Put your frikking babies to bed!

[Plsdiscuss]

I went for a very exclusive dinner Saturday night. I'd been looking forward to it for ages. £150 per head place, which is a huge splurge for us.

A family of 4 were seated next to us at their 7.45pm arrival. The (about) 3 yr old was 50% pacified. The (about) 9 month old in the high chair squawked for about 30 mins then fell asleep, looking very uncomfortable slumped over the side of the highchair.

If their noise wasn't bad enough, I could hear another child crying in another part of the restaurant for about an hour. That child's noise got louder as they were pushed in their pram crossing the restaurant to leave around 9pm. I commented and gestured to my partner. I wasn't as subtle as I thought in this, as the mum looked cross, waved her arm at me and mouthed fuck off.

When my now adult children were that small, they were in bed by 7.30, unless there was an event like a wedding. We got babysitters for evening meals out...very rare as very hard to get babysitters. I would never have dreamt of taking my under 5s to quiet intimate adult spots, then letting them cry for the majority. For 1, I wouldn't have enjoyed my food and 2, neither would those around me.

There's a reason deliveroo exists. Use it. And stop being so frikking selfish. Babies need sleep, not fine dining.

Screaming children don't ruin it for everyone else, I don't understand why the some countries are allergic to kids these days. I PERSONALLY would not have been making comments under my breath about a new family trying to enjoy something nice.

@Engaea is completely right.

Yes, she doesn't want to hear screaming babies, but pretty sure the parents don't either, should they just stay home until their kids grow up then? Or just have cheap meals for 15 years, I mean, seriously, Toby Carvery?

So I'll argue that THEIR 300 quid meal, complete with crying children was EQUALLY as important to THEM as her meal.

I've been around people like that, complaining as soon as they see sight of a baby, moaning about the slightest whimper, whilst me and my husband cannot understand the fuss about one of the most natural noises in the world, a crying baby.

Reminds me of the woman complaining about the baby in first class!

And the contrast of this thread to the one about being woken up in an expensive hotel by an accidental 6am alarm - the OP there was told she should just suck it up, but God forbid anyone has to hear a baby!

You're not wrong, but I think the point is that if someone has gone to McDonalds they're spending a tenth of what the OP spent at this restaurant, and they probably expect it to be noisy and chaotic.

I wouldn't feel the same about it if it happened at McDonalds because the financial outlay and expectation of the event just isn't the same.

But like you, we expect our children to behave even in McDonalds.

Surely it's more self-entitled to take your young children to a place they're bound to behave in a very anti-social way.

Only if a restaurant has a rule of no children under a certain age at a certain time. I actually think it’s entitled to expect the world to revolve around one, whether you’re a mum of young children who are screaming in a restaurant and doesn’t give a damn or someone who wants to dine without any children in the restaurant yet it’s not a childfree restaurant or time when children are not allowed.

So babies shouldn't be in restaurants full stop? Fgs this thread is getting more and more ridiculous.

Yep and then people get offended when other countries often say people in the U.K. don’t like spending time with their children . It’s alien to me why kids don’t eat dinner with parents . I think some newer generations might be a bit better as they travel more and are more culturally enriched

I never took my two kids out at night. I didn’t want it and neither do other people. The fucking entitlement. Mouthing eff off at you? Just trampy

Ill mannered parents are going to have I’ll mannered kids.
Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Same with dog owners.

The dog mirrors it’s owner.

Falling asleep is anti social ? Don’t be ridiculous! Babies fall asleep everywhere

This. Lots of people on this thread just go to show that so many people are just horrible inconsiderate to others.
Your child crying for ages at what sounds like an upmarket resturant in the evening is completely inconsiderate and selfish.
See also talking through west end shows or letting your child talk / cry through the shows.
Horribly entitled and selfish.

Restaurants in the evening are for adults. Who wants prams and high chairs? All wrong. No wonder kids think they’re special

Well there you go, nought more to be said.

I wouldn't have liked it either but I think you need to appreciate that your once in a lifetime £150 meal is someone else's Pizza Express. Not a treat or a luxury but simply a place where they sometimes go for dinner. It's not exclusive. It may not have even crossed their mind.

yes yes yes!

I was referring to the noise they make before they fall asleep. But you knew that.

Anyone who can afford a meal out can afford a babysitter.

I’ve never been to a Toby Carvery - but have taken children to Macdonalds - Ghastly place, but where kids are expected to be.

The fact that a upmarket restaurant allows children tells you everything you need to know about children needing a place in society . Maybe it’s people like you that need to adapt to the rest of the world ?

Let me guess you also don’t think kids should travel first class because they are so unworthy of anything nice 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄

It is totally inconsiderate to allow your young children to scream and disturb other people's enjoyment in a restaurant. If that makes me aggressive so be it. I adjusted my life when my children were young so that we were never in this position. It meant making sacrifices of course, but it is not fun for me or anyone else to be wrestling with toddlers and crying babies when adults are enjoying an evening meal.

Did you actually READ my post. I never said that at all.

As I say, trampy

Christ, screaming children DO ruin it for other people. If children start misbehaving/screaming in a restaurant they should be taken out.

The point of children in mainland Europe is yes, they do tend to eat later and are accepted but they also appear to know how to sit and behave appropriately, not propped up by iPads and mobiles (that doesn't bother me as long as they have headphones) that you seem to get here.

The thing is, no one would care about there being children in the restaurant if the children were well behaved. It's when they scream and cry that it's a problem.

A lot of people in this thread are saying that they have an equal right to be there and their money is just as good as the OP's, but no.

The difference is that the OP isn't disturbing anyone whereas the obnoxious parents and their kids are.

Everyone has an equal right to eat at a restaurant, but some people interpret that to mean they have the right to disturb other diners.

Lots of comments as well about children in foreign countries, but the culture is completely different. Children are absolutely welcomed in restaurants but they are expected to behave, in a way that so many British children can't seem to.

i agree that a child should have access to the adult menu, my children never liked the nugget/fish finger option either, my 7yr son shocked a waitress once by having a lamb shank 😂😂

the pub I mention offers the same menus in both rooms, just one is child safe etc and the other is for those who chose a more quiet grown up environment.

and yes adults can be just as obnoxious as the most badly behaved child, the only difference is I would tell an obnoxious adult to leave, a badly behaved child is just being a child.

Because not everyone wants to eat a posh dinner next door to wailing babies. I wouldn't have taken my daughter either.