To expect my local coffee shop to let me in with a pram?

[Shockingundercrackers]

Will try to keep this brief. My local coffee shop owner has just refused me entry with a pram (not a massive silver cross call the midwife one, just a bugaboo style thing). He said he was busy (he wasn't, and although its a small place there were only two other customers inside) and that buggies had to be parked outside. I can see the logic of this, but a pram with a 5 week old sleeping baby in it isn't really a buggy is it? Or is it?

I should have remonstrated with the grumpy fecker of course, but it had taken me so long to get said infant out of the house and I was so hungry and tired I thought I might embarrass myself and start blubbing. I beat a hasty retreat.

I've been fuming ever since of course. AIBU?

[thebody]

yes MrsD and amazingly we managed without special parking spaces too.

God we were good.

[queenofthemountains]

When my daughter was having surgery at 3 months, a baby was brought in with 3rd degree burns from a cup of coffee, you should never drink a hot drink over a child.
It was the most horrendous thing I have ever seen a tiny baby covered in burns, plus you literally have to stay in hospital for weeks with them, this babies Aunty had to stay as the mum had other kids.
The second lot of surgery had a 2 yr old totally burnt from a really hot bath his mum had run and he jumped in!
Please, please never drink a hot drink over a baby, I will never forget that poor baby.

[MrsOakenshield]

I know I shouldn't
but I can't help it

and I've said it before

it would be so nice if people could stop being so mean-spirited about changes that have happened for the better for parents. Please?

[SilverApples]

AretexMonkey

And people are always fuming or outraged, aware of every last possible right and getting the loppers out for every male that transgresses in any way, and are constantly about to have an apoplectic fit over very minor issues.
Compromise? negotiation? cutting people a bit of slack?
This is not the MN Way. This is Heresy.
I'm a paid up member of the Old Bag brigade, I like a lot of the changes that have happened, but I'd back the Old Bags for survival in a Zombie Apocalypse.

[FrigginRexManningDay]

Ah here,give over with this get your ass back to the kitchen stuff. Why not get a maxi cosi for your pram so you can leave the chassis outside and bring your baby in. Christ on a bike no need for the martyrdom.

In my day I walked five miles up hill to the shop with a hand me down pram,20 kids and me with my gammy leg. Barefoot. In the snow.

[runes]

Yanbu. I went into my local small independent coffee shop yesterday with my 8 month old and 2.8 yr old straped into a double buggy, yes a double buggy The attitude on here would suggest that I should have been arrested on the spot, but guess what, the staff were lovely, the other customers chatted to my toddler and baby, and I had a lovely lunch. The man's an arse, tell everyone you know and never darken his miserable door again

[ThursdayLast]

I can comment from a waitress POV.

I know that you said the cafe was quiet, but sometimes there is a lot more going on under the surface...big booking about to come in...massive delivery due etc etc. I know this has made me look stressed and stressy in the past, and unable to properly explain it.

I'm now a mum with a baby who frequents cafes so I'm my own worst enemy these days, but prams can take up a lot of space. I would never dream of asking anyone to leave because of it, but then I've only ever been an employee, not the owner. You just have to trust that the mums will notice the obstruction they're causing...sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

Small children in coffee shops are a nerve wrecking nightmare. Some people are so mental they expect me to pass their hot drinks over the heads of children. I DON'T THINK SO!

Also, I can assure you all that there are entitled twats in every walk of life.

[Shockingundercrackers]

I think it's just a bit weird that all mums with prams (I'm a bit old and prone to call anything with wheels that you cart a baby round in "a pram" I'm afraid) get tarred with the same brush. I'm sure a proportion of them are hideous people. Were before they pushed new hideous people out of their fanjos and still are afterwards. But most pram pushers are just perfectly nice people who just happened to have bred. Personally, I'm not expecting special treatment, I just don't want to be a social pariah.

Mrsdevere I'm a bit depressed about the mobility scooter problem. Jeese, that puts things into context. Why are people so bloody grumpy? If I had a caff I'd make room for your DH and I think anyone with any manners would do the same.

[Want2bSupermum]

Someone else has already said it. The cafe owner is probably concerned about a hot drink being spilt over the child. I am shocked at the number of wait staff who hold hot food and drinks over my children's heads.

OP - If you have a bugaboo get the attachment for the car seat. You can easily carry in the car seat and leave the frame outside. I do this with my stroller all the time. The highchairs here in the US can be turned upside down and the car seat fits in it that way. I always put the baby next to the wall, away from any paths of the wait staff.

[MissDD1971]

I'm coming from the era where my mum had those stripey fold up (like deckchair material) pushchairs - so very foldable.

Could you not fold up buggy and put baby in high chair? Most cafes provide this.

and yes, leave it outside either where you can keep an eye on it's being stolen or whatever.

also, I know slings are considered by some to be unsafe but what about those baby back pack things or wouldn't that work?

[mumofthemonsters808]

I feel for you OP because I can remember entering a shop with a stroller. The shop was empty and I already had in my hand what I wanted, when the woman shouted that buggies were not allowed. I asked her if I could just pay for the item and she bellowed not until I had taken my trolley out. I put the item down and left. 11 years on whenever I see the shop I laugh, but at the time I was so angry.

[sammisatt]

Sorry to hijack but I couldn't access tescos extra this morning with my double buggy and twin babies due to the boxes on the floor.I was told to leave the pram with the babies in it just inside the exit. Was I being unreasonable to think this was unreasonable?? How the hell are they equipped to accommodate wheelchair users? I am not of course comparing myself to a wheelchair user, I just have so much more empathy with the nightmare of accessing certain public places now I have a twin buggy.

Sorry for the hijack!

[MissDD1971]

I think maybe cafe owner you never know perhaps he gets busier after a certain time.

Also if small cafe (eg not huge Costa etc) then fire safety etc or spillage may be a concern.

[PramQueen1971]

Artex, you go, girl! Fucking brilliant posts. They know who they are...as do we