To want a coffee shop with a no children policy

[Amiterriblex3]

In a coffee shop and have to listen to a bunch of 2 year old screaming, absolutely screaming at the top of his lungs. Their mothers might be immune to such noise but I am not. I would be embarrassed if my child screamed like that

I did laugh at the people suggesting the OP goes to the library for a quiet space as they can be anything but, particularly on weekends. I was in one during the summer holidays and two boys were shrieking as they climbed up the bookshelves whilst their dad sat scrolling on his phone.

Anyway @strictlynopolitics I seem to have become intolerant to pretty much everyone these days but please can I still use your cafe? I have excellent table manners, am not a fussy eater and will help with the washing up.

Adult only
No dogs
No phones or electronic devices
Bring a newspaper or book

What about Kindles (other electronic reading devices are available).

But how does that make the screaming any more melodious?

Owning a childfree cafe is totally different to wanting to visit one every now and again.

Yes, I get it………and many places just lend themselves to amplify any noise which makes noisy individuals sound even worse.
I would love to see a chain of coffee shops/ cafes where laptops are banned, children and babies are not allowed, and the use of a mobile is outlawed. Will it happen? …..probably not but I do sympathise with the OP. And loud noise can be painful to some.

Electronic devices on silent?

Indeed - no longer the hushed silence with stern librarians. Mine hosts mother and children groups with singing and musical instruments. It's lovely to see the revival/rejuvenation of libraries - albeit not for their original purpose. (Those groups don't go on all day every day - so if you're strategic with then you go, you can usually avoid the soft play feel!)

What about alpacas? Assuming Santa finally brings one this year the bloody tightwad!

I’d love one for the days I don’t have my 2 year old.

As someone who was woken up by her neighbours 4 screaming children at 6.30am this morning, yanbu. Would love a child free place to go to. Sick of parents just allowing their children to behave like that.

Isn't this called a wine bar?

Not really a silly post. I suspect OP isn't the only person in the world who fancies a cup of coffee without a symphony of screaming in the background (and 66% of voting posters think she isn't BU).

The really asinine posts are those saying 'open a cafe then'.

I have 2 kids, now the youngest is 5 they dont throw tanteums anymorw bur i alwaua dis my best for thwm to do that in restaurants and coffee shops.
But even i think YANBU. You want want the OPTION of some coffeshop with a no-kids policy, i think that would actually be good, is fo there!

I’ve found my local cafes tend to be quieter just before and during school pick up time between 2.30-3.30. It’s too late for lunch, so an ideal time for a nice quiet coffee.

If there was a market for a quiet, sedate coffee shop it would already be in business.

personally I’d like to ban noisy, chatty men from the sauna and steam rooms in the gym - I find it hard to chill listening to them noisily comparing their football teams and bowel movements

There is a cafe in Vietnam that is silent, all the staff are deaf. There is an ordering system where you show what you would like to order rather than speak. Beautiful, peaceful place. I took my two sons there when they were 2 and 6. They just fell into this calm environment, not a peep out of them for well over an hour. The weirdest thing.

Unfortunately for folks who want childfree spaces, lots of the people who are out spending money in the daytime are people with kids.

Our two local pubs decided on a split strategy - one filled in their fish pond, installed a play area, got a cracking kids menu and went full on family pub.

The other went no kids. Three months down the line they changed it to 'no kids after 5pm or weekends'. Six months down the line it's "two kids eat free with each adult meal before 7pm" and they are begging people to come in.

I have a 2 year old, I take her to coffee shops all the time. BUT. If she ever screamed like the children you're describing then we'd be leaving straight away. I always ask for my order in a takeout cup too just to make the getaway as quick as possible. I don't think it's a child free cafe you're after, I think it's parents who have consideration for everyone else around them.

6.30 ?! That's a lie in!! My kids woke me up at 1am, 3am and 5am!!
perhaps you could move to a detached property if neighbours annoy you? I got woken up by my neighbour who leaves for work at 4am! Might do a post asking to ban shift workers!

I don’t necessarily say a child free cafe is necessary, but I’d like to see cafe owners actually confront the situation by telling customers to stop their children screaming, or they need to leave, instead of leaving it to disturb the rest of their customers. I went with a friend and her young son to see the Minecraft movie at our local cinema in the summer. There were a group of women with their young children, looked to be preschool and maybe reception aged children, who were screaming and distracting. A couple of people asked if they could keep their children quiet, but were ignored. My friend went into the foyer and asked one of the older members of staff if they could do something. Staff member came in, appeared to have a quiet word with the parents. Some raised voices, then five minutes later they filed out to applause from some people. It just needs someone to warn people that the behaviour of their child is unacceptable, and if it continues they need to exit the cafe.

The title… it’s called MUMSnet.

Yes I appreciate all of this and parented my dd to behave well in cafes and restaurants at all times BUT I still think the wording of the OP was an odd choice to post on a forum that is primarily a parenting forum! It feels deliberately goady… but maybe I just misinterpreted it as so many people are assuming I’m a bad parent to call out the post!

I would prefer a no dogs policy. I can't find one anymore where dogs are not allowed even small coffee shops seem to allow them. Last time I went to a small independent the dog walking past with its owner jumped up and tried to take something from my table.
I would much prefer to have noisy children

There’s a cafe like that here in town as well. Learnt that the hard way! I would rather it was explicit to be honest rather than realising it’s not a good fit once you’ve already sat down and tried to order.

People make out its parents v. non parents but actually there’s nothing worse than paying for a babysitter, going out for dinner and there’s noisy children on the next table.

You sound like me, generally, I love to see children out and about and think that as a society we should be more child-friendly but some days I just want a coffee in peace and quiet and that includes not hearing adults bellowing away on their phones