You underestimate many babies. Our little one is very cosmopolitan with his tastes - for example we regularly have Friday lunch at an Indian buffet place in Basel and take him along; and he eats everything they have including chicken jalfraizi, vegetable korma, dhal, naan bread, tandoori chicken. At home he eats the same as us, including things like chilli con carne, tagines, cous cous, pasta, chorizo, most fruits and vegetables. Not all kids are McD's addicts.

The other week we were at a restaurant in Yorkshire with my parents and we all gave J. small portions off our plates and it all went down; plus he was a model of behaviour throughout.

My take is: the more we take him to eat out - in addition to proper family meals at the table at home, the quicker he will be able to assimilate correct table manners and learn to enjoy such occasions. So many times I see parents with kids who clearly rarely go out and those are the ones who don't know how to behave.

Cheers,
Nick