To find it odd to bring a toddler to the pub in the evening?

[SaIIy]

I met up with a friend after work today. She asked me to meet her in a pub. I was quite shocked to see her two year old DS asleep in his pram with pyjamas on. I spoke to my friends friend who also joined us and she said DS joins them most evenings. (Was also slightly taken aback that my friend apparently goes to the pub most evenings.)

I’m not a parent but this seemed really odd to me? A loud pub in the city centre for a young child most evenings? I suppose the DC was sound asleep but still… His posture also looked wrong, DC looked way too big for the pram.

And normal to sit outside I would say but not inside.

She's out drinking most evenings with her toddler asleep in a pushchair instead of his own home.

That's awful, poor little kid.

Do you know her well enough to talk to her about it?

Why is everyone talking about the mother drinking in the pub? I assume you mean alcohol?

The OP never said she was drinking.

Unless you live in Spain.

We found that we could continue taking DS1 out with us for a bar meal in the first year which was most weeks at a quiet local pub.

Regularly having a young child in noisy pub is not ideal. Loud noise is not good for healthy hearing. Drinking pubs may role model poor behaviours. The character of the pub matters.
Regular bedtimes at home have lots of benefits like a quiet wind down of activity, focused time between parent/ child, developing reading/ listening skills. If falling asleep at the pub is a routine then the issue can be about what the child is missing out on as much as where the child is.

After work so 5.30 - 6pm
Had your friend just picked him up from nursery and met you for one drink or 6
Not much details to go on at all here

Yes but the continent is a completely different set up, you don't see loads of kids lined up asleep in a push chairs (except maybe at holiday resorts full of Brits) because the hours kids keep are really different there and people eat generally much later and have a siesta in the day. Kids will come home for a three hour break from school at lunch due to the heat so they are awake later.

The scene is also a lot more family friendly, sociable and about eating.The Uk's binge drinking culture is unlike anything on the continent. Kids should be spending their evening calming down, cleaning their teeth and having a bedtime story tucked up in bed, not in a pushchair down the pub. It's just crap parenting as anything more than an occasional thing.

I think providing DS chipped in when it was his round it would be OK, but if he stayed in the background trying to avoid eye contact then it would be a big no-no from me. 🍷

Why? The baby has a dad. If my friend wanted to meet in the pub on an evening I'd assume it was childfree. Its not like she didn't have options - the dad was there he could have stayed home with his child.

the dad was there he could have stayed home with his child.

Do you just make this shit up? 😂

I spoke to my friends friend who also joined us and she said DS joins them most evenings

I misread this as Boyfriend

As someone who came straight from school to the pub and then home late at night , I think bringing a small child into a pub like your friend has is disgusting. It's no place for a child. He should be in bed. I don't think I could be friends with someone who neglects their child that way

Depends on the time. 5 or 6 seems fine but would be strange at 8/9ish, especially if it's every night.

I thought most pubs had a no child policy after a certain time, at least the ones I go to regularly.

It was for drinks, not food. I don’t like pubs so very rarely go to them. Maybe once every 2 - 3 months.

We were sitting outside and it was packed. Definitely not a family pub, it’s in the centre of London. Very noisy, I was surprised the DC was able to sleep through it. I left at just gone 8 but my friend stayed.

CaptainMyCaptain · Yesterday 09:08
MrsSkylerWhite · Yesterday 08:00
Georgeskitchen · Today 07:58
Small children should be tucked up asleep in their own bed at home at night not hawked round noisy pubs. Poor kid“

“if it’s a regular thing, this ^

“Unless you live in Spain”

I don’t

I would judge and I think it's shite parenting to do this as a regular thing.
Having children means a lifestyle change and if you're not prepared to do it then stay child free.

@CaptainMyCaptain not sure where you got the idea that parents in Spain take their kids with them to bars night after night.

Been to Westfield mall past 10 o’clock and there are toddlers running around and babies
In fact I have been out late many times and seen children in the most weird situations even walking along the street at 11 pm or 12 am with Family like they’re taking a stroll in the park lol