Restaurants with 5 month old

[PoohBears#1fan]

Hi,

When we go next May, our DS will be 5 months old, do all the restaurants cater for babies of this age? (eg. highchairs, babyfood, will they heat bottles? etc.) or are there any that we should be avoiding.

We were also wondering about restaurants offsite, but i'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask that, Is Orlando a baby friendly place to eat?

Thank you

 

[jel0511]

A baby at 5 months old unforunately usually can't sit in the high chairs provided here in the States. They are made of wood and don't have a high back, and don't recline. There are a few restaurants that have reclining high chairs, Crystal Palace, and Chef Mickey's come to mind. You most likely won't find any reclining high chairs off-site, since most restaurants in the US use the wood ones. Also, the restaurant won't provide any baby food, so plan on buying it when you arrive and bringing it with you to eat. I wouldn't bring it over from the UK, since it's very cumbersome and since it's made of glass, mostly likely will break during the trans-atlantic trip. I don't know about heating bottles, since when my kids were that age, I was no longer heating their bottles, just giving to them at room temperature, mixing the water and formula right before giving it to them. My suggestion there is to just order a couple cups of hot water and heat it yourself at the table. That way, you can ensure the proper temperature, and not get a bottle too hot or too cold back. Disney is a very child friendly destination, you won't have any problems bringing your child to any of the restaurants, but you'll have to provide most comforts yourself. Also, use the baby care stations located at all 4 parks, they are very helpful with small babies.

 

[Barb D]

We took a 5mo to WDW. I brought food for her...those little plastic tubs of applesauce, powdered cereal to mix with formula, etc. I never tried to buy baby food at the restaurants so I don't know if you can buy it there, but I do know they sell it at the baby care centers in each park. It's VERY expensive, though, so if you can get to a grocery store you'd be better off buying a bunch and carrying it with you.

Also, be sure to bring a baby spoon, a little bowl if you're making cereal, and a tiny bottle of dish soap. It was hard finding even normal size plastic spoons in the restaurants, let alone little spoons for tiny mouths.

 

[dandelion]

My dd's first visit was at 6 months, she did fine in the wooden high chairs, but she was a big baby, about 18 lbs. at that point.
I think we stuffed a baby blanket or two around her for extra support.

Like others said, we brought our own small jars of baby food, spoons etc. I was concerned about Fla. tap water, so we bought bottled water offsite. Each morning I'd fill her bottles for the day with that, by meal time in the Florida sun it was certainly warm enough to mix with powdered formula. This was a May trip also.

I can't name any restuarants to avoid, but you'd probably all be more comfortable at the more casual eateries - the character meals, or counter service restaurants. Babies that age get tremendous character attention, they're too young to be scared and take great pleasure biting Chip's nose.

 

[polyfan]

We had our own stroller with us, so we just pushed that into the restaurants. They were all very accomodating. Since, at 5mos. they arenot eating very much baby food. I would not worry, just bring cereal to mix, formula, and maybe you could pick up a few jars of baby food. Our youngest son was 4 weeks his first visit. We had no problems with him or our other son, who was 7weeks at his first visit.

 

[ahutton]

We have found for bottle warming it is best to ask for a coffee cup with a couple inches of hot water. Put your mixed formula in the bottle in there and in a couple minutes it's ready to go. At 5 months our DD is just eating cereal, which we would by a box and mix it with juice or formula.

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

Thanks for all your advice everyone, I love the tip of mixing formula as and when it's needed and it looks like DS will be dining from his stroller rather than a highchair.

It's going to make life so much easier having all this info first.

Thank you

 

[pollyanna]

jUST CURIOUS....YOUR BABY ISN'T BORN YET?

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

LOL nope just being prepared, I feel once he's here I won't have time to spend researching all these things, so am finding information out now!

 

[Coll0610]

I am not trying to start a debate, but if you breastfeeding your baby, you won't have to worry about heating up bottles. Also, I thought life got more difficult after we started my son on food. Mealtimes were more complicated when we had to feed him as well as ourselves, and we had to keep to more of a schedule for meals. While he was just nursing, it was easier to stop and nurse him for a while than it was to fix a bowl of cereal and feed it to him. Cereal is more messy too! Many doctors recommend not starting solid food until 4-6 months anyway, so you may want to think about waiting until you are home to start. Talk to your doctor, and of course it is your decision, but I thought it might be helpful to hear another opinion.

If you are not renting a car, you might want to use one of the towncar services to get from the airport to the hotel. They will make a grocery stop for you and you will be able to stock up on diapers and food. Some people have also used Netgrocer to ship a package to themselves. You don't want to rely on the hotel gift shops to buy diapers - very expensive and limited selection.

 

[musicfan]

I don't want to be perceived as pushy or presumptuous, either, but I would second the suggestion to try breastfeeding -- it made travel with my son UNBELIEVABLY easy for the first six months! I could breastfeed him in the restaurant (or in the parks!) if he got fussy (you can always use the ladies room if you are shy), and I virtually never had to do the "meal thing" (mixing stuff up like cereal) in a restaurant. I would just do that at home or in our hotel room where it was more convenient. I wouldn't even bring it up if it hadn't made travel (especially plane flights!) so amazingly easy.

 

[dandelion]

Both of my children WERE breastfed but also having some solid foods and formula by 6 and 7 months, their ages at their first visits to WDW. Doctor's suggestion, and they loved it. It's hard to keep an 18 pounder full!

PoohBears#1fan good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy. The Disney for Families forum also has some very helpful info.

 

[KathyK]

We went when my DD was 5 months old. She was just starting to sit, and would sit in highchairs for very short periods at a time. As she did at home, I held her on my lap during meals. They do have highchairs available at all WDW restaurants, but you might not yet have a child old enough to use one.


I've never asked them to heat a bottle, since DD is BF. You can heat bottles in the Baby Care Centers, and you might also want to buy a travel bottle warmer (they have them with snap activated heat packs). Baby food is not available for sale at the restaurants, but you can buy it (at inflated prices) at the Baby Care Centers. I always brought my own. Baby food jars are the only glass containers allowed in the parks. At the time, my DD was primarily eating cereal (many doctors suggest pushing back solids to 6 months these days), so I brought Tupperware type bowls with the cereal pre-measured, and would ask at the restaurants for some warm water to prepare it.

HTH

--Kathy

 

[KathyK]

Originally posted by PoohBears#1fan
looks like DS will be dining from his stroller rather than a highchair.

I think that the official policy is not to allow strollers into restaurants. You can ask at each location when you get there. I believe that they will generally be more likely to allow a stroller in if the baby is sleeping.

At Tony's they suggested that we bring the stroller in, but DD wouldn't sit in it if it wasn't moving. So it sat there, and other parents, with their kids in highchairs, gave us dirty looks.

So, be prepared to hold your child on your lap. Or, if you won't be taking Disney transportation, you can use the infant carseat-stroller combination and bring the infant carseat into the restaurants for a place for your child to sit.

--Kathy

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

Thanks to everyone for the advice on US restaurants, obviously being in the UK, things here are very different and having the info you've all given me will be very helpful in planning our trip and knowing what to expect. Thanks also Dandelion for pointing me in the direction of the families forum, it has been a wonderful source of information to me.

With respect to the breastfeeding and weaning advice (not at all sure where that came from!) errrr...... thanks? LOL
To be perfectly honest though I really was just after advice on how baby friendly US restaurants are in Orlando as I've not been with a baby (my DD was 2 1/2 when I first took her) and I'll make my decisions as and when appropriate regarding weaning / giving bottles following the advice from my health visitor (which as I'm sure you'll understand is different here in the UK to the US) and drawing on my own experiences as a mother and RN, and of course the individual needs of my baby. I am also fully aware of the accessibility and ease that breast feeding provides having BF'd my DD, but thank you anyway for taking the time to point that out.

 

[musicfan]

"With respect to the breastfeeding and weaning advice (not at all sure where that came from!) errrr...... thanks? LOL "

It came from people who wanted to help you with what could be a very unwieldy and difficult process in an American restaurant (heating up a bottle for a baby). Your original post gave no clue as to whether you were a first-time mom or not, or an RN, or that you had a health aide giving you advice. We were trying to be helpful in giving you a range of options.

Both of us who raised this issue clearly prefaced our posts with indications that we were not trying to start a debate or come off as pushy, but just offering a thought.

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

" I would second the suggestion to try breastfeeding"

Well as I said in my original post Musicfan, thank you for taking the time to post your opinions on breastfeeding, and with respect to coming across as pushy, I'm afraid that's exactly how I interpreted it. Breastfeeding is a sensitive subject and had nothing to do with the question I asked.

I have no further comments on this subject and will not be reading any additional posts to this thread.

 

[KathyK]

Well I guess that Poohbears#1fan won't be reading this. I wanted to let musicfan know that I agree that it was relevant. She was asking about how easy it was to heat up bottles, and people offered her an even easier option. Plus, as musicfan stated, it wasn't clear if she was a first time mom or not, and what information she had regarding feeding choices.

And from what I've read from my friends in the UK, the health visitors generally tend to be pro-BF and support the WHO recommendations on BF.

 

[musicfan]

Well, thanks KathyK. I was feeling bad there after those last couple of posts. I sure hope she has a good time at WDW.