11 month old in restaurant

[Anoushkaka]

So I know things have changed with parenting since I had my own children, youngest is now 11 but do some parents literally just let their kids to what they want?

Went for a meal yesterday with DH and our children. A couple come in with their baby and get seated near us. Highchair is brought over and they put him in but don't strap him in because he doesnt like to be strapped in, mother said this to waitress. They order food and literally plonk a bowl of mash, veg and gravy on the highchair for baby to eat. He puts his hands straight in and starts feeding himself with his hands, food is going everywhere, patents are looking at him and saying "what a great boy he is".

Baby literally has food everywhere, parents make a half hearted attempt to clean baby which results in an almighty tantrum and him nearly falling out of the highchair because he wasn't strapped in. Dessert comes and the same thing with a bowl of ice cream, its everywhere. They then give him a sippy cup that spills all over him because obviously its not one for his age group.

He screams to get out of highchair, father takes him out and let's him bang cutlery on the table, pull soil from a nearby plant pot and again spill water everywhere. All the parents kept saying to staff was ,"oh sorry, he is just so independent and clever for his age".

I was appalled to be honest. I spoke to my friend who is a childminder and stressed that yes unfortunately a lot of parents are now like this.

Argh though, isn't it more about the parents letting him make a mess? I'd be tripping over myself cleaning up. It's just good manners like.

Some babies just don’t like being spoon fed but they still need to be fed if you’re out and about.

Spoon feeding is way messier than finger foods with my 10 month old. She insists on grabbing the spoon and smearing food everywhere. I would only pick finger foods that make less mess in a restaurant though, never something like mashed potato and would pick up the stuff off the floor.

Just wondering did all the people who never took their babies to restaurants only do self-catering holidays and never went out for lunch with friends etc while their children were babies?

I think you forgotten how awful your children were at that age. Yabu and vvv rude.

Same and my youngest was already reaching for bits on our plate so why not just give him small portions of what everyone else is having instead of buying pouches and jars.

Well back in the good old days the parents left you in the car with a bag of crisps, a bottle of pop and your older sibling. Ahh the pubs were so quiet, weren't kids wonderfully behaved locked in the carpark 😆.

That takes me right back!

Oh please, way to miss the point!

They don;t strap him because he "doesn't like it"...ffs. They think he's gifted and clever and special. Thye let him make noise and mess because he's so amazing, no matter how much it is disturbing others.

They are massive dickheads, is the point. This isn't about BLW. It's about their massive dickheadedness.

I’m a loon because I missed something…,,

please define what loon means? Do you mean I’m a lunatic? Really? Jesus, are you always so OTT?

Do you have anger issues and are prove to drama?

you sound thoroughly unpleasant nasty and judgemental!

Maybe google baby led weaning, and avoid looking a bit silly next time.

Because people don't pay to go to restaurants to be subjected to that at the next table. If the idea of eating with a spoon is so abhorrent, stick to finger food that they can pick up without rubbing gravy and mash into their faces and every reachable surface. Yuck!

And that poster is OTT?

You’re the one who snarked about drip feeding and looked rather silly doing it.

Why is anyone sitting there staring at other people eating anyway? I've no idea how babies are eating when we are in restaurants as I'm not looking. If they have gravy smeared all over their face then so what? Noise is one thing as you can't escape that but being offended because a baby at a table that isn't yours has made a mess of themselves is v weird. Insane hack for you: just don't look.

Only if you shovel high carb food into your child's mouth, and encourage him/her to have "Another one for Grandma. Now one for Daddy" etc, or give them high calorie puddings.

If you load the spoon for the infant, and let them feed themselves, or stop feeding when s/he let's you know they've had enough, then they won't overeat.

I remember it well.

"Honestly dad, I don't think I could manage an 11th lemonade . . . " 😅

Oh dear.. I bet this is what judgy people have been saying about our 'atrocious parenting' for the past 2 years. We've never ever lifted a spoon to our toddlers mouth. Yes, even in a restaurant.

Perhaps research the benefits of baby led weaning. Times have changed. The MAIN (somewhat selfish) benefit I have found is that I am ACTUALLY able to eat a mean because I'm not spending time micro managing what he's eating.

The only difference is, that we always clean up so that the space is cleaner than what it was when we arrived. Oh, and no spoon-banging or plant-digging.

And actually, strapping a baby in MASSIVLEY slows down your potential response time in case the infant chokes, no way would I strap him in, especially with a distracting environment and new-ish food.

At least it was veg and gravy, and not some crap Normally found on the kid menu, like chips, beans and a UPF burger/bun. And at least he wasn't plugged into a device.

I wondered what people say about us behind out backs? Most people are usually impressed at his wide variety of food choices and the fact that he can actually feed himself. But that's only to our faces...

I think calling people lunatics is totally wrong, I didn’t think that word was even used now?

disgusting!

some people are so ill educated it’s untrue! Go google it, it’s offensive.

That includes you, obviously!

If you were posting about a dog then MN would be falling over itself to be horrified at bow unhygienic and disgusting this was. But as it’s a baby, it’s all “that’s perfectly normal, who doesn’t want to get splattered by food or have peas flung at them, mind your own business!”

It suddenly becomes totally hygienic. How curious.

Of course the word lunatic is used now. Why would it not be?

Exactly! I assume they’re with very boring company!

JFC, there's a difference between baby led weaning and letting your child make a mess in a public place and not cleaning it up ffs! Anyone with any modicum of manners would do their best to clean up after themselves. We've all been there like.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lunatic

Really?

Yes, really. OBVIOUSLY its not longer in use as a medical term (and hasn't been for a century), but are you under some bizarre impression that mild insults have been abolished?

Yes it's madness. Totally anti-social behaviour but who cares because little Theo is happy. Just stupid, entitled people showing their offspring how to behave in a stupid and entitled way.

You carry on using the term then, if you think people shouldn’t be offended!

So, when you use it, what are you inferring about the person you’re calling a “loon”?

please do enlighten me!