Kids should not be in pubs after 6pm?

[ChamonixMountainBum]

Just that really. Evening time in the pub is for adult relaxation and socialising, not somewhere for meeting the needs of young children. I just want to chill out and enjoy a glass of wine without an infant screaming from a buggy, kids on screens or toddlers running about. Yes, I am having a bit of a moan but the last few times I have been in pubs in my area there have been kids still knocking about well past 8pm with parents barely keeping them in check. Can we have pubs in the evening as adult only spaces please.

Im more worried about the adults and the kids.

8 or 9pm is probably reasonable, but pubs need all the customers they can get these days!

But surely if they are in a pub at tea time it's because they are having their tea in a pub? I'm not saying they should be given a packet of crisps and a panda pop while their parents get pissed like it's the 90's but personally I don't think I've ever actually seen that happen. I know of barely any pubs that aren't also restaurants and it's perfectly acceptable for children to eat their dinner in them at an appropriate time. Banning kids after 8? Totally fine? But from 6 I couldn't get on board with.

Depends on the pub. Local pub is also a beefeater/hungry horse type place so there are often families in late. The bar across the road is spit and sawdust and I don’t think kids would even WANT to go in there.

It was always 9 when I was growing up. I don’t see a problem with it really.

Plus tbh I think overall parenting is hard and can be quite isolating for people- especially now since young families often can't afford to live near to their support networks the way we used to be able to. I don't see why we need to make it harder than it needs to be. Full on day at work, nice weather, why not be able to walk down to your local and have a nice dinner with your family and a glass and walk home again.

I prefer a European situation, not just where pubs and restaurants allow families late into the night, like in Spain , but equally where shops and things open later so that town centres are family zones until say 8pm. Rather than in the uk where most shops close at 5.30pm. I loved living in Europe , my local park had a floodlit playground and a kiosk lit with fairy lights selling warm snacks and hot drinks in winter. Families could play and mix until bedtime. In summer there’d be outdoor swimming in municipal pools and ice cream parlours open well into the night.
Here, after 5.30, it’s all hoodies and teenage drinkers and no go zones.

When my eldest two were little we'd take them to pubs with big beer gardens in the summer so they could run around. We're rural luckily.

My youngest is nearly 8 now, so he's past the running around stage and will go for a quick drink and a go on his iPad/ read a comic for half an hour, but this is a small town pub with no garden.
They have jenga and Lego for kids though. It really depends on the type of pub. I would have had to take my 11 and 13 year olds out when they weren't much smaller because It's understandably boring for them.
It's half term here so maybe the parents are trying to wear them out.
But I wouldn't expect people (mostly builders drinking from four in our local) to not swear or change their behaviour because there were kids there.

Depends on the pub, in my view. Where I live, there are enough options if you want a kid-free experience. I always roll my eyes at the one oldtimer in our family-friendly local who's always giving all the kids the evils - looks a lot like martyrdom to me.

I've a bit more sympathy for those with no kid-free options nearby, but I still lean toward thinking pubs being a family place is a pleasant aspect of UK culture.

6pm is far too early, we often have dinner out at that time or later. 8pm definitely- I’m all
for a time limit but not 6pm.

So only people with childcare should be allowed at pubs from now on? Trust me those of us without anyone to watch our kids need to relax with a few drinks considerably more than the rest 😂 we literally never get away from them...haaaallp

Sometimes we pop to Wetherspoons on a Friday night with our two (6 and 11) and we leave about 7 ish.
I wouldn’t take them to a proper pub in the evening because a) they would be in bed and b) I don’t think it’s an appropriate place for them to be.
The only exception has been on holiday in Cornwall when we went to watch a sea shanty band but we were outside and all dancing in the crowd.

Its this really isn't it
Pick the right pub. If your opinion is popular the supply will follow, if it isn't then it wont

Well there's pubs and pubs, and kids and kids.
Toddler running amok in a bar at 10pm - not ok.
Family with kids enjoying a meal in a pub with a children's menu and a play area in the middle of the evening - perfectly acceptable.
6pm would be ridiculously early to ban children from pubs with restaurants. The hospitality industry is on its knees already and if everywhere started excluding families plenty of pubs would soon become adult free as well as child free because they'd be closed!

Where are these kid free experiences?

Oh god yes please. So few things are adult only these days.

Did pubs used to be adult only? What did people do for childcare in those days? leave dc alone or in the car?

They left us in the pub garden with a coke and crisps.

@XenoBitchclassic, my how things have changed.

A pub near us banned kids altogether for a short period, after some complaining by folks who wanted an adult only zone.

Turned out the adults don’t spend enough to keep the pub open.

the pub has now had to work really, really hard to win back families it previously put off to try and survive. they’ve just opened a soft play area in time for half term as part of winning them back.

Children are only allowed until 9pm. After 7 they have to be at a table where food is being purchased, or now in the soft play area.

6-6:30pm is dinner time and a common time to be out for dinner often eith children. If you are frequenting pubs that serve meals then its likely there will be families there at that time.

I think most of my local pubs have a 9pm rule maybe 8pm for some snd kids are not allowed after that.

I am not bothered by children in pubs, have suffered far more annoyance by loyd drunken adults, mainly male. Thankfully my own children (3 who are now adults) never went down path of getting drunk and rowdy. We generally manage pleasant meals put on the rare occasion we do it. Its rare because of finances and one of my younger children has complex needs including tourrettes so he is not quiet. He doesn't run around inside but does have complex motor and verbal tics.

He struggles with lots of people so we often try to go nearer to 7pm when the dinner rush has left.

There are pubs that dont allow children or limit the times that children csn go. I suggest you look for those and avoid the ones who obviously do cater to families. And dont go on holiday to much of Europe when children are often up much later, I grew up in Cyprus and Sardinia and it was very normal for families to be out in evenings.

This

6pm? Don’t be ridiculous. People with kids want to have a drink as well. Pubs are family places around here- lots of people go to the village pubs for their dinner. Don’t go to a family place and moan because there are kids there.

Given that pubs are a dying trade, most gave expanded to serve food and allow children. They rely on all the custom they can get. So yes YABU because if all pubs operated an adults only policy most would be shut within the year. Adults only custom isn’t enough to keep them running.

We have several pubs nearby and only two are ‘traditional pubs’ where you wouldn’t take children. The rest have kids menus and colouring sheets so they clearly want families to attend too. Just pick your venue accordingly if you want an adult only environment.

Surely it's poor quality parents we need to ban from pubs? The ones who let children on audible tablets and run around in dining areas.

My kids have always been in pubs. It's where you go to gigs on a Saturday afternoon, where you stop for beer/hot chocolate and crisps after a long walk and where you go to eat to celebrate birthdays.

We live rurally though so we're not talking hard drinking pubs.

As much as I would like to agree with you i have the rule if a pub has a kids menu i dont have to stay