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?

Saw a 3 year old on the tube handed a can of Monster energy drink by his mother last week. Isn’t that actually dangerous given the caffeine?

Get back to the countryside , OP, and don’t venture out again!

I grew up in the countryside, on a working farm no less!
I was more than aware of the existence of BK, McD's etc and even then (30+ years ago) we didn't have to go to the city to find one! We were never allowed fast food as kids, always told we didn't have the money (plenty of money for 30 fags a day for my mother though).
I brought my children up in a small town surrounded by the countryside, they are also very aware of fast food type places. We went out fairly often to eat when they were little, they were entertained at the table with colouring books and little toys as, looking back, I don't think we even had smartphones. Perhaps I was judged by older generations for letting them colour in at the table? After all, their kids just got a slap across the knuckles and behaved perfectly when out and about 😉
Personally, I do think handing a baby a screen when out eating isn't great parenting. Can I guarantee if I had the tech when mine were that age that I wouldn't have resorted to it? No, of course I can't!
Even us country bumpkins have bad days!

Makes me sad and angry over the ignorance and selfishness of the parent, and the development of the baby.

Love a maccies now and then but the amount of salt in a typical meal of that kind is too much for babies’ kidneys.

Not a disaster as a one off but bad idea if it’s regular.

Training kids to stare at a screen for hours so parents don't have to speak to their kids...

I used to take mine out for meals but not fast food at that age!

Disgusting and not normal or common sense to feed a child fast food. I haven't even read this thread as I know it will be full of people excusing it with the most dramatic and performative answers like "my child is ND" " we were on our way to my mums funeral" and other histrionic replies intended to shut down the very basic fact that we shouldn't be feeding this shit to ourselves let alone babies.

So you adults couldn’t eat and talk to/interact with your child? Lazy parenting at its finest. Do you know how many children are starting school virtually non verbal, or worse with an American accent because all they do is get shoved into a corner with a phone instead of being included and actually talked to.

It’s lazy parenting to shove a baby/toddler in front of a screen.

DGS is just 2, he’s not allowed screen time, ever. He doesn’t watch the tv, videos on phones or iPads. When he has his meals, and his parents aren’t at work, they have their’s too. If one is at work the other sits with him, so he’s used to having human conversations and interactions at the table. If he goes to a restaurant and gets a bit fractious waiting someone takes him for a little walk. His speech is very clear, he can talk in sentences and hold a conversation. Books are his favourite thing and he can entertain himself by playing for ages.

Children can’t be what they can’t see. So if their parents are always on a screen that’s what they will want to.

Im
sore that one off occurrence during a difficult time where adults might need to catch up hasn’t had any of those effects of OP’s dc 😅

Putting phones in front of small children is basically parental neglect, and profoundly depressing. Sadly, it seems to happen quite a lot.

I'm not a perfect parent but sadly I do see this a lot when I'm out and about with my son and I do judge. I understand more, where a SENDs child may need more screen time, but all too often it is babies and toddlers being pushed around in their buggies with tablets on - just unnecessary. At restaurants we've always brought toys and books, never resorted to a phone. He's now nearly 4 and this is still what we do.
I certainly would judge at a child so young being fed apple juice. That is all the baby will want now!

Not great but maybe there were reasons. I am more perturbed by considering burger king a 'treat'. Food for desperate times I can understand but fast food is definitely no treat.

@imabitjealousandembarassed

ermmm…well, what if one were on the way to their mothers funeral and the only option was Burger King for example? It really wouldn’t do the mum/dad and the kids any harm at all as a one off would it?

Screens and junk food is shit parenting. 🙄

How do you know the rest of the time the baby isn't eating sweet potato with lamb mince with rosemary? Ridiculous post.

You sound very sneering OP - despite living in your countryside bubble you are also feeding your children Burger King!

I take my grandchildren to nicer places 😜

Scrolling through my phone photos with DS, I stumbled across pictures of the purées I lovingly hand made and froze for him when he was weaning - a wholesome scene, complete with blender and suitably messy kitchen. It turned out that he would eat none of these things and only predictably wanted mass produced baby pouches. I couldn’t compete with the predictably smooth, consistent textures and non-offensive tastes. 12 years later his diet is frankly shocking. I would have judged harshly in my pre-child era. These days I laugh when people think they have much control over what children will and won’t eat.

I see it often (the phone thing) and find it a bit odd. When my DC were babies (almost 20 years ago) we would bring a few toys and teething things when we went out to eat, though we didn’t eat out often. I can’t remember ever giving them phones to look at. Although as dd2 got older we did attempt to use an iPad as a communication aid as she is non verbal autistic, for a while fast food places were more convenient as she couldn’t cope with waiting long for food (she now can).

I think giving a phone to a baby is a bit odd. Not so odd as they get older, people just want an easier life and having a screaming child in a restaurant in the uk if often frowned upon so I can see why parents may use a phone as a distraction, I mean you can show them Peppa pig or paw patrol whilst they are waiting for food. I guess people just do things differently and some parents do what’s best for them, even if it’s considered ‘lazy parenting’.

As someone will invariably comment on MN:

“You don’t know what’s going in their lives, they might have been having a really difficult time [insert some spurious excuse in attempt sanctimoniously to justify a toddler diet of junk food and TikTok]. What’s it got to do with you, keep your beak out.”

And yet we will all pay the price for this terrible parenting when these children grow up and we all live in the same society…..

Sad on both counts

Because the apple juice is the worst element of this meal…? 🤔

I’ve voted YABU because you don’t know the context.

i agree it doesn’t look great but if they have had a lot of stress and just need peace for a few minutes, or if they need a distraction while they have an important conversation, or the car has broke down and they need whatever food is accessible and to keep baby occupied with whatever they have to hand, or any one of a number of understandable one-offs then fine. If it’s every day then not fine.

People are so quick to be judgy these days. You’ve seen them for a few minutes and know nothing about the circs. If you can be anything in this world, be kind. Give the benefit of the doubt unless you know the full facts would be my stance.

I hate the term “whatever works for them” It’s just excusing shitty behaviour. Do you think processed junk food and a screen is really classed as ‘working’ for that child?

I wouldn’t be too worried about the food but the WHO recommendation is no screen media until eighteen months old (and even then very limited exposure), so the phone is something I’d avoid personally.