To wonder what people do on holiday with a baby?

[NewHere83]

Husband and I are first time parents in our late 30s to a gorgeous 4 month old. We're currently on holiday in Scotland with the baby and our dog. Obviously she's too little for activities centered around her - like soft play etc, and probably couldn't bring the dog to those either - so we're mostly doing what we would have done before she arrived - sight-seeing, cafes, brewery tours etc, all a bit more slowly to account for feeds, changes and sleeps!

However, we were denied entry to a dog-friendly bar/brasserie at about 3.30 this afternoon on the grounds of the baby! When we asked for a table, the barmaid said "everyone has to be over 18", which really threw me at first as husband and I are very obviously over 18, until I realised she was talking about the sleeping 4 month old strapped to my chest.

This got me wondering whether we're doing this wrong..... Instead of just doing what we usually do, is there a different way we should be approaching a holiday with a baby? What do other people do?

This is hilarious!! Yeah we don't have any kids in Scotland at all. In fact, Scottish people just emerge fully grown fom loch Ness carrying a 6 pack of tunnocks teacakes in one hand and a glass bottle of irn bru in the other!

We've taken our kids all over Scotland and never been turned away. Edinburgh is teeming with families.

I think some posters might be exaggerating slightly 🤪

They don't have children in Scotland?

We have been with our child and just went to family type places same in England

I live in Glasgow and have never been denied entry on account of children. Admittedly I think there are laws around children in pubs if they don’t sell food/after 8pm.
other than that kids have always been welcome

Ds was pretty portable and amenable until he hit 6.5mths and got very interested in food and crawling. We adapt things to suit him now but before then we just did what we'd normally do with a baby in tow! Now we just plan for food and make sure there's things he can look at from his pram/ harness and try not to have him stuck in them too long. But other than that we still do the things we enjoyed before like going for lunch/ coffee/ museum etc I just factor his need for soft play and practising his walking etc into the week. It's all still good stimulation and experiences for ds and gets us out and about too. Don't let that one bad experience put you off.

Take the grandparents!

If that’s true, surely it’s Edinburgh that might not be very child friendly, rather than the whole of Scotland?

Thanks for the responses everyone, and I'm glad to know we're not neglecting any baby-focussed approach to hols we should be taking! Think I was a bit thrown by the hostile vibes of the barmaid and wondered if we were inadvertently committing some faux-pas.

Just keep doing what you want to do. DS spent most of his first eight months strapped to my chest in art galleries or arthouse cinemas.

We do the same, things we would usually do on holiday with baby in tow. We also did the same when the oldest was a toddler and our youngest was a baby. We did more travelling with children than we did before. Since I was a SAHP and DH was away for 10-12 hours a day, I constantly took the boys with me everywhere as I did if I was alone. They were used to being on buses and trains in their prams, going to museums, parks, restaurants (during quiet times) from birth so going on trips were no different to them. Better to do it while they’re small (depending on the temperament of your child) before the child fares kick in and it becomes more expensive. They might not have all the memories, but you will as well as the pics.

my daughter is now 27, but we never had any problems when she was a baby. I think you’ve just been unlucky with that particular venue.

I think you were just unlucky with that particular venue - most bar-brasserie type venues would happily serve customers with babies/kids during the day time. I have similar holidays to the one you're describing and in some places DP and I are basically the only people without a baby 😁

Only certain premises in Scotland are licensed for children, it would be nothing personal they just don't have the legal permissions to have children on the premises.
There are plenty of family friendly pubs and restaurants too.

Stay in scotland with 3 kids and never been a issue going into bars/restaurants with them for a meal only after a certain time at night but never during the day