What with nappy changing, feeding frenzies and keeping older kids entertained, eating out with your little bundle of joy is not always an easy task. These restaurants are all equipped with changing table facilities that won’t have you using the backseat of your car – or a cramped bathroom stall. When you’re feeling sufficiently brave, ditch the plastic cutlery and cheap tomato sauce, put the little one in the pram and venture out to these eateries for your next scrumptious dinner or lazy lunch.

• Johannesburg
• Pretoria
• Durban and surrounds
• Cape Town
• Winelands

Johannesburg

Bambanani (Melville)

Parents looking for a little breather will love this delightful eatery that caters for the whole family. With trained child minders and activities to keep the little ones occupied, the grown-ups can relax and enjoy dishes like coriander lamb cutlets with baby potatoes and French green beans. The menu is baby-friendly, too, with a wholesome offering of fresh fruit-and-veg purées. The restaurant offers high chairs as well as baby-changing facilities.

Bambanani. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Gia’s on Montrose (Sandton)

Nestled in Montrose Nursery, this café provides a perfect escape from the busy city where you can unwind with the family. Find a seat beneath the leafy trees with the children and enjoy simple country-style dishes such as comforting pot pies, burgers and curry. The tots can even enjoy a frothy babychino. This family-friendly spot is equipped with a changing table.

Gia’s on Montrose. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Happily Ever Laughter (Bedfordview)

This boutique restaurant is an ideal spot to meet up with friends where you know the kiddies will be happy too. The venue is built for family-friendly occasions, from birthday celebrations to stork parties. They will also soon host playgroups where toddlers can enjoy a day of learning and playing. There is a baby-changing station located in the restroom.

Junipa’s (Bryanston)

Grab a pastry and your morning coffee at this baby-friendly spot. Or, for a lazy weekend lunch, enjoy your sushi or gourmet sandwiches while the brood make their own pizzas. Baby-changing amenities cater for the youngest ones too.

Junipa’s. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Munch (Bryanston, Kramerville, Parktown North)

This trendy family eatery offers an exciting menu with options for adults and children, and the comfortable baby-changing facilities make things easier. With live music on selected Sundays, WiFi and irresistible baked treats, you may never want to leave.

Pretoria

The Barn Restaurant at Irene Dairy Farm (Irene)

In a beautiful outdoor setting under the oak trees, this farm restaurant is a charming place for a sunny weekend lunch. They serve a Sunday breakfast and lunch buffet that also caters for children. There are also high chairs and changing facilities available for the toddlers.

The Barn Restaurant at Irene Dairy Farm. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Blos Café (Faerie Glen)

An outing with the baby doesn’t need to be a stressful one, especially when there is carrot cake involved. Sit back and enjoy breakfast while watching kids run amok on the rolling lawns. It’s also baby-ready with changing facilities on site.

Blos Café. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Spiced Coffee Restaurant (Haakdoornlaagte)

Set amongst a beautiful garden of roses is this enchanting family coffee shop that’s ideal for a Sunday tea with the grandparents. There’s a large playground, tractor rides, picnics and baby-changing facilities available.

Taste Life Café (Faerie Glen)

This coffee shop is the ultimate kiddie-friendly venue, equipped with a baby and toddler play area as well as a space with a jungle gym for the older and more energetic children to enjoy. This is a great party venue with high chairs and a changing table available.

Taste Life Café. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Villa San Giovanni (Wonderboom Airport)

For your next Italian feast, enjoy this eatery’s family-friendly atmosphere. Prop the youngsters in their high chairs while tucking into your carbonara. Baby-changing facilities are also available.

Durban and surrounds

California Dreaming (Dairy Beach)

Take the youngster for a promenade stroll in the pram and stop off at this spacious beachfront restaurant. Parents can sit back and relax with their smoothies and enjoy the view of the Indian Ocean while kids enjoy their ice creams in the play zone. With a baby-changing facility also available, there is no need to hunt for the closest restroom.

The Food Story Deli at The Book Boutique (Amanzimtoti)

This one-of-a-kind deli and bookstore in Amanzimtoti invites book-lovers to appreciate a cappuccino while nose-deep in their favourite read. The little ones can sit down for story time, which is either held outside on the lawn if the sun is shining or inside the deli amongst the bookshelves. Baby changing amenities are available.

Olive and Oil (Glenwood, Hillcrest, PMB, Umhlanga)

A Mediterranean favourite amongst the Durban locals. Diners can tuck into their pizzas while the kids snuggle up in the children’s playroom and watch a DVD. The tiny ones are also looked after with high chairs and changing tables in the family-friendly bathroom. (Playrooms and baby-changing facilities are available in all Olive and Oil branches.)

Piggly Wiggly (Midlands)

Taking a family trip out to the Midlands? Make a pit stop at this buzzing farm stall. The older kids are sorted with a host of fun activities, plus there are high chairs and a small kiddies’ menu. This is a wonderful spot to stop if you are travelling with a baby or toddler, with its convenient facilities available for those emergency nappy changes.

Sage Café (Salt Rock)

Find a seat in the picturesque garden or the open-plan café and enjoy the warm Salt Rock weather. The older tots can take advantage of the play areas while the littler ones perch in high chairs and nibble on gemsquash filled with bolognaise mince and topped with melted cheddar. There are baby-changing facilities available in the bathrooms.

Cape Town

Café Paradiso (Gardens)

Madame’s Zingara’s Kloof Street restaurant is just as welcoming to the little ones as it is to the adults. Parents will be relieved to know that there are changing facilities at this bustling eatery, and kiddies’ projects are offered, where children between the ages of two and 12 can make their own pizzas, chocolate or gingerbread cookies, or decorate a cupcake with trained child minders. High chairs are available.

Café Paradiso. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Café Roux (Noordhoek)

With ample grass for the older kids, The Noordhoek Farm Village also has a cordoned-off area for the smaller ones. There’s an indoor playroom to keep them busy in colder weather. New parents can rest easy knowing that the restaurant also offers a changing table and high chairs.

Deer Park Café (Vredehoek)

The grassy slopes at this Vredehoek favourite make for a perfect playground for the older children and toddlers, while you enjoy a hard-earned coffee or glass of wine in the restaurant or picnic-style on the lawns. Baby-changing facilities are available.

Dunes Restaurant (Hout Bay)

This seaside destination has ample activities to keep youngsters busy, with its gorgeous sea views, soft sand and a jungle gym. Babies are looked after with clip-on high chairs and a changing table situated in the ladies’ bathroom.

Dunes Restaurant. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Tables at Nitida (Durbanville)

This farm-style bistro has a lovely big open lawn with a jungle gym on the grass that provides hours of entertainment for the little ones. A kiddies’ breakfast and lunch menu is available, as well as two baby chairs and baby-changing facilities in a separate bathroom.

Tables at Nitida. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Treat Patisserie (Durbanville)

This pastel-coloured Durbanville patisserie is great for a coffee and pastry date with friends and the little ones. Savour a slice of their famous red-velvet cake or try a pulled pork wrap while the toddlers tuck into one of the delicious cake cups. They also have a changing table in the bathroom.

Winelands

Bertus Basson at Spice Route (Paarl)

Here the cherubs are treated to an exciting kiddies’ menu (including a fun colouring-in sheet on the back), which allows them to creatively build their own meal. The food is wholesome and easy to eat, with options like puréed cauliflower, cheese sticks and colourful carrots. The youngsters will also get a giant cookie with their meal to decorate for dessert. High chairs and a changing table are available.

Bertus Basson at Spice Route. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Café Blanc de Noir (Stellenbosch)

Offering gourmet pizza and a large jungle gym, this eatery is a haven for foodies with kids. Parents of tinier tots will find life easier with a newly installed baby-changing station, clever baby-harness chairs and colouring-in sheets and crayons.

Café Blanc de Noir. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Dornier Bodega Restaurant (Stellenbosch)

Relax with a glass of wine on the terrace of this comfy and casual bistro and tuck into a creamy mussel pot while the toddlers sit in their high chairs to enjoy beefy macaroni and cheese. There is also a baby changing station available in the bathroom.

Millhouse at Lourensford (Somerset West)

This gorgeous setting is home to a trendy yet child-friendly restaurant. Enjoy the rustic Italian cuisine and wine while the older kids climb the jungle gyms and the toddlers sit comfortably in their high chairs. The changing room comes conveniently equipped with a toilet, basin and diaper-changing station.

Stables at Vergelegen. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Stables at Vergelegen (Somerset West)

After a leisurely wine tasting, stroll down to this stylish and modern bistro to make use of its high chairs for the babes and a changing station in the bathrooms in the nearby tasting room. There is also a little VIP menu from which the kids can choose delicious breakfasts, mains or desserts.

Have we missed your favourite baby-friendly spot? Please tell us about it in the comments.