Page 3 | No children in pub after 5pm

SweetSouls · 2024-04-15T09:16:20+00:00

My local banned children after 7pm a few years ago. This seemed unnecessary to me, but I suppose that's after 'bed time' so I could sort of see the logic. Adult time etc. On Saturday I went to stop there for a drink in the afternoon, and they have now banned children after 5pm. This seems very odd to me given it's an area that people move to with their families. It's not some town centre boozer, it's surrounded by housing. Is this just not terrible business? I do not get it at all. It was almost empty, incidentally, at 5.15 on a Saturday afternoon.

IlesFlottante · 15/04/2024 11:26

Slightly veering off topic but the idea that taking your kids to a playground as an alternative to going to the pub is a real sign of the times, I think the whole point in days of yore was that kids were expected to fall in with what adults were doing not the other way around. I don't have strong opinions on children in pubs but I think we've gone too far in only doing "kids things" with kids and not tolerating them or expecting them to tolerate a primarily adult environment. I was a kid who was bored in the pub too but I think that's fine, kids don't have to be entertained every waking moment.

ilovepixie · 15/04/2024 11:26

Bring back the good old days when kids were banned completely from pubs and had to sit in the car with a bottle of orange and a bag of salt and vinegar!

Redherringgull · 15/04/2024 11:27

Sometimes I like to go to an adult orientated place and bring my kids with me. Shocker, I know! Why should everything in our lives be child-centric? Sometimes we parents need a break. I hate soft play and playgrounds but I love the pub. I'm lucky, as my kids also love going to the pub.

I wouldn't take them to a proper boozer style pub, but we go for dinner quite regularly, albeit an early lunch or dinner. I think the latest they've ever been in a pub is 7:30/8pm. We've got 3 kids under 5.

SevenSeasOfRhye · 15/04/2024 11:27

It's a business so they'll do whatever makes them the most money.

If takings drop due to this new time restriction, they'll lift it.

gonegrl · 15/04/2024 11:28

For us, pubs are one of the few restaurant settings that allow us to take our dog. He doesn't like being left at home so we usually get take out but it is sometimes nice to go out for a meal. Pubs let us bring out 2yo and our dog. If more pubs started banning children, we would have nowhere to go and that would be very sad - both dog and child are well behaved and love chatting to friendly bar staff and patrons.

Mrsjayy · 15/04/2024 11:28

We went to a small rural hotel a few years ago that had a "lounge" attached it was basically the locals local which is fair enough it had kids running in and out all evening until 9 pm whilst the parents drank, it was really odd.

Allfur · 15/04/2024 11:37

ilovepixie · 15/04/2024 11:26

Bring back the good old days when kids were banned completely from pubs and had to sit in the car with a bottle of orange and a bag of salt and vinegar!

Nah, let's go further than that, bring back the good old days when pubs were just for the men , escaping their wives and families

Allfur · 15/04/2024 11:38

MyOtherCarisAVauxhallZafira · 15/04/2024 11:21

@Allfur surely that's what restaurants and cafes are for? Dining as a priority.

The various holiday destinations I've been to in the uk, the only options for evening meals has been local pubs

Pheasantsmate · 15/04/2024 11:41

I think it’s an interesting demonstration that even though plenty of parents say their kids know how to behave in public and in a pub, that actually they are impactful and off putting towards other guests, enough so that the pub is prepared to lose the family segment of their business entirely.

I would hope the local families who can now no longer go take a bit of a look at their kids behaviour and be honest about does it affect those around them.

mindutopia · 15/04/2024 11:45

I think it's absolutely fine if that's what a pub wants to do. Their property and their business model.

Around here (rural area, traditional farming community, lots of families), the only places to eat or drink anything other than the car park at the petrol station are pubs. We go to the pub for evening meals sometimes with our primary school aged children. Children are perfectly capable of sitting quietly and appropriate for a meal out.

An 18 month old in a pub at 7-8pm, okay, no probably not (though the Europeans manage it just fine). But we eat dinner normally at 7:30-8pm at home, so 7-8pm would be perfectly fine time for a pub meal with a 10 year old. We often bring a card game to play quietly or last time both dc brought books to read while we waited for our food.

That said, our local pub is mostly empty by 8pm! Groups come for meals at 6/7pm and the early evening pint drinkers are there after work hours. But if we go out for a meal, we're usually one of the last to leave at 8pm ish. The only time it's really busy is the monthly pub quiz, which is about half families with children!

Perfectly fine to not allow children, but there are many places where pubs are the only show in town and a very normal part of community life (not a town Wetherspoons) and I imagine these know they'd be in dire straits if they banned children in the evenings as it would hit them pretty hard financially.

Herdinggoats · 15/04/2024 11:46

gonegrl · 15/04/2024 11:28

For us, pubs are one of the few restaurant settings that allow us to take our dog. He doesn't like being left at home so we usually get take out but it is sometimes nice to go out for a meal. Pubs let us bring out 2yo and our dog. If more pubs started banning children, we would have nowhere to go and that would be very sad - both dog and child are well behaved and love chatting to friendly bar staff and patrons.

The amount of kids in pubs who I have trying to say hello or chat…it’s fucking annoying. You can’t tell them to piss off. I want to enjoy the company I’m with not enter into conversation with someone’s needy child. Maybe your kid likes talking to patrons, but they don’t enjoy your kid. This imposition on other guests is why so many people wanting adult only nights out don’t like kids in pubs.

ByeAgain · 15/04/2024 11:46

GR8GAL · 15/04/2024 10:42

From reading the comments, I suppose mine would be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think children belong in environments where alcohol is being consumes in large quantities at all. There is enough of a drinking problem in this part of the world that we don't need to normalise drinking in front of impressionable children.

Agree. Surely there are many other things you can do with your kids other than take them to the pub…

Herdinggoats · 15/04/2024 11:48

mindutopia · 15/04/2024 11:45

I think it's absolutely fine if that's what a pub wants to do. Their property and their business model.

Around here (rural area, traditional farming community, lots of families), the only places to eat or drink anything other than the car park at the petrol station are pubs. We go to the pub for evening meals sometimes with our primary school aged children. Children are perfectly capable of sitting quietly and appropriate for a meal out.

An 18 month old in a pub at 7-8pm, okay, no probably not (though the Europeans manage it just fine). But we eat dinner normally at 7:30-8pm at home, so 7-8pm would be perfectly fine time for a pub meal with a 10 year old. We often bring a card game to play quietly or last time both dc brought books to read while we waited for our food.

That said, our local pub is mostly empty by 8pm! Groups come for meals at 6/7pm and the early evening pint drinkers are there after work hours. But if we go out for a meal, we're usually one of the last to leave at 8pm ish. The only time it's really busy is the monthly pub quiz, which is about half families with children!

Perfectly fine to not allow children, but there are many places where pubs are the only show in town and a very normal part of community life (not a town Wetherspoons) and I imagine these know they'd be in dire straits if they banned children in the evenings as it would hit them pretty hard financially.

Edited

I have no problem with kids in pubs, provided they keep themselves to themselves. The previous post who said their kid loves the pub and chatting to patrons is my idea of a nightmare. I think it’s absolutely fine if they now how to behave, unfortunately many don’t, and their parents think that everyone else loves their little darlings.

LenaLamont · 15/04/2024 11:49

gonegrl · 15/04/2024 11:28

For us, pubs are one of the few restaurant settings that allow us to take our dog. He doesn't like being left at home so we usually get take out but it is sometimes nice to go out for a meal. Pubs let us bring out 2yo and our dog. If more pubs started banning children, we would have nowhere to go and that would be very sad - both dog and child are well behaved and love chatting to friendly bar staff and patrons.

Lots of pub patrons do NOT want to chat with a toddler on their evening out.

I like toddlers and am happy to chat with them at the drop of a hat but my DH would rather undergo dentistry.

LlynTegid · 15/04/2024 11:49

Their choice, perhaps it will lead to some families choosing other places to go to with their children.

ghostyslovesheets · 15/04/2024 11:50

My favourite pub here (award winning including beer garden off the year) is strictly over 18’s only - it’s bliss!

ByeAgain · 15/04/2024 11:52

gonegrl · 15/04/2024 11:28

For us, pubs are one of the few restaurant settings that allow us to take our dog. He doesn't like being left at home so we usually get take out but it is sometimes nice to go out for a meal. Pubs let us bring out 2yo and our dog. If more pubs started banning children, we would have nowhere to go and that would be very sad - both dog and child are well behaved and love chatting to friendly bar staff and patrons.

Are you one of those people who thinks everyone finds your kids and dog as adorable as you do?

PuttingDownRoots · 15/04/2024 11:53

For me its not just not wanting to chat to kids there... I don't like them coming up to me at work and telling me they saw me in the pub having a drink!

Maverickess · 15/04/2024 11:54

Could be a business decision if they've lost trade or had complaints about children, but similarly it could be a licence thing.
One condition of a licence is to protect children from the effects of alcohol, and covers not just ID and underage drinking, but from being around adults that are consuming alcohol and some of the behaviours that go with that.
They can be told that they can't allow children in after a certain time because they're then being exposed to the effects of alcohol, and something like that would usually come from a complaint or few complaints from people who have had children in the pub, or a spot check where something has been seen that the licence team or local police don't like. Or even a local initiative by the council.

So it wouldn't even matter what the pub wants, if they want their licence then they have to do as they're told.

smellslikecinnamon · 15/04/2024 11:55

@ByeAgain

Are you one of those people who thinks everyone finds your kids and dog as adorable as you do?
This says more about you than the pp

Bobbotgegrinch · 15/04/2024 11:55

I have kids, I like my kids, but the pub is where I go to get away from kids.

There's no reason kids need to be in a pub past 5pm

Willmafrockfit · 15/04/2024 11:56

a friend of dd had to leave a bar at 9 pm because she had no ID

smellslikecinnamon · 15/04/2024 11:56

Pheasantsmate · 15/04/2024 11:41

I think it’s an interesting demonstration that even though plenty of parents say their kids know how to behave in public and in a pub, that actually they are impactful and off putting towards other guests, enough so that the pub is prepared to lose the family segment of their business entirely.

I would hope the local families who can now no longer go take a bit of a look at their kids behaviour and be honest about does it affect those around them.

You are suggesting that because some dc are poorly behaved everyone with dc should take a good hard look at their delusions. Or perhaps a more reasonable thought would be that some dc are poorly behaved. This doesn't mean everyone with dc is deluded
You hate dc don't you.

Vaccances · 15/04/2024 11:56

gonegrl · 15/04/2024 11:28

For us, pubs are one of the few restaurant settings that allow us to take our dog. He doesn't like being left at home so we usually get take out but it is sometimes nice to go out for a meal. Pubs let us bring out 2yo and our dog. If more pubs started banning children, we would have nowhere to go and that would be very sad - both dog and child are well behaved and love chatting to friendly bar staff and patrons.

A talking dog! i hope you get your meals for free?

Tbh though, i can think of nothing more annoying than settling down to nice meal with company and some else's child comes up for chat, i'd be polite and outwardly "might" give off the impression i'm enjoying this but inside i'd be thinking "why don't you go away"

Pubs are adult spaces and whilst 5pm is a bit early, i can see why they do it as too many parents let their kids run around chatting to strangers.

StMarieforme · 15/04/2024 11:57

Mrsjayy · 15/04/2024 10:32

I mean do they do food ? .I don't know why people would want to take their kids to a pub after 5pm just to sit whilst the parents had a gin!

When I was 8, in 1970, my parents used to leave me in that car of an evening while they were in the pub.

Incredible! But it was normal then 😊