To ask parents to turn down volume.

[Borntobeamum]

Sat in a nice restaurant in a hotel.
DH and I are celebrating and sat at the next table is a Mum and dad and their son- aged about 4. He’s watching you tube videos. With the sound on full.
Restaurant is full so can’t move tables.
The parents are both on their phones too.
There’s no interaction. Just tinny noises as they click on various pages.
WIBU to ask them to start up a conversation with their little boy. I could give them some ideas if they’re stuck!

Any twelve month old who can sit and behave nicely in a high chair for two hours is an anomaly. Or even a two year old for that matter.

In our family, kids get taken to the park, the beach, soft play and appropriate cafes for very short periods. They’re not confined for hours so the adults can eat at a naice, restaurant. I want them to run about and shout as kids. None of this sit quietly the adults are talking business.

Not fair on anyone and I genuinely don’t understand why people do it.

Yours could sit at a table for two hours before they were two??

If you want a lengthy meal out with a baby pay for a sitter. You're not there for their benefit. And a toddler won't sit for 2 hrs while the adults ignore them chatting but if you chat to them, draw with them, look at books etc they will ime. When mine got out of their chair we sat R.E.M. back down. If they were noisy me or dh would take them outside for a walk around. If you don't want to do any of that and want to have adult time then have the decency to pay for a sitter rather than have Peppa Pig babysit them at a volume everyone else has to endure.

Them not R.E.M. obviously!

And ignoring your kids while they stare at an iPad completely unaware of their surroundings isn't what I would call including your toddler in our evening.

Of course I’ve seen babies in restaurants- heard them and/or their iPads too. I’ve also cleaned up their mess and dodged them while carrying their parents hot dinner across the room. What fun!

If the meal goes beyond twenty minutes, go home or take the poor miserable souls to the park.