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Original poster

Baby at Burger King- do I live in a bubble?

304 replies

Howshat · 31/12/2025 22:48

We live in the countryside. Took DC to the city today and had lunch at Burger King. There was a couple there with their baby, about 8 or 9 months old. Not walking. She was sitting in a high chair and had a phone in front of her. She was mainly ignoring it and looking around at the people in the restaurant.

Their food came and the parents fed her a burger, chips and apple juice, with the phone still in front of her.

I‘m happy to accept that I live in a bubble. But I‘ve never seen anything like this before and was very shocked. This was a baby, not a toddler.

Is this a normal thing nowadays?

OP posts:
canuckup · 31/12/2025 23:10

I love it how people are up in arms about the fact that the OP doesn't know how old the child is. Sat in a high chair.

Like that is the worrying point!!

Cos if she's was 2, yeah we're all good

Libs09D · 31/12/2025 23:10

By the time my kid stopped swimming lessons there was a mum in the changing room with a baby/toddler in pushchair where the phone was attached to the pushchair with a strap.
i could vaguely get that but swimming lessons are only 30 mins…

Original poster
Howshat · 31/12/2025 23:10

The mum was being very sweet and giving the baby lots of kisses and cuddles and chatting with her. The phone seemed so unnecessary and the child wasn’t interested in it.

I‘ve genuinely never seen this before which is why I posted.

OP posts:
Cyclingmummy1 · 31/12/2025 23:12

Very common to see babies with screens and fast food, usually a Greggs dummy rather than a BK.

Okiedokie123 · 31/12/2025 23:12

Sadly very common nowadays. Lazy parenting. I feel sad for reception class teachers who now have a high number of kids in their classes who lack basic skills communication skills, turn taking in conversations, manners, how to look at a book, knowledge of nursery rhymes, stories (Goldilocks and three bears etc). And for the kids as well of course. Developmentally delayed children purely due to poor parenting is reall6 sad

EchoedSilence · 31/12/2025 23:12

Howshat · 31/12/2025 23:10

The mum was being very sweet and giving the baby lots of kisses and cuddles and chatting with her. The phone seemed so unnecessary and the child wasn’t interested in it.

I‘ve genuinely never seen this before which is why I posted.

It must be because your kids are used to looking at cows and sheep and all those country things.

Frozensun · 31/12/2025 23:15

Was the baby clean, appeared well fed, happy? You say it was ignoring the phone and looking around. And mum was actively interacting with Bub? What a shit parent! But, when it comes down to it, as long as the child appears ok, I’m not standing in judgement of another parent. Life is bloody hard as it is.

Dollybantree · 31/12/2025 23:15

AngryBird6122 · 31/12/2025 23:10

We just came back from Disneyland which as you can imagine was beautifully light up with much to look at at Christmas time. Still babies and toddlers being plonked in front of phones…

It’s bizarre isn’t it? I don’t think there’s any justification for it, it’s just crap parenting.

We have 4 dc’s and took them all to eat out etc from a young age _ never once put them
in front of gadgets. What about socialising, learning to carry conversations with friends and family around the table, noticing their surroundings?

There’s plenty of time for iPhones when they’re teenagers.

muggart · 31/12/2025 23:16

crap parenting whether the kid is 1 or 2 or 10.

GreywackeJ · 31/12/2025 23:18

Shit parenting, even if it’s not the norm.

BackToLurk · 31/12/2025 23:21

Okiedokie123 · 31/12/2025 23:12

Sadly very common nowadays. Lazy parenting. I feel sad for reception class teachers who now have a high number of kids in their classes who lack basic skills communication skills, turn taking in conversations, manners, how to look at a book, knowledge of nursery rhymes, stories (Goldilocks and three bears etc). And for the kids as well of course. Developmentally delayed children purely due to poor parenting is reall6 sad

Nothing to do with ‘nowadays’. When my son was in reception there were children who had never seen a book, didn’t know how to turn the pages. He’s 32 now.

LittlePetitePsychopath · 31/12/2025 23:21

FancyLimePoet · 31/12/2025 23:05

What 9 month old baby needs a BK treat ? They could have just as easily picked up a pouch or jar which I’d eat healthier. It’s just setting the child up with bad habits which are very difficult to break as an adult.

Show quote history

They are absolutely full of sugar.

I’d rather give my 9 month old a couple of chips than a pouch or a jar, but she’d not let you anyway, she does not eat mush. She likes finger foods and doing it herself.

She lives off fish, vegetables and yoghurt at the moment, as they are her favourites, but I’d absolutely give her a chip if I was in Burger King.

Wouldn’t give her my phone in normal circumstances , though… she’d probably lob it at the floor anyway 😂

EchoedSilence · 31/12/2025 23:21

Perfect parents of MN assemble!

Mumof1andacat · 31/12/2025 23:21

I've been seeing babies and toddlers being entertained with devices for the last 10 years plus. This is not recent thing

soupyspoon · 31/12/2025 23:22

You're not allowed to say this OP

Subbyhubby · 31/12/2025 23:22

I’m not a burger “fan” so not my choice but most people are just doing what they can to get by. I would try not to be so judgemental, you don’t know what the deal is with these guys, this might be a one off or just the norm, but it’s not your kid, so why does it rile you up so much? I’d just live and let live dude

Btowngirl · 31/12/2025 23:23

CheeseWisely · 31/12/2025 23:08

I couldn’t care about the food as you don’t actually know how old the baby was and it’s a snapshot of their diet, but I’d raise an eyebrow at the phone. DS is 18 months and we go out and about regularly and not once, including flying with him on my own including airport layovers, have I used a screen outside the house (although there’s a bit of Hey Duggee goes on at home from time to time). We take small toys and books and loads of snacks wherever we go and on the rare occasion that doesn’t work to amuse him we simply eat fast and leave.

Maybe the family the OP saw never let their kid watch a screen inside the house..

tachetastic · 31/12/2025 23:24

I’ll happily put my judgy hand up. If it was truly an exception and the only port in a storm then they could get a pass with the food, but only just. If it’s a regular thing then that is poor parenting.

The phone I think is just bad, unless the parents were both at deaths door. No screens at the table, including for grown-ups.

Bababear987 · 31/12/2025 23:24

Christ I hate stuff like this, lazy parenting is ok sometimes. Parents dont need to be on it 100% of the time, were human too.
My child gets a McDonalds here and there but we also do 3 sensory/sport classes per week, see friends, so the park, museums, soft play, like just let the kids and parents relax.....

Ineedanewsofa · 31/12/2025 23:27

You do live in a bit of a bubble, as do I. Saw a very similar thing over the summer (McDs rather than BK) and had to check my judgement, as although it wasn’t a parenting choice I would have made the baby was being engaged and interacted with by both adults, being encouraged to hold foods and taste them and generally being doted on by two people seemingly doing their best. It was also about 9pm which felt very late for a baby to be out in the UK but I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid in Spain…

MO0N · 31/12/2025 23:27

The food & the phone are both appalling, and if this is what they are willing to show in public what must things be like at home?

ItsDarkNow · 31/12/2025 23:28

It’s very common and depressing in equal measure.

Itsmetheflamingo · 31/12/2025 23:29

MO0N · 31/12/2025 23:27

The food & the phone are both appalling, and if this is what they are willing to show in public what must things be like at home?

Probably operating a child abuse ring

CheeseWisely · 31/12/2025 23:31

Btowngirl · 31/12/2025 23:23

Maybe the family the OP saw never let their kid watch a screen inside the house..

Show quote history

Well maybe, but if a phone in front of the kid in a restaurant (who it appears was happily engaged in their surroundings regardless) is their default, what are the chances?

usedtobeaylis · 31/12/2025 23:32

I think the worst thing about this is the fake wide-eyed surprise.

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