Babywearing & Eating Out

[srhs]

I have to take my 3mo to a nice rehearsal dinner & wedding out of town.
I was thinking of wearing him in the sling, if he's agreeable.
But what to do at the meals? Do you sling at the table? Is there etiquette for this? Obviously, no hot foods, I know! But what if I did spill on him! That would be embarrassing!
Would you put him in the car carrier on the floor instead?
(sigh)
HELP!
~TIA, srhs

[tnrnchick74]

I wear my son all the time out to eat. I think its less obstrusive than a big, clunky baby carrier and I would NOT put a carrier on the floor for ANY reason! YUCK and GERMS and I would be worried about safety.

No hot foods - try to find something that isn't too messy. I usually keep the napkin close by and don't lean into the table - those are the tips I have found.

Most days that's the ONLY way I can eat with my cranky, colicky, newborn - at home OR out!

The other nice thing is that you can BF discreetly (if you are BFing) and there aren't a lot of people all over your baby!

[belovedgandp]

I'd practice it now, but yes, I'd wear a 3 month old at a meal. I did it all the time. Yes, I did spill things on him - I'm an impossibly messy eater. Make sure it's something you do on a regular basis if you don't wear him a lot now. Just to get both of you comfortable.

We went to Disney World for a week when my second was 3 months old. He was in a sling for 7-10 hours a day. If he'd conked out in his infant carrier while walking with the stroller we'd bring the carrier into a sit down restaurant, but most of the time the fast/self serve places were too crowded for a carrier or stroller, so I wore him in the sling.

I think wearing in a sling would be much less intrusive than the infant carrier or a stroller at a formal event. I'd still definitely have them available, but you can leave them out of the way instead of front and center at the table.

[npace19147]

When my DD was asleep in the sling and I ate over her head, I would put a napkin on top of her. :)

IMO, an asleep baby with crumbs is better than a clean screaming awake baby!

[egoldber]

I ate with Amy in the sling all the time. I never avoided hot foods either. I mean if its OK for me to put into my mouth, its not going to burn the baby if it falls on them, KWIM? If it was too hot to eat, that's another story.

[MmeSunny]

I adopted my daughter at 2 mo. and she wanted to be held ALL THE TIME. I could never put her down, so if we wanted to eat out, there wasn't an option but to sling her the whole time. What I wish I would have known then:

*Make sure you sit at a table, not a booth. (Not sure if this is an issue at a formal event, but for the future.)
*Get the baby settled in the sling before you sit down. It's much harder to arrange them when you're NOT in front of others who are facinated with the baby or the sling or you're seated.
*I have a HUGE boob tray, so I'm always spilling on myself. I just tucked the open tail of the sling over the baby so no food could fall on her. I'm with the PP who said "if it's cool enough for me to eat, it's cool enough to fall on her head." The other thing I did was position a burb cloth/cloth diaper over her whole head to protect her.
*If you have a hard time reaching the food, etc. turn your chair slightly so that your "eating" hand is closer to the table. Since your head will then turned from the baby, you'll be less likely to spill on her anyway.

And a slung sleeping baby is WAY nicer to dine with than an unhappy fussy lap baby-- "so there!" to the bossy stranger type people!