regarding young children and coffee shops..

[tholeon]

I have always thought that is was acceptable to bring food in for babies and toddlers to coffee shops and family friendly restaurants, as long as the adult in charge buys theirs. I have a 20 month old and when he was smaller I often bought baby food out with us, now he is a bit bigger we sometimes order from the kiddie menu, but at other times he just has some of mine, and we usually bring in our own stuff too (a banana or whatever...) to kick things off for him as, like most toddlers, he is not good at waiting. Also like most toddlers, some of what he eats generally ends up on the floor.

This lunchtime I've just walked into a coffee shop I hadn't been to before to overhear a loud conversation between the owner and a customer about how annoying the local mums were coming in, ordering too little, staying too long, bringing their own food for the children, and making a mess. They were saying that the mums should feed the children at home before coming out... It looked like a normal type of coffee shop, high chairs available, easy wipe surfaces, not an expensive adult only quiet type joint. Anyhow, we took ourselves off and went elsewhere. What do you all think?

Pregnant with a toddler...

if it's costa or starbucks I always get a coffee and cake for me, drink each for the kids and then pass round the pre-bought biscuits for them. It's overpriced as it it and their cakes and biscuits are rubbish from a child's pov (well all mine turn their noses up at them)
If it was not a massive franchise that could more than bear the lost sale of a few crappy hard gingerbread men with broken legs then I'd consider buying the kids a cake or biscuit as well

Thankyou GotArt - as you can see my coffee shop vocabulary is waaaay out of date - pre DCs in fact!

The coffee chain I go to will give me a free babycinno for each child, so they must want parents to come. I do only sit for the time it takes the dcs to gulp down their drinks, though.

YABU
If they don't offer what you want then don't go there. I think it is extremely rude to take your own food and drinks (formula milk and purees being the exception) to a restaurant or cafe.

thunderbird I think that a few raisins or a banana for a toddler - for whom you are also buying a sandwich - is reasonable. There aren't many other situations where a small child (particularly an under 2..) is expected to pay the full adult rate. Hence kiddie menus making good sense. Sensible compromise and give and take on both sides.