No children in pub after 5pm

[SweetSouls]

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.

Quite the contrary. Kids come first in everything nowadays. When I was a kid we weren’t pandered to, asked our opinions, tested for every ailment under the sun or taken to pubs. Adults were in charge and kids knew that.

our pub seems to have turned into a kids nursery at the moment. I would love a no kids after 5pm ban. it wouldnt be so bad if the kids were under control and sat with their parents at the table. But no, they insist of running around screaming and gathering around my table. Its sometimes hard to have an adult conversation above the noise.

I mean I’m not keen on kids in pubs full stop. I usually want to go there to get away from my own children! I think they can do what they like, plenty of time to go earlier with kids

Good! I am a parent who is considerate to others and don’t want to be like that poster 👍

I don't think they make much profit on kids meals, if any.

People who drink in a pub with children almost 100% drink at home as well.
You cannot police people.

There are family oriented pubs and adult only pubs. Both have their customers.
Why should parents stay at home and miss enjoying day out with friends just because they have children?

And please don't mention going to pizza hut or mcdonalds. You have shit food, no drinks and absolutelly worse customers than in average family pub.

Unless you’re heading to a Toby or something, I don’t think kids should be kicking around it pubs. As a kid I was forever dragged into them, it’s a horrible, boring, shit environment waiting for your parent to finish their pint.

If pub landlords don't want to run a children's play pen they don't have to.

Lots of adults no longer use pubs because they are crawling with other people's kids - they take up tables, they're noisy and running around and you can see their disinterested parents scrolling their phones while all this is going on. And kids don't spend a lot on drinks so why are they in a pub?

Its bad enough anyway in modern pubs with noisy flashing poker machines, TVs switched on, loud music etc. Most people want to have a quiet drink and chat not spend the early-mid evening in a nightclub. One place we went to had 2 tvs on different channels, sound up on both.

bah humbug, I know. But our locals no longer get our custom or that of our friends, we go to each other's houses instead. So if this is a general trend it's no wonder pubs are closing down.

I don't understand why a lot of posters on here assume kids in pubs means they are running riot whilst the parents get sloshed. DH and I will frequently take our son who is 11 to the pub for a meal, he sits at our table, watches what ever sport is on the screen and behaves himself. We have never allowed him to run around, or annoy other patrons. Our pub has a lounge area where kids are welcome as long as they behave and a bar area which has the pool table in, under 18's are not allowed in there at anytime. That works really well, anyone who wants to go to the pub and not see kids goes in the bar area.
We don't take him to the pub so we can get drunk, we go because the food is nice and we don't want fast food but we don't want a restaurant meal so this is the middle ground.

Sounds like a good idea. I can’t stand kids in pubs, so I’d be more inclined to go to one that had a no kids policy. And why would people take kids to a pub after 5 anyway? I suspect they’d be the feckless type that just let them run around and be noisy.

@DianaTaverner and your response is a perfect example of the hysteria around this sort of conversation. Most of the posters have made the point that outside of pubs, there are so so many child-friendly venues (including cafes, family-friendly restaurants, chains, soft play, museums, galleries, libraries, parks etc).

Nobody is suggesting that parents spend 16 years going to McDonald's. But I appreciate that paraphrasing what lots of posters are saying in the way that you have fits your narrative.

It is also important to note that there is a huge difference between a toddler and a teenager. And quite a few posters have said that their toddlers enjoy being in pubs and speaking to other patrons etc-with absolutely no awareness or regard for others' sense of enjoyment. And especially with prices being what they are now-I'm not prepared to pay upwards of £10 a drink to provide ad hoc babysitting services for parents who let their children run riot in pubs.

@PamPamPamPam 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Would you like your children to be allowed into an 18 film at the cinema? Or to be able to wander into a sex shop or strip club? How about being allowed to go into William Hill and put all their savings on the three forty-five at Kempton? Of course we need legislation that allows children to be excluded, for their own protection in most cases.

Don't blame the pub. This is the result of those parents who ditch all responsibility for their kids when they go in. Posters can say 'yes, but not my children', but how is the pub supposed to tell? Subject customers to a half hour interview about their parenting style before they let them in? So the only way to eliminate the badly behaved, running around and frankly being a danger and/or nuisance is to have a blanket ban. There is no discrimination so the fallout is that the well behaved children can't go in either. The pub obviously think that the loss of some trade is worth it. Blame the parents who are at the root of this.

I think the problem is the association if pubs with drinking heavily. Banning kids from 5 or 7 pm won't change the issue.

I enjoy bringing my kids to restaurants in my home country, Spain. There are also bars and informal restaurants, they all serve coffee and soft drinks too. In general people don't go with the purpose of drinking heavily so it's not an issue if kids go or not as they don't witness drunk people's behaviour. The problem is the normalisation of heavy drinking in some european countries.

I'm guessing you're one of the 'children should be welcome everywhere at all times' brigade?

I don’t object to kids being in a pub at lunchtime, assuming the family are having a meal, but I think a 5pm cut-off is reasonable. If I am in a pub for lunch, I will be mindful of my language, but I consider 5pm to be evening and therefore fair game when it comes to bad language.

@DianaTaverner and your response is a perfect example of the hysteria around this sort of conversation. Most of the posters have made the point that outside of pubs, there are so so many child-friendly venues (including cafes, family-friendly restaurants, chains, soft play, museums, galleries, libraries, parks etc).

And where can adults go for a childfree evening if they don’t want to go to a city centre bar or club?

Most pubs serve coffee and soft drinks too.

I'm lucky, as my kids also love going to the pub.

Parenting medal for you 😂

I sometimes take my DC to our local for lunch or early dinner in the summer. They have a large beer garden with play equipment. I never have more than 2 glasses of wine. And we're gone before there are any drunk adults about. They've always enjoyed it.

I've been to a pub for food and my heart sank when we were given a table next to a family of two adults and two primary school age children. They behaved impeccably.
Went to a family friendly pub with a large beer garden and the showing off of two siblings out of several children had us leaving after a drink. I doubt I'll go there again.

I always feel sad for neglected children running around in pubs late into the evening. It’s poor parenting. So the 5pm rule is protective, children are welcome all day but not the evenings. However in this case it’s likely to be a business decision based on the fact children eat cheaper menus and can only drink water or soft drinks. They sell the table to adults, it’s a much higher profit margin.

I lived in southern Europe and wouldn’t want to see the late nights for dc implemented here, the children have siestas from lunch time in most places and our children would never last day much less achieve anything a ademicslly with such late nights continuously.

When I was out on Saturday night in a bar in the centre of town, kids were running everywhere, bouncing off my legs and wiping their grubby hands on me. This is a bar that has a restaurant attached, it's dark and there's a DJ. Not a suitable place for children.

If one of them gets hurt, who's to blame? When I've been drinking, am I supposed to be on the lookout for toddlers hurtling towards me? The parents are nowhere to be seen.

I missed the point when bars previously for over 18s, became a free for all. If a 14 or 15-year-old shouldn't be in there, why should a 4-year-old?

I'd say that the hyperbole belongs to the many posters on this thread who've said flat out that "children" (not toddlers) should never be in pubs. Not some, but all pubs, from lairy vertical drinking boozers, to village pubs which are the only source of food for ten miles, and have extensive playgrounds, toy boxes and children's menus. And regardless of behaviour.

There are places and times where children aren't appropriate, depending on their age, and some where they're fine. If the proprietor and the parent thinks it's fine, and the child is behaving within normal boundaries for the location then there's no reason to make sacrifices just because some people think you should.