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Original poster

going to restaurants with the babies

51 replies

subs · 29/11/2004 22:20

went to wagamama last night with dd (15 months) and a friend (who doesnt have kids)... have been several times before (they do great kids menu btw) and she loves it and is pretty good.

we got their bit late for her supper and she was hungry and a little bit iriitable, but no-one else would have known there was a baby there once her food arrived...

but i could tell my friend thought it was really out of order to 'inflict' her on other diners...

my feeling is at that time (half five) or lunch time it is perfectly reasonoable to have her there, especially in a restaiurant where one sits on benches, and especially (having been a waitress for years) when you see how badly some adults behave... i mean if i couldnt rely on her to behave herself, maybe... but i think its fine, good even...

what do you think?
any similar experiences?

OP posts:
tammybear · 29/11/2004 22:26

me and dp have had some horrific experiences with dd at restaurants lol. dd was screaming her head off once and i didnt get a chance to eat nething as it all was chucked into a takeaway box! but the last time me and dp took her to pizza hut, we had it all figured out. we sat by the window so she could see outside and they were giving away free packs from the cat in the hat film which had a dice that you made up, crayons with pics to colour and a fish model. we had such a great time, we all managed to eat, and dd was a perfect little angel.

i think its perfectly fine, especially if they are quiet and enjoying themselves. and even if they were upset and crying, its just the same as having someone being really loud but not realising they're causing problems. there have been times ive been to restaurants and cant hear myself talking because other people have been so loud!

onlyjoking9329 · 29/11/2004 22:27

i think its good to take kids out to eat, we have always done it with our three, and now we can take them anywhere, and given that my three have autism it has taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, i am happy to see other kids eating out and dont think it should be something just for grown ups, train them young.

aloha · 29/11/2004 22:28

Of course she has the right to be there. What are you going to do, leave her at home to open a tin?? Friends without kids always look vaguely horrified by children. It's just the way they are and it's best ignored IMO. Children are people too!

misdee · 29/11/2004 22:44

my kids love going out to eat. took dd2 to pizza hut for lunch time buffet whilst shopping the other day and she loved it. she ate more than me. the only time she got someones attention was when she stretched and got her hand caught in the hair of the lady sitting behind us.

have always taken them out to lunch/dinner, feel its a good experience for them.

weepy · 29/11/2004 22:47

Oh sod your snooty friend. One day she'll have kids and then the world will look like a very different place. I spent the first 29 years of my life tutting whenever a child made any noise in public and now I drag my twins around everywhere and glare at anyone who doesn't look pleased to be breathing the same air as them. Stuff it. I am paying and they are well-behaved, so why not? OK if you have a monster child from hell then maybe think twice about going somewhere posh in the evening but as long as you are sensible with times and places then you have as much right to be there as everyone else.

handlemecarefully · 29/11/2004 22:52

You're friend needs a reality check.

However, I must confess to similarly child unfriendly views before I became a mum

hunkermunker · 29/11/2004 22:53

It's good for children to go to restaurants. I went out for lunch with DS when he was five weeks old. He woke up just as I got my lunch... He's been out lots since then - whilst I realise that there are many aspects of my life that have changed since having children, going out for lunch is not one of them!

I think your friend was wrong and I wonder how she'll feel if she ever has children - will she want to have every meal at home till they're 18?!

Original poster
subs · 29/11/2004 22:56

hooray hooray

so glad you all aggree!

OP posts:
Angeliz · 29/11/2004 23:11

subs, me ,dp and dd (aged 3.8) went out to a restaurant onight to and it was great. DD loved it as they had their decorations up and was a little star.
We have ALWAYS taken our dd out to restaurants, (not every week or anything, just occasionally when we go), and she loves it.

Your freind needs a reality check, babies eat too

KateandtheGirls · 29/11/2004 23:28

Agree with everyone else here. My kids are used to going to restaurants because they've been going since they were babies. Now the three of us (me and the 2 kids, ages 5 and 2.5) go out to eat together once a week on average.

jabberwocky · 30/11/2004 03:39

We have taken ds out several times. I have to say, when I was single and childless I had little patience with babies in restaurants. So, now I do try to pay attention to where I take ds (kid-friendly places) and when (not too late - everyone's sake). I also take plenty for him to eat, drink and play with in case we need it.

hunny · 30/11/2004 07:49

I agree with everyone here. As Jw says timing and type of restaurant are key. When we lived in London we would regularly go to places like Wagamamas with our 2 but also Mediterranean (Italian, Greek, Turkish etc.) restaurants are nearly always very welcoming to small children.

Now we live in Germany (I'm English, DH is German) and this culture also has a more relaxed attitude to taking children out in public; and perhaps as kids are more included and used to eating out they don't tend to run around restaurants screaming at the tops of their voices, or perhaps I just don't notice it anymore...

I admit I also used to be one of these tutting twenty-something childless people. I wonder why we English can be so kiddie-intolerant in this way? Maybe this thread is evidence that attitudes are changing for the better.

Blackduck · 30/11/2004 08:55

I agree with everyone else here! Pick the time (lunchtime/early evening is good...) and the type of place. Ds is a regular at our local Indian...so much so they take him off our hands if they are not too busy, fill his milk up without charging and don't bat an eyelid at the state of the table.
We have also eaten at several starred, posh places, but only at lunchtime.
If he gets too obstreperous one of us takes him outside, or we pack up and leave...

LIZS · 30/11/2004 09:03

Both mine have ben taken out to eat since they were babes. I think it is good to demonstrate that there is fun to it beyond Mc D's etc and that you should use a knife and fork ! However you pick the time and place accordingly as some are more geared up to keeping kids happy (quick service of their oirder, crayons and so on) than others. If you had insisted on going to a fast food place I could start to see your friend's pov but what you did sounds perfectly satisfactory and sociable to me.

misdee · 30/11/2004 09:04

really must take my dd's to the local indian. they love mild indian food, and know they will love our dd's. we usually just get them to deliver it tho.

hatter · 30/11/2004 09:08

sorry but anyone who expects a place like Wagammama to be child-free at half past five is clearly living on a different planet. It's got a "CHILD'S MENU" ffs. It's the grown-ups who want to eat child-free that should change their behaviour - ie go somewhere posh that doesn't let children in for dinner at 8.30 - not expect most of the country (parents and young children) to change theirs. grrrrrrrrr. I wasn't the most child-aware person pre-kids but I still wouldn't have expected Wagammama's to be free of kids at half past five. what next? no children in Maccy-Ds?

Bozza · 30/11/2004 09:15

I take my children out and they are generally well-behaved. Sometimes it takes some effort on my part and when DS was younger(he is now 3.10 and a bit of a people watcher) I would always take some books and crayons/paper. Now he is generally happy to talk and discuss things. When we were on holiday when DD was 6 weeks old we went out quite often mainly to pubs in the early evening (but not wacky warehouse types) or cafes at lunchtime and the only problem was that DD would insist that it was her mealtime (ie breast feed) just when my meal arrived. Only a problem for me though!

It does annoy me sometimes when parents make no effort to entertain their kids and they are running around bored and then DS wants to do the same.

misdee · 30/11/2004 09:16

bozza when my kids decided it was meal time for them when my meal arrived, i get dh to cut mine up so i can just use a fork whilst feeding the baby.

CarrieG · 30/11/2004 09:21

I was made to feel a bit uncomfortable in a snooty Italian bistro a few weeks ago with ds (4 months). Tbh I wouldn't've eaten there AT ALL by choice - too expensive & neither the food or the service were much cop - but my parents, ds & I were staying at a nearby hotel for my grandmother's funeral & there wasn't much choice.

Ds cried throughout the meal (probably picking up on his mum's bad vibes as I resented being ripped off for cold, slimy pasta!) & the waitress kept giving us dirty looks - possibly because I was bf'ing ds to shut him up!

Oddly enough we were the only customers at the time so it's not as if we were spoiling anyone else's meal!

handlemecarefully · 30/11/2004 09:37

Hopefully you left without tipping the waitress...

Stilltrue · 30/11/2004 11:11

Subs, does she expect you to stay at home until dd is 15, or for you to get a babysitter every single time you want to eat early in the evening. As you said, Wagamama has a chil's menu, also highchairs, and they are a very child friendly chain generally. Relax and enjoy taking your dd out. I don't know where yo live, but generally "ethnic" (soory) restaurants of all types are very friendlly if you have young children, eg. Thai, Indian, Chinese, etc. I'm sure you will soon build up your own little network of places where you feel comfortable

MrsDoolittle · 30/11/2004 11:43

I have to admit to being a bit like this before I became a mummy. Dh and I would sit the other side of the restaurant to avoid being close to 'noisy kids'.
Now I know better
Dd is 7 months and has been out to lunch with us a few times now. I must say that I a very careful to make sure she doesn't get too noisy as I remember how I used to feel.

NotQuiteCockney · 30/11/2004 11:50

I'm another mom who takes her kids to restaurants all the time. My favourite discovery was sushi, when nursing: you can eat one-handed, so nursing while eating is no problem, and it's all cold, so if you drop some on the baby, he won't get burned! And if you're twitchy about food while pregnant, you've been deprived of raw fish for nine months, so you're dying for it.

Which reminds me, DS2 is almost 10 weeks and I haven't had my sushi yet!

We're careful to pick restaurants that like kids, and to try to go when they're quieter. Pre-kids, I remember noticing that restaurants were full of kids at 5:30 or 6, but it certainly didn't bug me.

KateandtheGirls · 30/11/2004 12:16

NQC, I spent the first year of my daughter's life eating nothing but sushi or pasta when we went out to eat. I would deliberately look for something on the menu that I could eat one-handed because it was inevitable that I would end up nursing her for some or all of the meal.

misdee · 30/11/2004 12:19

i'm about to go out with my dd2, no doubt we'll stop for lunch somewhere. now where shall we go.........

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