Coffee shops on a Sunday morning and children

[Needmorecaffine]

This will kick off no doubt but hey. Slightly tongue in cheek.

Coffee shops on a Sunday morning should be a haven for adults who seek to get away in piece and quiet from every day life for an hour. That means getting away from your own children , DH etc

So been here 5 mins , had to queue behind a mother with her toddler using the display of pastries like choosing sweets in a sweet shop ! Just pick up a croissant get your latte soya single shot and move along !

Then we have the child , mother and grandmother. The GM doing the exaggerated parenting in this case with the GC much to the horror of her own DD. Thankfully they've gone.

Piece and quiet now reins ....

*Thats a bar though. I can see this if its more like a pub type atmosphere - serving alcohol etc. But for just coffee if you aren't serving alcohol, your customers would be limited

No, it's not. Did you not read the rest of my post?

They serve alcohol in the evenings, but during the day it's just a cafe. Their daytime menu is basically a variety of cakes, toasted sandwiches, scones, toasted tea cakes and a selection of tea, coffee and soft drinks.

All the things you would see in any other cafe or coffee shop, except this one doesn't allow kids! And it's lovely. Peaceful, quiet, relaxing, great food. Perfect.

Sorry, but the world is not designed for you.

Equally, it's not designed for small children to go absolutely everywhere. We don't allow them in nightclubs so why shouldn't coffee shops be able to have similar rules?

I don't think they need to be child free, but no one needs to stand in a queue because a 2 year old cant receive their cake until they have repeated ' Thank you very much and I hope you have a lovely day' to a parent or Grandparents loud specifications.

jaffaeclipse London. No garden centres with space for a cafe nearby us then lol but can't move for coffee shops now. At least five spring to mind along one 250 yeard stretch near my flat!

DD lives in Surry on an estate, no coffee shops at all and the nearest is in the town centre a 15 min bus ride away. Guess what? She and her friends have coffee at their homes quite happily with all the kids' toys to entertain them with.

When they go out it's to a park (or drive to a farm centre which doe s have a cafe filled with mums, buggies etc) but with a huge outdoor play centre for the kids to burn up energy.

@AQuickNameChange1 DS would wake at 5.30am and be climbing the walls by 6.30am

Does he have any SEN? I wouldn’t expect an NT child to be awake for an hour and to be “climbing the walls” so much that you needed to get out the house? The day is looong, that’s a lot of time to fill. If you do your outings an hour after your child has woken up, how do you fill the time when you’ve come back to the house?

We went to get food last week. A man in a wheelchair came past us 4 times, each of these times he bumped into friends chair. Would it be ok to request he leave? Both are needed to transport a human unable to walk?

I don’t know really, I was once hit by a car in a pedestrianised area as the disabled driver deemed it ok to pressure pedestrians out of the way by barging his car into them.

In the same way, a huge number of mums push strollers on pavements with no consideration to young kids, the elderly or people using the pavements as if having a stroller gave them right of way!

The only time I've objected to children in a public space was when I went with my dh to a very expensive restaurant in the evening. It was my first night out since dc2 had been born six months previously. We were paying for a babysitter. A couple came in to have dinner with their newborn baby with them. I asked if we could move tables. I was looking forward to and paying a fortune for a childfree evening and a few cocktails. No way did I want to sit in close proximity to someone else's baby.

You complained just because they had a newborn with them? Unless the parents were leaving the baby to cry, I really can't see how the presence of a newborn would impact on anyone else.

We have a couple of dog friendly coffee shops in the nearby town. The one (Coffee #1) has tables on either side of the door for dog owners and their pets and the last time we went in both were occupied by people without dogs so we sat at a nearby table which was to the side and out of the way of the queue and walkways but still near to the door.

We were asked to move and were directed to a table right by the door and the queue, we were shoulder to backside with those standing and waiting to be served.

Our dog always lies quietly under the table, waiting for a bit of cake. In all of the times I've been in there, any dog that's been in there has without fail been well behaved, you wouldn't know that they were there.

A few minutes later four couples with toddlers came in, pushed some tables together and they sat chatting while their toddlers ran around the making a hell of a noise yet they were allowed to just get on with it.

A man in a wheelchair came past us 4 times, each of these times he bumped into friends chair. Would it be ok to request he leave? Both are needed to transport a human unable to walk?

Are you really comparing a child in a pushchair with a disabled adult?!

Newborns should not be out at dinner time.

@adaline oh come on. Nightclubs are an entirely different environment from coffee shops.

Equally, it's not designed for small children to go absolutely everywhere. We don't allow them in nightclubs so why shouldn't coffee shops be able to have similar rules?

They are - there's no law or anything stopping someone opening a child-free café. They exist. If they don't exist near you that's because it wouldn't make good business sense and that's just tough.

We went to get food last week. A man in a wheelchair came past us 4 times, each of these times he bumped into friends chair. Would it be ok to request he leave? Both are needed to transport a human unable to walk?

Well presumably his parents didn't couldn't leave his wheelchair somewhere and carry him.

You complained just because they had a newborn with them?

Yes because it was an expensive restaurant in the evening. It was my first night out in six months and I was paying £40 for a babysitter. I wanted to have a few cocktails and enjoy myself. Over the course of a couple of hours, yes the baby may well cry. I spent plenty of time during the week at baby groups and soft play. I wanted a childfree evening.

Newborns should not be out at dinner time.

More bollocks.

Newborns should be with their mother. If their mother is out at dinner time then that’s where the newborn should be. Or should new mothers also not be out at dinner time?

Why should newborns not be out at dinnertime? (whats dinnertime btw? 5pm? 9pm?)

Totally agree with the op. There's a time and a place. Disclaimer : I have a 3 and a 6 year old. We don't go to Starbucks for croissants.

Yes because it was an expensive restaurant in the evening. It was my first night out in six months and I was paying £40 for a babysitter.

You seem to think paying more money for food gives to the right to dictate who shares the public space you’ve chosen to occupy. Interesting.

Newborns should not be out at dinner time.

Why not? Are they like gremlins, does something happen if they are out after 7pm?

I enjoy a costa a lot of Sunday mornings with my friend. We have teens so enjoy getting out without them.

The trick is to go to the one that's not in town or on a huge industrial estate!

Tbh I've not really experienced troubles with young children but I do know what you mean!

They are - there's no law or anything stopping someone opening a child-free café. They exist. If they don't exist near you that's because it wouldn't make good business sense and that's just tough.

There is one near me and I go there regularly. It's a fantastic local place and it's incredibly popular. They've done incredibly well for themselves in a tourist area that normally only ever caters to families with young children.

You seem to think paying more money for food gives to the right to dictate who shares the public space you’ve chosen to occupy

I'm making the point that it was a fine dining type of place rather than a family friendly chain restaurant.

I’d kill for a child free Costa on a Sunday morning....every time I try DH manages to turn it into family bonding time 😒

@adaline oh come on. Nightclubs are an entirely different environment from coffee shops.

Yeah, I understand that.

My point is there are already adult-only environments out there, so it should be perfectly okay for coffee shops to join them, should they wish.

Plenty of restaurants already say they're adult-only after a certain time.

why don't you try, say, a particularly depressing wetherspoons?

I'm making the point that it was a fine dining type of place rather than a family friendly chain restaurant.

They didn't need the restaurant to provide a kids menu and colouring books for a newborn.