minutes.

*We have a couple plastic bath time toys that I just keep in the diaper bag all the time. These usually keep him busy until our food comes, then I chop if needed and scoop some of whatever we are eating onto his placemat and let him feed himself.

*When all else fails, I keep a mesh baby feeder in the diaper bag and put ice cubes in it for him to suck on. I have never seen this one fail to keep him happy.

@caffeinated: just remember, sometimes you have good meals and other times not-so-much. I can think of some doozies, but we just keep trying and most of the time he is just fine! We go out to eat about 3x per week, at 11.5 months we are still figuring out tricks to keep him happy.

Table toppers, toys, purée pouches, Zoli with water and puffs. She also eats what we eat!

LO is 17 months. Now we bring the reusable placemat, sippy of milk and/or water, and a bib, and her purse full of toys.

But at that age it was a whole different ball game. I think when she was on purees we just fed her at home before we left because it was easier. I made her food and this way I didn't have to worry about heating it up, food going bad, etc. She wasn't ever very interested in purees so it wasn't a huge deal. Then I would always try to order something soft for her to try if I could at the restaurant, like mashed potatoes or applesauce.

Food, we bring snack foods that he doesn't have anywhere else. We also bring some toys I got these great finger puppets from amazon for $5 and they can entertain for a while. We did the placemat thing for a while but it was too hard for us. There are disposable bibs you can get and wear. Another thing that really worked for us is I would nurse him (this could be replaced with a bottle as well) while waiting for the food to come. It entertained both of us.

We eat out a lot with L and we've been on vacation for the past month pretty much so we've definitely had more meals out than in. She only likes to be held (no high chair or stroller... sigh) so one of us is usually holding her during the entire meal. I used to worry about bringing her own food, but last month, I started feeding her whatever we were eating (within reason, of course) and it's been so much easier. One of us always orders something that she can eat, too. I always carry around a couple Earth's Best or Plum Organics fruit/veggie puree pouches - those work so well in a pinch, when there's nothing suitable for her to eat. I'll also give her puffs or crackers to entertain her. Spoons (especially the Asian soup spoons) do wonders to keep her entertained