Eating Out with Baby: Tips for Less Stress

Eating Out with Baby: Tips for Less Stress

November 22nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

When you first bring your baby to a restaurant at a young age, chances are she will simply fall asleep in her car seat while you eat. But as baby grows, dining out can become a bigger hassle than it’s worth. If you don’t want to give up on restaurant dining, you can still enjoy a meal out without major stress if you go prepared and make a few adjustments to your usual routine.

Choose Your Destination Wisely

Unfortunately, now that you are a parent, some restaurants are probably not a good choice unless you leave the baby at home with a sitter. While most restaurants are somewhat child-friendly and offer high chairs, there are some choices that are better than others. You have every right to have your child in a restaurant, but just as you would expect consideration from other diners, you need to give the same consideration.

Choose a restaurant where you won’t be the only one with a child and aren’t likely to disturb anyone attempting to have a quiet night out. With plenty of family restaurants in all types of cuisine available to choose from, it’s not hard to find a place where your baby will be welcome even if she is a bit on the noisy side.

Restaurants that are accustomed to serving families will also have staff prepared for the special pleasure of having a baby at the table. They will have plenty of high chairs, not mind a little mess, and even offer entertainment options for little ones such as crayons.

Feed Baby First

Depending on how old your baby is, odds are you won’t be ordering baby food from the menu, so there is no real reason for her to wait to eat. When you are seated and have placed your order, go ahead and feed your baby so that she won’t be hungry and therefore fussy. If you are ordering something off the menu for baby, put the order in as soon as you arrive and request that they bring it out as soon as it’s ready.

Reserve some small finger foods or snacks to offer to baby while you are eating in order to keep her occupied, but offer the bulk of her meal early on so that she will be full and satisfied.

Keep Baby Entertained

Showing up at a restaurant without anything to occupy your baby is a recipe for disaster. Keep a variety of toys on hand so that you can dole them out slowly as they are needed. Toys that can be attached to the high chair or table to avoid having to pick them up from the floor repeatedly are a good idea. Keep some toys that are only for eating out so that your baby will be excited to see them and they aren’t old news. It might mean carrying a lot of stuff around, but if the payoff is a relatively peaceful meal, it’s well worth it.

Remember that eating out with a baby will never be quite the same experience that it was before you became a parent. It’s a little more rushed, a little louder and a little messier than it was before. You can still enjoy eating at a restaurant, however, if you go in prepared and are able to take a little chaos in stride.

Tips for Safer Finger Foods

Tips for Safer Finger Foods

September 27th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Babies have a wonderful time learning to self-feed with finger foods, but there are a number of risks associated with finger foods. Follow this checklist for finger food safety to avoid putting your child at risk of choking.

Cook It Very Well

Adults prefer their vegetables with a little bit of crunch and their pasta al dente, but for a baby to eat these foods they must be a lot softer than how you might serve it on your own plate. Foods like peas, diced carrots, green beans, kernel corn, and potatoes all make excellent choices for finger foods, but need to be cooked until they are very soft. Gently squeeze a piece of the food between your thumb and forefinger. It should require very little force to break the piece down. Although this will also mean that your baby may accidentally crush it before getting it to her mouth, it’s better than trying to dislodge it from her airway. Pasta should also be cooked until it is very soft. Small pieces of meat can be served as finger food, but must be cooked until they are very tender.

Place the baby food in your mouth, and see how easily you can crush it without using your teeth. This is a good test of how well your baby will be able to mash it with her gums.

Cut It Small

Bites of finger foods should be small enough that they won’t become lodged in your baby’s throat, causing choking. Never serve baby a round food without cutting it up further. This applies to foods such as hot dogs, grapes, and other similarly shaped foods. Cheese is also a common choking hazard; cut it into small strips rather than chunks or cubes. Shredded cheese is a great idea for babies, but use shredder with large holes to make pieces big enough to grasp.

Serve It Slowly

Babies don’t always wait until they have swallowed before shoving more food in, which can cause choking due to too much food being in the mouth at once. Place only a few bites at a time in front of your baby to reduce the likelihood that he will cram too much into his mouth. Watch carefully, and remind him to chew and swallow before taking another bite.

Only At the Table!

Don’t let your baby run around with finger foods, or even crawl if he isn’t walking yet. Serve finger foods only at the table or in the high chair, where your baby will be focused on what he is doing and not on the move. Running with food in his mouth will increase the chances of food accidentally entering the airway rather than being swallowed. Keep feeding times calm and relaxed to make sure your baby eats at a reasonable pace.

Test It Before You Serve It

Just as you tested how cooked a food is with your fingers or mouth, you should test any new food you are thinking of offering to baby as a finger food. Make sure that your baby is capable of gumming the food, bearing in mind that he doesn’t have the molars to chew that you have. Even if you think it looks soft enough, it’s best to try it yourself. It also carries the bonus of checking cooked food for appropriate temperature.

Preparing Baby for Solids

Preparing Baby for Solids

September 14th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

Every baby is just a little different as to when exactly they will be ready for solids. There is really nothing that can be done to quicken the process, because it requires the proper physical and cognitive development, and that will come only with time. There are some things you can do, however, to set the stage for your baby’s transition into the world of solid baby foods.

Bring Baby to the Table

Letting your baby join the family at the table for meals has many benefits. It will make your baby feel like part of the family, as well as allowing older siblings to feel that the baby is becoming a more active participant in family life. It will also give your baby an opportunity to observe and take in everything that is going on at the table.

Babies learn a lot by watching and imitating. Giving your baby the chance to watch how the older members of the family use utensils, chew, and swallow their food will give baby his first glimpse into what eating is, and how it is done. Simply pull baby’s high chair up to the table; or, if you really want him to feel a part of things, choose the type of high chair that straps on to a regular chair. Since baby isn’t eating yet, the tray won’t be necessary, which will allow him to be pulled even closer to the action.

Having baby at the table will give you an opportunity to watch for all of the signs of readiness for solids. You can observe how well he sits in his high chair, how stable his head is, and how much interest he shows in the process of eating. One of the important signs of readiness is when baby reaches for your food, and being at the table will allow him to display this sign and allow you to see it.

Give Baby a Spoon

Although the ability to hold a spoon doesn’t mean your baby is ready for solids – it will be a long time yet before she can feed herself in any real way – letting her hold a spoon and play with it will familiarize her with it. The opportunity to play with a spoon and also watch others at the table eating with one will help baby to make the connection. Give her a baby spoon that you plan to use when you do start solids, so she won’t be surprised by the appearance of something new and unfamiliar when the day comes.

Watch your baby for signs of imitating your eating behaviors. When she starts to bring the spoon to her mouth as though she is eating, this is a sign she might be getting ready to give solids a try. Don’t confuse this gesture with simply chewing on the spoon though! Especially if your baby is teething, the spoon will be a tempting object to chew on, and this doesn’t necessarily indicate readiness to start solids.

The AAP recommends starting solids at around 6 months old, but your baby may not yet be ready. Give her time to develop all of the physical skills needed to start eating new foods, and don’t push if baby isn’t ready. Instead, just introduce her to the idea of eating solids, and move on when she shows all the signs of being ready.

How to Buy a Good, Safe High Chair, Feeding Spoon, Bibs, etc

How to Buy a Good, Safe High Chair, Feeding Spoon, Bibs, etc

February 22nd, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments

When it comes to baby gear, especially baby food and safety related items, a spur of the moment decision should be avoided. Check reviews and always consider the safety aspects of feeding items as your child will be spending a great deal of time over the next years in the high chair – you want to be sure you have a safe one.

The High Chair

A high chair should be sturdy, well constructed and easy to clean. One of the hidden dangers of many high chairs is the amount of food that gets trapped under frills and flounces and encourages bacteria growth. Fashion should be a final consideration when it comes to a high chair with safety and ease of use coming in first and second respectively.

Safe High Chairs

The safest high chairs offer multiple levels of restraint. This means that your baby might be strapped with the safety straps around the legs, and then further prevented from movement by a t-shaped opening at the legs. When the tray is snapped on, she should be good and trapped. This seems outlandish when you first put your six month old in the high chair for a bite of carrots. But a toddler in a high chair can be a recipe for injury or at least disaster if he is able to get lose and climb or fall down when you turn to refill his plate.

A safe high chair also has a wide base which keeps the high chair from tipping. Again the active toddler can rock until he falls in a flimsy high chair or he might pull it on top of himself if he attempts to climb. A safe high chair also allows for easy cleaning to prevent trapped food and the growth of bacteria. Fluffy cloth covers and deep grooves make cleaning a high chair difficult.

The tray on a high chair is one of the most critical parts for keeping your baby in the right position and for properly displaying food. If possible, consider a high chair with a removable tray insert that you can wash in the dishwasher for sterilization after meals. This will also help with cleaning the chair. The tray should lock on strongly and not be knocked loose with an enthusiastic kick. A one-handed release is a nice feature as well when trying to handle multiple things at meal-time.

Longevity

A high chair is a large piece of baby gear, and ideally you can use it for a long time. To do so, however, you’ll need to find a high-chair that is versatile. Look for a deep reclining feature. While your child should be able to sit up to eat, you can use the high chair well before this point to offer your baby a higher view of the world around her. As your baby grows, you should be able to tip the seat back up and adjust the straps and tray to fit his growing body. A portable high chair can help you when it comes time to travel or just eat away from home, but never trade portability for safety.

Other Meal Equipment

Other meal items such as utensils, bibs and dishes should be purchased with safety and cleanliness in mind. Buy dishes that are sturdy enough to be thrown on a tile floor time and time again and utensils should be suited for small hands and mouths. Metal utensils pose more risk than plastic, so you may opt to save metal utensils for the toddler years.

All baby food items should be microwave and dishwasher safe to give you increased options for cleaning and sterilizing the items after every meal. Bibs should be made of a material that can be easily washed. Wash bibs after each use and if you use a plastic bib, use a mild detergent and a piece of clean cloth to wipe it off – a dishrag can introduce germs and other forms of bacteria.