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So you've had your baby and your social life has drastically changed. That is definitely the case for me.

My partner and I loved going out for meals, and since he is a chef and knows a lot of food people around town, we enjoyed tasty meals all over town. After having our daughter however, things changed drastically. For several months I hardly ever went out to eat. Yes this is great for one's pocket book, but when you go out to eat,there is more to it than simply the meal. It is socializing too.

When our daughter was very small, she was pretty portable. Before going to a restaurant I always made sure I had food for her and that she was in a clean diaper. That way, if she woke up while we were eating we could feed her or hold her and continue on with our meal. As she got older and started sitting up and needing to be entertained more my artillery grew. With her sitting by herself I could put her in a high chair. The entertainment for a while was sucking on spoons. That worked for a bit but the restaurant staff did not always appreciate picking up the spoons off the floor. Once she had a few teeth and started feeding herself, I always made sure to have some Cheerios available to occupy her. These joyous little circles have proved to be one of the handiest foods yet. They can occupy her for a very long time.

We feed our daughter everything. Even though I always travel with meals prepared for her, I prefer to share our food with her. She enjoys it too. Breakfasts are easy. Omlettes and scambled eggs are tasty and well like. You can mash it with your fork and baby will enjoy it tremendously. We love giving her fruit, and she loves to eat it. We simply cut fruit in to bite sized pieces and she feeds herself. This also occupies her for quite some time. I have fed her everything from veggies to pasta. Soup is also a great option; I have not ordered a soup that she has not enjoyed. Anything I can mash up with my fork and she willingly eats, I share. Eating meat is a little trickier because it is harder to chew, but if it is very small she will work through that too. We do prefer to feed our daughter organic meat. The ultimate distraction is bread. If all else fails, a nice crusty piece of bread will keep her happy for quite some time. This is great because it helps relieve the discomfort of teething, it isn't too messy, and it lasts quite a while.

Teaching your children to eat out in public as early as possible is great for the future. You want to feel confident and comfortable bringing your baby to a restaurant. Try to find out if the places you enjoy eating has a high chair, if not, there are plenty of portable options out there. The interaction is great for the family and helps socialize your baby. Above all, it is fun. Our daughter loves to people watch and people get a kick out of watching her too.