Baby food

With the impending birth of our first child, and my bi-weekly gig as a restaurant reviewer for CBC, it suddenly dawned on me the other day that just popping out to a restaurant is not going to be as easy as it once was… I’ve been mulling this over for a week or so now. Seems like I’m not the only one.

Since food is obviously such a big part of my life, and my husband’s life, I can’t imagine not wanting to share that with the Bambino. I’d love for him to learn to enjoy a good meal and a pleasant eating experience. I am not inclined at all to limit what I eat while breastfeeding. I couldn’t imagine cutting garlic out of my diet! What would I eat? I doubt very much that the Thai, or Greek or Italian women do. Besides, how is Bambino going to get to appreciate all sorts of flavours unless he gets to try them from the start?

Despite these intentions to expose him to the wonderful world of flavours and textures, That doesn’t solve my restaurant dining dilemma. Of course I can feed him those things at home just as easily as at a restaurant, but I’d love for him to be able to experience all different kinds of dining.

I continually pray that he will be like the “easy baby” some of our friends had – they would just bring him along in his “baby bucket” and plonk him on the floor. He’d snooze all the way through dinner. Even when he got to be a toddler, he was introspective, sat quietly and ate a little of everything that mum and dad did. There was no screaming or running or throwing or tantrums.

Knowing my husband’s childhood history, and obviously my own, I have serious doubts that Bambino will be such an easy baby, even when he’s small. Colicky is the word that springs to mind. Other words are tornado, disaster, “shhhhhhh!”, “sorry, I’ll pay for that” and “I think we should leave….”.

I’ve never really had a firm opinion on the topic of kids in restaurants. In my mind the appropriateness varies with the type of restaurant, age and type of kid, and type of parenting. Without having met Bambino yet, I can’t really assess what factors 2 and 3 might turn out to be, so that kind of leaves me in the dark (except at the extreme casual end) of factor 1. Can you say “99 cent pasta at Ikea”?

While I agree that there is a certain calibre of high-end dining that children under the age of say 7 or 8 should not go to, and then only if dressed in a cute miniature shirt and tie. What about everything else? There’s a great deal of room between the Ikea cafeteria and the dining room at the Hardware Grill. If, by some stroke of luck, we do manage to have a well-behaved child, why shouldn’t I be able to bring him out for dinner?

Better yet, any parents out there have any tips for getting, shame-free, through a dining experience with children in tow? Is crying okay (baby or parent?)? How much crying? Breastfeeding? Wriggling? Ages 0 to 9 months but not 9 months to 2 years?

If you say I’m stuck with Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry sauce, I’ll cry.

Comments

[John]

Hi Lyn. Congrats! The truth is... some restaurants are kid-friendly and some aren't.
Our customers have been very accomodating to parents.

Advice? come early evening, mid-afternoon,
brunch. Come with toys! You and your baby deserve it.

[Ange]

Hi, Good Luck is all I can say! I have a 6 week old who is pretty good but I find this early she does not want to stay still while we eat so so far we have only ventured out for lunch or brunch & always sit outside where we can get up & do a quick walk down the street with the pram to quieten her down if she starts to cry! So my tip is to ease your bub into it as we have done

[Christopher Thrall]

Hi, Lyn - congrats on joining us toddler-toting foodies! I run the Dish section in Vue Weekly - I have since my first was six months old. She devours Greek, Thai, Ethiopian and Spanish with equal gusto! They'll eat off your plate until they're two or so.

You'll develop your own strategies, of course, but here are a few tips that I found work well.

1. Go early. Brunches are sometimes OK, but a 5:30 seating resolves a lot of crowd-density and booth-availability issues. Plus, the sprog likes eating early.
2. Bring diversions (this is more important as the child ages) - more places than you'd expect have the basic paper-menu-and-crayon offerings, but have a couple of toys and books on hand.
3. Tip well. (Like any of us need to be reminded of that.)

Breast feeding is perfectly fine, as is a quick trip outside to calm a particularly fussy moment. We try to be very aware of the people around us and not impinge on their dining pleasure.

However, as we ventured deeper into the terrible two's (and now, coming up, the nightmarish three's), we found our restaurant selection varying. An infant is fine in the carrier or a sling at the finest places (we took our second in her sling to the Sutton Place for Valentine's Day), but when they start walking, consider alternatives.

I find that small, family-run places (especially ethnic cuisine) are generally very welcoming. My favourites are Sit and Chat, Los Andes and Yeti Gourmet in Beaumont. Big box chains are always safe, if less interesting for foodies - go for East Side Mario's or Cheesecake Cafe.

The only ones to avoid are the fine dining or hot date vanues: I'd skip the Creperie, Culina and Characters until you know your offspring well enough to know their behaviour.

I can't wait to see how your reviewing changes after the arrival, Lyn. Enjoy every moment.

[junglegirl]

Wow, congratulations on your coming arrival! I've been reading your site and checking out the archives for a few months. I've got to pass on to you a site I've just found that you might like now that you will be parenting! It's so hilarious that I read it even though I have no plans for children. www.amalah.com. Enjoy!

[junglegirl]

Oh, also, if you don't already have one, a Vita-mix blender makes excellent homemade babyfood from anything in about 3 seconds and is the fastest cleanup for a kitchen utensil I've ever encountered.

[T MAh]

Hey we could get your food reviews on take out!!!

[Laurie]

Congrats!

We only have one 6 year old little girl but in my experience, if you start from when they are very young (ours was 4 days old for her first dining excursion), they will generally understand the expectations of eating out.

I was never one for breast feeding in public but you start to 'know' all of the restaurants in town. There was many a time that you could find me breastfeeding with a glass of wine in hand sitting in a big armchair in the bathroom at the downtown Joey's!

We certainly started to flock to certain restaurants, especially for weeknight dinners (we probably eat out 2 to 5 times a week depending on our schedules). Earls and Joey's were good, convenient options (we both work downtown) for a little one - the servers were absolutely marvelous! We actually kept in contact with many of them over time. For a while, our daughter was actually on the training program at Joey's! (Small, blonde curly haired little girl looooooves m&m's...) Tip REALLY well, write letters of commendation when it is deserved - it will pay off.

Always have a back up plan. NO crying allowed. It's just not fair to the other diners unless you are in a 'family' restaurant, which we almost never go to. We once took her to Characters when she was about 3 months - Grandma had to make an emergency pick up that time.

Now that she's 6, you'll regularly see us at Koutouki, Normands, Il Portico, Piccolino's... Number one rule - do not expect the restaurant to cater to your child. You must adapt your behaviour and your child's to the environment of the restaurant. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how wonderful a restaurant can be if you are not expecting it!

[Pam]

Hearty congratulations! Welcome to the boat. I'm quoted in that NP article, but I thought of you all the while. I have a 14 month old son. Quite a few months back we worked from your brunch list and tried to hit Rick'n'Alice's for some serious benny. No change table, no dice. Watch out! :)

Breast milk comes from your bloodstream, so anything that goes in there (caffeine, alcohol, the green from lettuce) can transfer. Never worry about "gassy foods" unless you're Ms Allergic already.

[Rachael]

A thousand congrats to you both! What wonderful news!

As for the food, just go to eat early. You dont even have to think about it really, since the logic will be that you will have to be home early anyway, right?

And read about nut allergies, peanuts in particular. While eating what you want makes total sense, its certainly easy enough to avoid things (high mercury fish?) that can cause troubles, right?

Best wishes, much love,
Rachael

[Smita]

Congratulations!!!

Oh - do take the baby everywhere! S/he will develop an adventurous palate! Fellow eaters will likely adore the little one. Some restaurants may be over stimulation for the baby - too much light and noise, especially if the baby is tired but other ones may be just right. Wonderful way to introduce new sights, sounds and faces. Just my two cents!

Smita