HOT TIPS FOR EATING OUT WITH KIDS SIZE SMARTS
Taking your kids out for dinner can often seem like more trouble than it’s worth. They don’t sit still, don’t like the food options, and can ruin the experience for other diners.
But eating out can also be a great learning experience. Your kids will get to practise their table manners, build their social skills and experience new foods and settings. Here’s some tips for making it a pleasant rather than punishing experience:
• Book a table, because no-one wants to queue with kids. And choose places that are casual and buzzy so your kids can be kids.
• Go for lunch rather than dinner. Kids are often tired later in the day. Also book earlier than you’d normally eat to allow for your order to be cooked.
• Check whether the restaurant is equipped for and welcoming of kids. Do they have highchairs, colouring pencils and child-sized cutlery? Jamie Oliver also suggests looking at menus online before you go, so you can place your order faster.
• Don’t just take the easy option and order the usual from the kids’ menu. Order some side dishes or ask if the restaurant will do a child-size portion of a main meal. That said, if they’ll only eat dishes they know, go with whatever makes it a pleasant experience for everyone.
• Don’t assume you can take your stroller in. Most restaurants do not have space and the stroller can inhibit staff doing their jobs.
• Choose interactive experiences like teppanyaki, Korean barbecue, or sushi trains, so kids don’t only experience new cuisines, but you can chat to them about the cooking styles.
• Take a few small toys with you, but try to avoid electronic devices. Better to keep the meal short and sweet, and chat to your kids, than drag it out and have to entertain them with tech.
• Chat – about the menu, the staff, the table setting, the view... Tell your kids stories of memorable meals you’ve enjoyed, and that time your dad ended up with his dinner in his lap. Dining out should be fun, not stressful.
• Clear the table of anything breakable like salt and pepper shakers or delicate glassware.
• Create traditions. There may be a place that does an amazing ice-cream sundae that you return to on special occasions.
• If your child is not handling the experience and is disrupting others, take him or her outside. Be prepared to abandon the meal.
• If all else fails, and you have to bail, get your meal as a takeaway and make a picnic on the floor at home – and be upbeat about trying again another time! The size of a mother’s nipples does not affect her ability to breastfeed, according to new research. While previous studies have implied babies can struggle to ‘latch on’ if a mother has large nipples, a University of Queensland study found variations in areola width did not impact their function.