In general while we’ve been together, Chris and I have always eaten a relatively early dinner. If we went out to eat on a Friday night after work, we would usually eat dinner at around 6pm. If Chris had it his way since the beginning, we would probably eat dinner at around 4:30-5pm every night. So when we had a baby and had to start catering to her (solids) eating schedule, it worked out pretty well that she would start eating her dinner sometime between 5-6pm. It wasn’t some abrupt change for us since we were never late-night diners, anyway. The most we’d ever semi-embraced later dining was while we were in Spain in November 2016, when most restaurants didn’t open until 7 or 8pm, and we made a few dinner reservations between 7:30-8:30pm. And whenever we did that, we always knew who was actually Spanish (the ones that rolled in somewhere between 9-11pm) and who were the international tourists (during that first seating between 7:30-8:30, you always heard English and languages other than Spanish spoken).
So being in Uruguay was a reminder of eating on “Latin time.” And when I researched our trip, I found out that, no, babies and kids in these Latin American countries do NOT eat at 8 or 10pm, but they instead get what we call an “afternoon tea” of small bites and snacks as their meal before the adults had their later night meals. And this is how travelers to Latin America who were not used to eating this late would tide not only their children over, but themselves. But that afternoon tea was typically done in little cafes and at home, not at restaurants. So for restaurant eating, you had to figure it out on your own.
Unfortunately, this meant that a lot of the restaurants on my list were not doable with a toddler. But we did randomly find some gems along the way that did accommodate us. Chris found a corner tapas spot called Demorondanga, which allowed us to sit and enjoy drinks at 6pm, and opened their open kitchen to us to order at around 7pm, which is quite early for Montevideo. As I read (and as some of my followers on Instagram let me know), people meeting at 8pm here is usually a weeknight thing, and still considered relatively early. The majority of young-ish people will meet for drinks and dinner between 10-11 on weekends. I read these responses and thought, wow, I guess even in my 20s, I would not have tolerated eating that late — I’d be SO hungry!
We were grateful for this spot, though, because they let us sit and have drinks. Each of our drinks came with a little snack, which also helped to tide us over. And miraculously, even though there was no high chair and we didn’t give her any screen time, Kaia was pretty content and settled the entire time. She didn’t fuss or whine or try to run around anywhere.
I joked with Chris and told him that we’ve always been like senior citizens in our eating habits since we eat dinner so early. But he insisted it wasn’t because we were old, but rather because we woke up early and started our day earlier than most people in Latin America. I have no idea what time people typically wake up in Uruguay, so I have no data to back that up. But regardless, I think there’s enough data to show that spacing the time that you eat your last meal of the day at least four hours before you go to bed is better for your health than eating just before you go to sleep. It also makes logical sense because you’re giving your body time to adequately digest all the food you just ate. So I’m still happy to eat an early dinner regardless of where I am in the world if I am able to.