Dinner Dining Room with 8 month old?

[brianosaur]

First cruise with baby in a few weeks on NCL. She will be 8.5 months at the sailing and Im wondering about ideas for dining room dinners.

 

We are hoping she'll be sitting up pretty well by then, but Im not sure of ship high chairs. Shes in a Graco padded one now at home, that semi-reclines for her.

 

This is my first 'baby' and my wife has 'baby memory lapse' bc my step son is 18 and in college - so any tips would be great.

 

I guess a late seating is always an option and a sleeping little stroller girl would work.

 

I dont want to do room service.

 

My wife says dont worry about it and, "It will work the way it works" but I dont want to be the annoying couple no one wants to sit near.

 

How has everyone else handled this?

[ata1976]

DS was fine at that age. We brought Puffs to keep him entertained and he ate crackers, plus I had brought his food with him. He wasn't loud or obnoxious at the dinner table. The high chairs are just like the wooden ones at restaurants, but they are plastic. Also bring some small toys to keep the baby entertained.

 

I am more worried about the dinners now that DS is two than I was when he was a baby. Now he wants to get down and walk away.

[cb at sea]

Most of the time, the staff will be wonderful with your baby! Whatever means you need to support her, bring it! No big deal!

[sas80]

It will probably go better than you think it will - we all tend to "worst case" in our imagination.

 

If all else fails you can always go to the windjammer to eat.

[NoelsCat]

Do you happen to go out to eat very often at home? That would probably be a good indicator of what to expect.

 

At 9 months my son was a dream to take out to dinner. If ever he was fussy, etc -- we would simply leave. I think you will fare well with little issues. We used a padded high chair cover -- which will help a lot with the whole sitting up issue, etc. Gerber's wagon wheels, puffs, etc really kept him occupied. On our last cruise, our friends who had their 11 mo old actually brought their small stroller into the dining room with toys, etc to hold their baby. I don't recommend that -- but it did work for them.

 

Good luck-- I am sure you will be fine. A 8.5 mo old is WAY easier than a mouthy toddler. :)

[cruiseman40]

You guys will do just fine. I remember we would have to eat at seperate times often by either me holding the baby while she eats or vice versa. We would take turns and leave the restaurant when my son cries. I would sometimes reschedule their naptime for dinner and make sure I kept him awake prior to dinner and at dinner time he'd be so tired he's out. I also agree to bring toys, food or even COUGH syrup. Have fun!

[ElsieToo]

We did a 10 night cruise with a 9 month old and ate in the dining room every night. We had to take him out a couple of times the last couple of nights, but I think that was a really good record overall. ;)

 

You'll do better than you expect to do. And all those looks you fear getting from fellow passengers? You probably won't even notice many, and those you do will mostly be looks of sympathy as long as it's obvious that you're not letting your child behave obnoxiously without trying to stop it from happening. We were at a table with 5 elderly cruisers and the first night we sat down we could see them exchanging looks that clearly said "uh oh!" but they saw us being attentive with our child and not ignoring his bad behaviour (throwing food, making a mess in general) and trying to correct it and by the end we had several of them asking to take pictures with DS before they left and commenting on how much fun he was to have at the table.

 

I think it's all about respect: you show respect by helping your kids behave properly when you can, and others will respect you for it. :)

[pugparents]

Well, we're going on a cruise in October with our then 6.5 month old, and we will bring the Fisher-Price Rainforest Booster Seat (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2861762). It sits on a normal chair and has straps to keep it in place, and has an insert with toys so he stays occupied while we eat. It also folds up nicely and is very light. It has also gotten great reviews from other parents, and it isn't very expensive ($32).

 

HTH!

[Julienatul]

We took our dd at 7 months old and we just did late seating and did her bedtime routine beforehand and put her to sleep in the stroller, worked like a charm, she never once woke at dinner the entire week and we got to enjoy mommy daddy time without leaving her with anyone. We were of course prepared to leave if she did wake and cry so we wouldnt disturb anyone. I think your little one will be fine too. you could always bring a blanket to put in the back of the highchair to help support and cradle your baby.

[brianosaur]

Thanks for the great advice so far folks.

 

The booster seat looks like a good idea bc it has all the play things on it. The blanket or pillow prop up is a good idea too. And Im glad others have successfully used the asleep in the stroller trick.

 

I was thinking about either the booster seat or the high chair & blanket support. I realized I have one of those shopping cart covers that we havent even used yet.

 

http://www.infantino.com/ShoppingCartCovers/150-778.html#

 

Do you think we can use it a combo of the two?

[Karysa]

No worries with a baby of that age, they will probably be just great and really interested in all of the action. One thing to remember though is tuck them in the inside just incase a waiter has an accident with a tray load of plates!

Karysa

[ElsieToo]

I would actually recommend NOT to bring your own booster seat/blanket insert. Kids that age are very messy eaters and you'll be spending time each night washing all your gear off and having to lug it to and from the dining room when there's no need. The high chairs they (RCI, at least, don't know about the other cruise lines - bet you could post about it though?) provide aren't the the plain wooden frames you see at most restaurants. They provide well structured, supportive full high chairs that will serve you well at that age. The high chairs are available at the buffet and in the dining room. If you're concerned about the quality of the high chairs do a google search for "Rubbermaid High Chair" - that's the kind I saw them using.

 

The only thing I would definitely recommend is to take plastic plate/bowl and spoon for your little one. A baby + breakable china = too much stress! :rolleyes:

[brianosaur]

I would actually recommend NOT to bring your own booster seat/blanket insert. Kids that age are very messy eaters and you'll be spending time each night washing all your gear off

 

I just read this in American Baby Mag (Sept '08 pg 24) and was completely skeeved out.

"70% of shopping carts have fecal bacteria on them.

 

17% of tested restaurant high chairs were contaminated with e-coli and 10% of them had methicillin resistant staph on them"

 

Now that is just plain nasty!

 

 

Well anyway I just exchanged my unused shopping cart cover for this. 3-in-1 cover

 

http://www.infantino.com/ShoppingCartCovers/150-792.html

 

..and Im gonna use it!

[Conrycol]

We had several of our kids on cruises between 7 and 10 months old. We did late seating and gave them a nap before dinner. They would sit in a high chair or a seat that attached to the table. If they started to fuss my wife or I would walk out with them till they quieted down. If they didn't quiet down, the parent sitting at the table would eat and then go and switch with the other. It actually worked out great and we didn't have to leave the tables too often.:)

[tania7424]

I was just going to suggest the Infantino shopping cart/high chair cover! LOL We have one for ds, and it keeps him semi-entertained while waiting for the food to get there. The pillow also helps keep him supported since he doesn't sit fully on his own yet. He'll crawl, but he won't sit. :rolleyes:

 

Anyways, ds will 8 months when we leave at the end of the month on a Coastal on the Golden Princess. We've been taking him out to eat more often here at home. Is your DD eating jarred or table food? Table food it will be easy to keep her entertained. I took ds to IHOP (totally different class of dining, and much faster service, but still good practice) this morning. He was in the high chair cover, and that was ok to keep him entertained while waiting for our food to get there. If he started to get whiny (he is teething so totally understandable), I pulled a toy out of his diaper bag. I had a bunch of Little People, Peek a Blocks, etc stashed in there. Once our food arrived, I just gave him mouthfuls every once in awhile to keep him occupied. DS eats pretty much only table food though. It was the first time he had pancakes (no syrup) and now you mention them and HUGE smiles. I was trying to figure out what to do about breakfast, but now I know I can easily feed him shredded hashbrowns, pancakes, etc off the buffet. He's also a huge fresh fruit fan, though. If you can, I would try getting her used to table food. Less stuff to pack, and easier to keep her entertained at mealtimes.

 

If I get really desperate during the "formal" night (not so formal on a 3 day, I've heard, but still dressy), I'll have a portable dvd player stashed with Backyardigans and Baby Einstein. Some really hate that idea, but it's better than a restless screaming baby. Otherwise we're doing anytime dining. We opted to go with the early sitting for dinner, because it would be at his normal dinner time. But anyways, for ds, as long as he's involved, he loves sitting at the table with everyone. The only time a restaurant was a disaster was when we fed him his own food, waiting for ours. We also take him out of his highchair when we're finished eating, just to give him a little more freedom. He's a baby, not SuperBoy. LOL

[FinallyConvincedDH2Cruise]

I second the Fisher Price booster seat, evey single kid in DD's playgroup has it, my Mom buys one for all her friends as "grandma gifts" at baby showers! My friend even took hers to Colombia when visiting family. Very easy to clean up, mine still looks like brand new 2 years later and DD uses it everyday at our kitchen island counter. Also lightweight, I packed mine in a duffel when we flew to Baltimore to visit family.

 

This is a very easy age to go out to eat, we took DD to Sonoma and San Francisco when she was 10 months old and never had to leave the room. Sometimes she slept in the stroller when we were eating since her routine was all messed up, I assume you are bringing a stroller?