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

[Howshat]

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?

Impressed that a baby can eat that tbh
My son is nearly 3 and only in the last couple of months is he able to eat things like that
I guess he's used to eating soft foods, porridge, rice and curry etc

Common but awful

I don't go in there since they stopped spicy beanburgers

Putting a phone in front of a baby is tantamount to child abuse. No wonder so many kids are starting school unable to read, write, eat with cutlery, wipe their arse and even sit up unaided in some cases.

Saw a woman on a bis out Dr Pepper in her baby’s bottle - maybe six months old? That was pretty shocking. A baby at a fast food place wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.

Bus and put. Swear I haven’t been drinking! Just fat fingers …

You do realise you're seeing a tiny snapshot of someone's life when you're out and about. I go out to eat maybe five or six times a year, on those occasions I often have my toddler with me. I will play with her, colour in, do sticker books etc. But after a while she's had enough, and I'll pop some cartoons on my phone for her so that we can get to the end of the meal without her shouting, trying to run around etc. This will be for fifteen/twenty minutes tops and happens a handful of times a year. You will look at me and judge me assuming the worst, yet this is a tiny fragment of our life which you are witnessing. How about judging less and giving people a bit of grace?

Unfortunately normal.

A meal at BK is not a treat. Not by any stretch.

Meh. I have a photo of my DS at about 13months sat in the boot of our car, in the dog bed eating McDonald’s fries. It makes me
laugh whenever I see it, as a happy memory. We were travelling to see family, grabbed some food on the go. It didn’t kill him, and it made our lives easier for a few minutes.

Do get a grip! You're not witnessing someone's everyday life. I allow my toddler, (two years old) to watch cartoons on my phone on the rare occasions we go out to eat. She was potty trained by two, loves being read to, and is better able to use cutlery than some teenagers. Stop judging people and assuming everything about them when you are seeing a tiny fragment of their lives.

i would consider that abusive/ neglectful

And what were you feeding your child, oh the country bumpkin that you are who never goes into that there large town where there be babies in Burger King?

It’s shit Op. It’s ok to be shocked.
You just have to have hope that that’s kids future isn’t defined by its parents choices. It’s a big world these days.

Parents were feeding their child (of an age you are guessing) and you felt you needed to rush to tell mumsnet?

I don't think you need to ask if you're in a bubble.

Too much saturated fats and salt in fast food for a baby to digest. As well as setting bad eating habits.

You’ve seen a snapshot of their day, you have no idea what’s happened or if this is a one off.

My little boy is almost 2 but he’s tiny, many people regularly mistake him for 1 or younger. We went to McDonald’s the other day and after a very stressful morning he had a happy meal. If someone seen this or my phone propped up in front of him then they would have judged me as a terrible mum but really they don’t know what else he’s eaten in the day, they wouldn’t have seen the many books we’ve read or all the different games we’ve played.

You seen someone for a short time, you don’t know what’s happened before or after this.

Which bit upsets you? The meal or the phone?

I mean, you said she ignored the phone and looked around so that’s no big deal.
The meal? Well, like others said, she could be older. My eldest was teeny, she was under 6lb born. She was on the second centipede for years. People thought she was way younger than she was. And she walked at 9 months which totally bewildered them! 15 months later I had her brother who was over 9lb born. Again he walked early, 8 months. People always thought he was her older brother!
But he was a hungry lad, weaned at 5 months (was advised by HV in those days!). By 7 months he ate what we ate, full on proper meals. So if we went to a burger joint (rare as we were, and always have been, poor) he would have had a full on kids meal no bother.

A baby that young is very unlikely to eat a full BK meal.

So dangerous to children under one to watch a screen. Scientists will probably discover its as dangerous for adults one day too.

You aren’t BU as it’s disgraceful, but I’m not surprised as there a lot more lazy and uneducated parents out there than there ought to be. Poor child.

As a teacher, I wish parents would stop using phones/screens as babysitters for young children. The damage it does developmentally in so many areas of brain and language development is staggering. Its just easier to keep children quiet with a screen. So sad.
And before people come at me, parenting is hard, I know, I have two daughters, aged 12 and 6, ive raised them myself since they were 18 months and 7 so I totally get parents need a break at times, mine will sit and relax with a film or tv show, my eldest has a Nintendo switch and a phone with WhatsApp on to contact friends, both are time limited and she will not have any social media til 16 (or 18 if I had my way dont get me started on the safeguarding issues we have EVERY DAY in my job due to social media)
But parebts should be sitting and talking with their children at the dinner table. Recently on holiday we were in a restaurant and we were the only table playing UNO and talking. Every other table was buried in their phones/tablets and the place was packed.

I see the damage screens do to children daily. Their attention spans, concentration and imagination ruined.
Rant over 😂 happy new year all

P.s burger king no better 😂

I wasn’t able to sit with my DD anywhere in a public for a quick coffee let alone eating, due to DD being fussy immediately (crying and whining), unable to sit still for more than a few moments. I didn’t want to annoy others.

Recently, it has changed (she is now 3). No phone but she does enjoy a burger meal with a little milkshake. After years of isolation with eating at home, to sit out somewhere like that for a treat and enjoy something like this feels great. We’ve also run into other mums with their kids, and then they all play on the playground together. It’s a nice outing.

It’s not the fact you saw it and silently judged a bit… i think we all do that. But then we probably go, ya know what… maybe that mums having a really shit time, maybe she just lost someone, maybe she’s struggling mentally, physically, maybe she’s burnt out and I was witnessing her peak. Or maybe, she was never taught better and this was how she was brought up and so, it seems totally normal to her. But no, not you OP… you had to not only judge in your head, but publicly judge by writing a boring bloody post on mumsnet. If we are saw the worst of your parenting I’m sure we’d all have something to say about it too. Ah?

We did baby led weaning, so he ate the same food as us. I'm sure at a similar age we took him to burger king or mds when travelling to visit family. I wouldn't use a screen but I can see why other parents do. And not my kid, not my problem.