Going Out with Baby

At 13 months old we were out-and-about on the weekends quite a bit!

Packing for the zoo is a whole "day trip", which means that you need to break from your routine a little to get it done. He doesn't need to eat at home. In fact, at this age he can eat snack foods and other items cut-up whether you are in the car or in a restaurant. Pack a lunch and snacks, as well as the diaper bag the night before and just go!

Also keep in mind that he can bathe at night and unless he's dirty, he can bathe the next day too! We still aim to be out of the house on a Saturday by 9:00 so that we can have some family fun before his afternoon nap.

At that age, we did:
- zoo
- park
- children's museum
- swimming/lake
- toy store (loved to just look around)
- mall
- restaurants (still loves to eat out!)
- had friends over/ went to friends' houses
- story hour at the library
- swim lessons
- Kindermusik

He's eating b/c he's probably bored sitting in the stroller. Go somewhere he can explore and play safely!

The cool thing about pre-packaged baby food is you can take it with you. But at 13 months he should be eating what you are eating.
Do a bit more pre-planning for your weekends. Get up an hour earlier, do baths the night before, plan easier meals. After breakfast take care of the dishes and go. Plop him in the stroller and walk through the zoo, he'll probably sleep most of the way. Pick up something to eat and decide if you want to do something else or go home to finish chores. When you get home put baby down for a real nap and get some household stuff done.

I have a 2.5 year old and a 9 month old, and we go out between the baby's first and second nap for a couple of hours, and then spend the afternoons outside. I bought these lunch boxes called "easy lunchboxes" and they're perfect for going out and about. I pack a lunch for my husband in one and then lunch/snacks for the kids and I in another every night. That way we already have lunch and snacks ready the next day. While she takes her first nap, I play with my toddler and try (emphasis on TRY) to clean the house up a bit and I get him and I dressed and lay her clothes out. Once she's up, I change her diaper and put some play clothes on her and we're out of the house for a couple of hours. We'll have our picnic outside wherever we are, and then we come home for naptime and they both sleep. After they wake up (about 3:00) is when we would do a longer trip on the weekends. Or if it's something that takes more time, we'll leave the house when she would usually go down for her first nap and have her sleep in the car/sleepy wrap (not ideal--but skipping a morning nap a few times is better than depriving my older son of family trip time constantly)

My daughter is 15 months and I take her out on weekends for few hours as well.
I find that bannanas seem to fil her up. I bring plenty of water of course.
I also bring vegetables in a jar. I know at this age the kids are growing out of them. However, if you mix the jarred vege's with cheerios it really fills the belly!.
I hope this helps some.

my daughter eats when she is in the car, she has her puff puffs, her crackers, etc. etc. dont feel guilty because you are not at home to offer him a dinner he probably wont eat anyway. our now 18 month old daughter sits at the table with us while we offer her dinner, but, we are not going to force her to eat, as long as what she eats in good for her, thats what matters. so, what if all she will eat is three big bites and two handfuls of cherrios, its obviously not effecting her growth, she is the height of your typical three year old. anything we plan to do with her, going out wise, has to planed out like the normandy invasion, you get used to it
K. h.

We usually try to go out earlier in the morning and then come home in time for a nap. (around 1pm) So my son would eat breakfast at home and then I pack a snack and a lunch. I have found with my son, it is important to include protein in his snacks somehow otherwise he tends to keep eating more and more! So anyway, things travel well are fresh fruit - berries of all kinds (slice strawberries, smooshed blueberries), pieces of cheese (I like the mini baby belles) beans - I open a can of black beans or pinto beans and rinse them and my son eats them room temperature or cold - he LOVES them - I know it sounds gross, but its worth a try and super healthy. Peanut butter and jelly of course. Cheerios mixed with raisins.
Avacado mixed with applesauce or fresh fruit is filling and healthy.
At that age my son would still sleep in the car or stroller so he could nap there and then I would just offer him food at his regular snack and nap times. Good luck!

Feed him whatever the park has, in addition to his snacks.
At that age, I'd get a kids meal, pick it apart. 1/2 was my lunch and 1/2 whatever he could eat out of it. (or I'd just feed him from my lunch)

Go in the morning first thing, if he's down to 1 nap. Most places open around 9 or 10. 2 hrs there and you'll be done anyway. Plus, then you'll be there with all of the other toddlers, since that's what everyone does. (Seriously, go to Target as soon as it opens on a Saturday. All you'll see is parents with 18month olds walking around in their PJs with coffee, and letting their kids run. We did!)

Let him snack in the stroller as usual.

We plan all kind of acctivites with our baby and toddler. With my first one, I was so resistant to messing up her shcedule, we didn't do as much. But now that the older one is almost 4, we want to do activities with her so baby's schedule doesn't get catered to nearly as much with second child. Here are some of my tricks. any weekday activity by myself, I do directly after the morning nap, I bring her lunch, and still have another hour before the next nap time (so parks, mall, grocery shopping...).
For longer weekend trips we plan to drive during the nap (nap in car) and I bring our Ergo carrier and she is great at falling asleep in there so we can plan all day events and never miss a beat. We are lucky she sleeps so well in that thing. With my oldest we'd just walk her in her stroller on an outing until she fell asleep. If not, she'd sleep in the car on the drive home. We learned that even a 10 min nap was better than nothing. and yes she got a little cranky, but we all survived and I'm glad we didn't choose a life of staying home so we could keep the schedule perfectly.

Here are my quick grab foods always ready to go: cheerios, string cheese, apple sauce cups, or sliced fruit in fruit juice cups, yogurt cups.
Then I try to have other foods made up in my fridge or easy to assemble and I have disposable plastic containers I bring them in; pasta, beans, fresh fruit, turkey slices, olives.
I also go out to eat often on our outings and can count on just feeding her off my plate.

If hes down to one nap, do day outings in the morning, if he's entertained you can push his nap late and leave your event so he can crash in the car aroud 2 or 3.