Seating for a 6-month old in restaurants

[riggins]

Hi Gang-
We're going down in October and DD2 will be 6 months old. What have you guys done with babies this age in restaurants? DD1 was 9 months on her first trip and sat just fine in the restaurant high chairs, but I'm not sure that they will work so well for DD2 at 6 months. I'm not sure if she will be sitting up well enough for one of those. I really don't want to have to lug around the big infant carrier/stroller system, but I don't want to hold her in all the restaurants either. What have you guys done?

Thanks

 

[BevS97]

we are taking our 4 month old in December, and I have asked this question too. I have been told that if it's quiet you can often take the stroller into the restaurant if you have a non-sitting baby, and that some restaurants have special high-chairs for infants (with a car seat type of seat), but I also expect we will have to hold him/her sometimes. I think we will take a sling as that should make it easier.

We will be using our travel system, although I am not planning on taking the carseat into the parks every day, but if we know we have a meal planned, then we may bring the carseat in for that meal and then stash it in a locker.

I am trying to remember when my dd started sitting comfortably in a high chair and i think it was right around 6 months. I know we used a plastic insert for a month or so, so make the seat a little smaller, and we used to put that in our diaper bag and take it out with us to restaurants. I don't know if you can get anything similiar in the USA, it was just a padded insert like this
the direct link doesn't work, so I've taken it back to the homepage, the item code is M5388.

someone else also said they took a reclining booster seat, but they are so bulky that I think that would only really work if you were driving to a resort restaurant, I don't think you could carry one around a park all day

Bev

 

[kaseyC]

Our youngest will be 4 mos on our trip. Since we will have her carrier/ car seat we will use that at the resort restaurants. At other places we will hold her or use the stroller. We have found from past trips that if the child is sleeping and there is enough space they will sometimes allow you to bring a stroller in.

 

[bartleby1]

I had an insert that you could use in a shopping cart or high chair to help them when they still aren't sitting up that well. It was made of cloth and had a strap that went through the legs and then went around the babys waist, through the back of the high chair or shopping cart, and velcroed. I didn't work fantastic, but it definitely made it do-able. The one I had needed to be a bit longer because often it wouldn't fit around a larger cart or chair. I've had it for years and it was a gift so I don't know where to buy one now.

Check the baby stores, or maybe onestepahead.com for something similar. Otherwise, you can alway stuff blankets, jackets, etc, around the baby to help prop her up.

 

[riggins]

Thanks so much for all the ideas.

Bartleby, I found something at One Step Ahead that sounds similar to what you had . . . here's the link http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=31&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=117&iSubCat=15&iProductID=31 The first picture is convusing because the item blends in with the boy's clothes. The detailed pictures show it much better. Is this similar to what you used?

I may wait a couple more months and see how she is doing sitting up, but something like this or Bev's highchair insert might do the trick.

 

[bartleby1]

Mine was something like that one from onestepahead, but mine was two separate pieces. The waste strap wasn't nearly as wide as the one in that picture, but it seems like the same kind of idea and should help. I was so glad when my kids were out of that in between stage when they were not in the infant carrier but really couldn't sit up by themselves yet either. I remember stuffing thick rolls of paper towels on both sides of my son to keep him upright in the shopping cart when I went to the supermarket. He would always end up ripping the packages open so I had to buy paper towels every shopping trip whether I needed them or not, lol! I had a pretty good stash for a while

Good luck! I'm sure it will work out!

 

[nisiemouse]

Riggins:
I sent you a pm.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I brought DS at 4 mos. Some restaurants allowed us to bring in our stroller if DS was sleeping. It was a smaller lightweight stroller. I think every restaurant had infant highchairs.

 

[stacy6552]

go get the baby trend carseat stroller frame. it should run you about 40-60 bucks and come with a great basket underneath.

If your baby seat is evenflo if will fit into their wooden high chairs. if you have a different kind, simply turn the highchair upside down and fit the seat into the base.

 

[crusoe2]

We were just there a few weeks ago with our 6 mo. old and had the same concern. We ate at LTT, Rainforest Cafe and ABC Commissary and were able to take her stroller in at all of them. The meal at LTT was planned in advance so when I made the PS I asked about bringing in the stroller. They noted it on our PS and we had no problem. The other restaurants were spur of the moment choices but again we had no problems. Hope this helps.

 

[Bird-Mom]

Originally posted by stacy6552
If your baby seat is evenflo if will fit into their wooden high chairs. if you have a different kind, simply turn the highchair upside down and fit the seat into the base.

Please do not turn the highchair upside down! This is very dangerous and not what the highchair was made for. In fact, there is a warning label on the chair to not do this. When we ate at Boma one night, the manager had to tell a family not to do this. If someone bumps the chair, you could have a serious injury on your hands.

Try holding the baby in a sling while you eat.

 

[dcgrumpy]

That's why I love my Evenflo carseat.

 

[Jacksmom99]

Many of the restaurants now have higchairs that will convert to fit the baby carriers. Last year we took DD 3mo and in over half of the restaurants they had the newer kind of high chairs...no worry about knocking them over.