Dining at restaurants can be an unappetising experience if you have little "extras", that is, children.

Mums and dads find themselves rushing through their meals because kids tend to fuss, whine, fidget and will not keep still for long.

To cope with the lively little ones, several restaurants in town are offering a solution: They have set up playgrounds with sandpits, flying foxes and slides, and indoor play areas with toys and video games.

One restaurateur who has done this is Ms Carin Tay, 38, owner of Sol Playground Cafe in Turf City.

The once-frustrated mother of two boys now aged two and seven, who opened Sol Playground Cafe in 2007, often found few dining options for tykes.

The former flight stewardess says: "We had a lot of problems looking for child-friendly restaurants to dine in. There were just not enough places."

That was what prompted her to set up her own child-friendly eatery.

Her restaurant, which serves treats such as paella, pizza, pasta, waffles and Asian delights such as chicken curry, has a 1,500 sq ft outdoor seating area with a playground and a similar sized indoor area with a play site, which has padded flooring for younger children.

There is also a television showing animated movies and cartoons. And on Sundays, the restaurant offers free face-painting and balloon sculpting for its young patrons.

The restaurant is so child-centric that it even has a room for nursing mothers.

Aussie-style bistro The Tanglin Tree in Tanglin Road is another eatery that allows parents some downtime.

The bistro, which has both indoor and outdoor dining, has a large playhouse with a sandpit and flying fox near the outdoor dining deck.

Says the bistro's co-owner, Mr Daniel Ong, 35: "A lot of parents with children tend to finish their meals quickly because they need to run after their kids."

The playground lets children run around while the parents can take more time to chat and enjoy their meals.

He adds: "In Singapore, you don't get a lot of running space as most people who live in the area live in condominiums."

Even hotels are jumping in on the child-friendly act.

Hotel restaurants such as One-Ninety in Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, The Line in Shangri-La Hotel Singapore and Cafe Swiss in Swissotel The Stamford set aside designated play areas on weekends and provide supervision.

Four Seasons and the Shangri-La offer activities such as a bouncing castle and face-painting, while over at Cafe Swiss, a play area with a Nintendo Wii is set up in the restaurant.

These restaurants also have special menus for kids with yummy treats such as mini beef burgers, pizza, french fries, brownies, marshmallows and candy floss.

Parents are heaving sighs of relief.

Says account manager Janet Liew, 34, who has an eight-year-old son: "Thank goodness for restaurants with play areas, sometimes you just need a break."

She likes the idea of having a playground located near the eating area so that she can keep an eye on her son while he is playing.

Housewife Georgiana Verdonk, 37, likes to take her sons, aged two and six, to Sol Playground Cafe at Turf City.

She says: "The place is a godsend and the playground is a real hit with the kids.

"And you can go there without getting stares from other people. The kids can eat and go and play while the parents sit around and chat."

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This article was first published in The Straits Times.