IKEA is for family!

Charlie, Little Man and I took a trip to IKEA yesterday. Technically we were there to buy a toddler-sized table and chairs, but we started our shopping expedition in the restaurant – as did most of the other people who were there at 10am when the store opened, from what I could see! And why not! IKEA is home to the ultimate family friendly restaurant.

From the breastfeeding corner (yay IKEA!), to the not one, but two children’s play areas, to the varied menu including plenty of healthy options for little ones, to the budget-friendly prices, this is one of my favourite restaurants in Dublin in which to eat as a family. These days, rather than bringing food for Little Man, I prefer to try to feed him from the options that are available wherever Charlie and I are eating. I usually avoid the Kid’s menu though, and order a small portion from the regular menu, because I’d rather not order chicken nuggets and chips for Little Man everywhere we go! In IKEA, however, we went straight for the Kid’s snack box. The snack box contained a cheese sandwich, a drink of your choice, and three different types of Organix snacks – plenty for a hungry toddler to snack on. I wouldn’t consider it a main meal – but like I said it was 10am! Little Man certainly approved of the choice and tucked right in.

When we left the restaurant, we went straight to the kids furniture section. There Little Man tested out several types of chair – wooden ones, plastic ones, and even a couple of stools. We eventually settled on a lovely wooden chair, and we picked up a small side table to go with it. The table and chair now have pride of place in our kitchen, and our high chair is no more. In the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling that Little Man was getting very frustrated with being strapped into the high chair. But our kitchen table has stools rather than chairs, so I felt that rather than waiting until Little Man gets big enough to use the stools safely, we’d be better off getting something more suited to his size. We didn’t want to spend a fortune on it though, so the IKEA furniture was the obvious choice. Their kids’ stools start from €5.99 and the chairs start from €9.99. The little side table that we bought was just €7.99. How could you go wrong?!