Restaurants should have a child free section

[Hdaniels11]

I keener old smoking/non smoking sections at restaurants. They should do the same thing with children/no children sections. I was at a testy with a few friends last night and the table next to mine had two screaming children. Another table had their 4 maybe 5 year old son stun up and down the aisle nearly knocking over the waitress with a tray full of drinks. We asked to move because it was just too noisy and disturbing, after that we had no more distractions and were actually able to converse with one another.

A lot of that reminds me of my sister, her husband believes in being the kids "friend" rather than the parent and says things like "boys will be boys" and "they are just getting their energy out" i just roll my eyes when he says that. NO it's a restaurant not a playground.

As a parent myself i actually think it's a good idea from the other side. It's embarrassing to have your child screaming and acting a fool in public, Around other parents you would at least get a little more empathy.

At our local brewers fair when you book online they ask how many adults/children. If you put even 1 child down you get seated in the ‘family’ section beside the soft play area.
We made the mistake of saying we had 1 child with us once (13 year old) and got seated there.
It was hell, kids running around, jumping if seats, screaming. Parents not bothering to do even a bit actual parenting. Rest of the restaurant was calm and peaceful.
We didn’t make that mistake again.

I totally agree.
Also
a loud obnoxious male section
A screeching with laughter every 2 minutes section
An office party/hen night section

I don't know why I eat out anymore.

I got to:

I won’t give up my tea/coffee even though my toddler is tearing around the place!

And had to stop reading. Precisely why the OP’s idea is a good one.

I answered in the post you quoted. Go to a restaurant that doesn’t serve children. Many restaurants don’t serve children later in the evening. It’s really not that hard.
Of course you will get preschool children in restaurants at lunch time. Term time is irrelevant if they are too young for school.

YABU, but only because I think a child free section should not be needed. Kids in a restaurant should be well behaved and not running about the place anyway. It is dangerous.
There will be parents who have well behaved kids who would also be eyerolling at the ones who let their children run feral.

it's the same in a supermarket the other day, two kids chasing each other, and a member of the public had to say behave yourselves, as their parents were to busy

I used to meet up with a friend who brought her kids with her. We would be in Costa and she would just let her young toddler crawl about the whole café and let her older kid run about like it was a playground. One time, we went to a new restaurant that had literally just opened. We went to check it out, and she let her son go and harass other diners. She did not care at all.

@XenoBitch I hear you - I’ve friends I literally won’t see with their kids because they’re exactly like that.

I completely agree op.

My local gastro-pub and absolute favourite place to go of an evening is totally child free. It's heaven, good food, good drinks and wonderful atmosphere. Also a good laugh to read the reviews of disgruntled parents who got turned away at the door with their brood and are SHOCKED and APPALLED that "no children" does in fact include their children.

My local has this almost nailed.

You go in the door, to the left is the adult only section. You go right there is the carvery and more adult only seating.

Then there are family seats / tables then closed doors which are virtually soundproof and that's the kids play area and then doors out to the outside play area and more seating.

I said it was almost nailed, I have been in the adult only seating when a small child wandered through naked from the waist down, from the play area to where his parents were sitting having a drink.

And yes I did judge, if your child is still in nappies then surely you should be supervising?

I don't have children but it doesn't bother me if they are in a restaurant. If they don't learn how to behave in public by enjoying social activities, what kind of adults will they be?

I had a few friends with unruly kids or kids who struggled with dining out. They grew out of it.

Me neither and same, spent my adult life eating out several times a week because I love it and hate cooking, all different kinds of restaurants and cafes at all different times. Never once seen these feral children.

If I'm honest I think there's a sort of miserable, entitled, cat bum faced brigade on Mumsnet (some usernames always seem to pop up on these kinds of threads) who are just against children in public in general. That's why already on this thread IKEA, supermarkets and planes have also been mentioned. I was not a massive fan of children before having my own yet funnily enough, despite being out and about a lot, never really encountered these supposed endless array of intrusively badly behaved kids.

Me neither! But then again I’ve also never noticed all of the “dirty looks” everyone here seems to get from strangers and their MILs. It sounds VERY upsetting though!

They are human beings too and have as much right to be there as you (although they aren’t paying customers usually 😂).

Eating out is more democratised now, for many it's not seen as a process with certain social rituals.

So even between different families taking their kids out there are different assumptions.

Traditionally there are stages, ordering, table manners, making conversation, waiting, eating etc. I personally quite like this and teach my kids how to fit in with it. But I'm actually quite snobby if I'm honest with myself and want to teach my children how to handle themselves in situations of prestige so they know the unspoken rules of the class system and never feel awkward in posh places. It'll serve them well when they're in the Cabinet with all the Etonians etc etc...

But there's a bit of a clash in the world of restaurants now, lots of chains with reasonably priced simple food are not part of that old fashioned posh restaurant world. I see why people think it's fair enough to head to pizza hut and behave like you would in your own kitchen. So some people are thinking restaurants are all about teaching the social ritual. Others are thinking they're about having a relaxed time together as a family. Both sides think the others are unreasonable.

We take our child out for meals at appropriate places, and of course make sure DC are well behaved. I appreciate people don't want to have kids around because it does change the atmosphere, that is true; I also like to enjoy adult company in an adult atmosphere especially when I want to unwind after a tough week with a friend over a few drinks. I felt like this before kids and wondered if I would change after, I didn't. Most of my friends have kids and think the same 🤷‍♀️
I don't see why this is even a big deal, it's nothing personal to your kids or a slippery slope to them being banished out of public sight or anything.
Family friendly place, welcome. Adult venue, no.
Same goes for dogs BTW!

Right, because you have been fortunate enough to have been bothered by other people kids when out it does not exist as a problem!

Anyone else reckon the reason some posters have 'never, ever experienced annoying behaviour from children in restaurants' is because it's their kids who are doing the annoying?

I would argue that in a sizeable percentage of cases, proper consent is questionable

Oops last post was wrong thread.

In answer to this point though. In DS's case absolutely not because we get frequent comments about just how good he's been and how well mannered etc he's been.

Just to piss on your theory completely.

DS is great eating out. Which is one of the reasons we like going out as a family as it's nice not a stressful event.

I've had one meal ruined by children running amok. Sadly it was my niece. God I could have cried. She was a little shit, screeching, running, spinning, yelling that she wouldnt sit in her seat, wanting to try everyone's food.
Worst of all at the end, my aunt gave her some money, think like a twenty note.
My kids got nothing. Even though they had sat like angels, never complaining,
Only leaving the seat for the loo. same sort of age too. It rankled, obviously cos I still remember it.

But if children being noisy and badly behaved in restaurants is just a MN made up thing, and no children do this in real life, why would strangers thing to comment on a well behaved child in a restaurant?
That surely proves it's unusual?

My point above stands that why should those who behave be punished? And DS is exceptional even by well behaved standards - friends with good well behaved kids who are now older make the comment.

I think the opposite, if anything- people are more likely to let their kids run amok if they think that's a normal thing to do.