Child only area in restaurant- discriminatory?

[Buyalot]

I’ve returned from a carvery lunch with DH and DD (14 months).

On arrival, despite there being a lot of seats spare in every area, we were told we had to be seated in the dedicated children’s area - an
absolute racket with soft play etc.

AIBU to find this ridiculous?

Yep. And also too many ineffectual parents who think there's no alternative to letting their children scream and run riot in public because 'you can't stop them'. Yes you can.

Chances are that these days 90% of the tables will have at least one autistic child on them. And many claim their child is ‘undiagnosed’ autistic, ie they’ve decided they’re autistic without medical confirmation. So I can see the excuses will rebound loudly round the restaurant should their child’s behaviour be challenged. I think if you have an autistic child who is not high functioning, who is incapable of sitting relatively quietly, you might have to avoid a dining experience at a restaurant or similar and go to somewhere catering mostly for kids, like macdonalds or play centres which incorporate dining. Just because a child is autistic, it doesn’t trump the needs of the many other people eating who just want to eat in relatively peaceful surroundings I’m afraid.

It's basic science. Children's brains are not fully developed, therefore, they will be more likely to display challenging behaviour. They also go through teething, growth spurts etc which can make them agitated and cause them to cry and shriek.

I'd say the same for dogs in restaurants/public houses, have a designated corner for them and leave the rest of it for those who want to enjoy their meal in peace.

I think it’s a great idea for everyone tbh. People get to eat their meals without kids shrieking and parents can relax a bit knowing that if their kid is playing up, they’re seating with other parents who get it, kids get to actually enjoy a meal out and have a play while eating. Since becoming a parent decent restaurant that have a play area inside or out are a god send!

SOME toddlers. Mine were used to viewing a meal as a vehicle for chatting. I hated the soft play type restaurants so avoided them.

Get a grip of course its reasonable.

Children are not dogs.

If all the “gentle” parents made their children sit to a table nicely then this wouldn’t be an issue. I don’t know when it became acceptable to allow your children to run riot in places like restaurants but I guarantee it was closely followed by “family friendly” areas being created. You have all this to look forward to OP

In the highly unlikely scenario that this happens, generally parents of children with disabilities are kind and considerate to each other and would be able to cooperate with the assistance of the establishment and find a solution that doesn’t require anyone to leave.

Excellent idea. I would love an area like that to meet the needs of my child. Enhancing their experience and my food experience with like minded people beside me. If I had no children paying hard earned money for noise and sometimes running around beside me would disturb my enjoyment.

Totally agree!

Frame it differently.

It’s a pub. It’s basically adults only. With a small area out of line of sight of the bar where children are allowed. Same as playgrounds, no adults without children allowed in that area.

Much less odd.

I would also imagine this is done to stop parents siting at the opposite end of the building getting pissed and letting the children run to the soft play unsupervised.

Is this a Green King restaurant by any chance? We went to one a few years ago and I wasn’t happy about this either. What was even more annoying was all the machines in the children’s area which require a £1 coin to get them to work. We haven’t been back since.

But this doesn’t remotely relate to the OP, there is absolutely nothing in OPs post to suggest that had she had an autistic child and phoned ahead and made your request that it wouldn’t have been granted. So no, it isn’t discriminatory to some families because they haven’t discriminated against a family like yours here.

To be honest I’d breathe a sigh of relief if there was a child only / family area in every restaurant so I could take the pressure off a bit when dining out with DC’s (who are young but not disruptive). Likewise if DH and I went out for a rare meal the two of us I’d appreciate being in an adults only section.

Both are out of the ordinary customer base for a restaurant and both have been known to present disruptive behaviour to other guests.

It would help if the OP said what type of restaurant she visited, e.g. one with a formal dress code and cocktail bar e.g. adult environment or a one with colouring books, crayons and fish fingers on the menu e.g. families with children orientated.

That's fine but not so good when you have a sleeping 6 week of baby and you are shoved in with the almighty racket. Have left a restaurant before due to that

It's legal but I'd have left.

It shows they have a feral child and problem parent issue.

Fuck that shit.

Perhaps a restaurant isn't the best place for such a young infant, with them being so easily woken at that age.

Even in the 'adult' section, there is likely to be the clinking of glasses, ordering of drinks, laughter, raised voices and ringing of bells when food is ready. And why shouldn't there be? Bars & restaurants are places for adults to enjoy themselves. If you've finally been able to get the nanny to babysit on your date night, you wouldn't want it spoiling by someone else's child making mayhem. There are soft play centres for things such as that.

Adults or young teens with physical or learning disabilities who vocalise I would find acceptable in an adult only area. As they should be.

It clearly says in the OP it was a carvery restaurant with a children’s area and soft play! So not a cocktail bar. And children in a restaurant is absolutely ordinary, what a daft post.

Ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation are protected characteristics. Being a child or having children isn't.

I concur. I think we're all aware of Asperger's Syndrome now and how it affects people e.g. stimming. I don't think anyone would have a problem with this. Same for Down's Syndrome too.

Not when there is one other table occupied by a couple of elderly ladies in the non kids section at the time. It was a WEDNESDAY bloody lunchtime so I've no idea where your date night and nanny shite has come from. I was there with my mother . And tiny babies can usually just have a boob shoved in their mouth.

Would've been ok if someone wasn't hoding a 2 or 3 year birthday meet iupn the kids area