Children and pubs

[carpediem70]

Hi, new here.
I live near a pub and watching out of my window today I have seen three people turn up to the pub to eat with under 5s.
What do people think about taking children into pubs??

DS has probably been to the pub at least once a week from when he was about four days old! Usually to eat but occasionally for a quick drink (although he's easier to entertain if there's food involved). He's 18 months so if we want to eat out without feeling like we have to keep him silent our choices are family-friendly/Wetherspoons pub, supermarket cafe or MacDonald's. And you can get wine in the pub, so it's a no-brainer! At the moment he's still pretty well behaved there, too. I'd hope this is at least partly because he's so used to being taken out.

We go to pubs quite often for lunch, I had ds1 when I was at uni so he spent a lot of time in the student bar, the non-smoking one as this was 13yrs ago. I would sit and chat with friends, he would have a feed, it was fine :)

For real? Really?
The consensus seems to be that pubs and kids are fine following a cultural change.
The belief seems to be that exposure will socialise children into a more Mediterranean attitude to alcohol and that the social environment of the pub aids the teaching of good behaviour and manners.
And amazingly just asking the question if pubs and children were a good mix labels me old, grumpy, sexist etc despite not actually being affected by the practice.
Does nobody question anything because the majority take a particular view?
The majority do it = the norm?
Fascinating, like hamsters in a box.

Wtf have hamsters in a box got to do with anything?

The pubs I takje my children don't don't have people rolling around drunk or bad language.

Its nothing to do with trying to be Mediterranean! But I grew up going out to restaraunts and pubs with my parents so it was normal to me.

Are you saying its a bad thing? Your point isn't very clear?

Its something I did and I see it as fine for my children, I don't care what others do or don't do, I do what works for my family.

We have taken DD to pubs to eat lunch/dinner a fair bit ever since she was tiny. Have taken her to many types of pubs, bars, eateries with no problems. She's 10 now and still seems pretty fine with it all.

I think you should take a look at your abrasive posting style and think about why you have been labelled as grumpy.

FWIW I have always taken my kids to pubs, for meals and drinks. Probably more than once a week, since birth.

I have always been in pubs as a child too.

My only objection to pubs was the smoking which has now been removed. But I guess if it was the pub on shameless then no. Country gastro pub in next village then yes.

Yes, I think if carpe wants to not be thought of as grumpy she should stop being rude to the people posting on her thread.

I want to know why OP keeps going on about 'a cultural change' when the answers on this thread don't show that at all?

Yes, it is the norm in my experience in that families go to family friendly pubs. They don't tend to go to non family friendly pubs and they aren't there at 10pm at night. We have found pubs very welcoming and haven't had any issues with other patrons.

And yes if the majority do something that is usually considered the norm! I am not a hamster but I do like a pub lunch. I clean up after my baby, shoosh her if she's noisy and I tip. She loves her food and studying the people around her. So we all win.

I thought the thread was going to be around spending all day in the pub getting completely plastered while your children sit in the corner eating crisps.

We live in a market town that is full of old fashioned pubs. I quite often meet friends (with our children) in one of them. Sometimes we eat, sometimes we just chat while the children have a game of pool (all 8 yrs +). I personally think it's good that our children get to see the pub as a social place where Mum orders a coffee and chats with her mates, rather than a place to go and get trashed when you're 16 18.

It dies seem to be the norm. What you haven't shown is that there is a cultural change. Just because you didn't do something when your child was little or when you were, doesn't mean that lots if other people weren't brought up with parents who would go to a pub fairly regularly.

At least children now won't be in a smoke filled haze. ( happy memories of pub gardens 30 years ago with a bottle of fizzy orange and a packet of crisps).

Going to the pub for Sunday lunch seems very English to me!

We used to do this when I was little. That hasn't changed! The pubs have, they're much nicer now, and more suitable for children.

(I've deliberately not said British btw, as licensing laws different in Scotland in particular)

Please share your views, as you have asked others to share theirs it seems reasonable to ask.

Why the insistence on a cultural change, vs a societal change? And why are you unsure whether this is a beneficial change? What is your thinking?

And just as a last question - is there any particular reason you decided to draw an analogy between posters on this thread & hamsters in a box? Did you mean that to come out the way it sounds?

carpediem I think you should perhaps spend some time in a nice pub. You seem to have very odd ideas about what they're like.

Pubs (believe it or not) are not all full of people getting steadily drunk at all hours of the day.

For Sunday lunch for example, many pubs have a very welcoming atmosphere, and the focus is on food and good company rather than getting bladdered.

May pubs down this way (Sussex) actually have brilliant play equipment like climbing frames out the back, and kids love going to them on warm days.

"The belief seems to be that exposure will socialise children into a more Mediterranean attitude to alcohol and that the social environment of the pub aids the teaching of good behaviour and manners."

I find this very odd tbh! If we decide to take a drive to a country pub for Sunday lunch in the summer, I'm thinking of eating some nice food, having one glass of a nice beer or wine, and whether the pub has a nice field or play equipment for the kids to run around in is a major factor.

Teaching the kids manners or a Mediterranean attitude couldn't be furthest from my mind! "Will the kids enjoy it, will the food be good?" That's what I'm thinking!

i think if your going to the pub to get drunk then you should get a sitter not take them in a pub, but dining isnt too bad, it depends what kind of pub it is,
different ones have a very different atmosphere dont they,
country pubs are nice and you can always take kids there, but these city pubs are far to dangerous for children, xx

City pubs aren't dangerous FFS.

Dangerous?! PSML!

DS had his first birthday in a pub in Hackney, London! We had one section of the pub to ourselves, the pub put on organic food aimed at very young children, and we had a lovely time! What was dangerous about that?

Of course people shouldn't have DCs with them if they intend to get drunk - wherever that is. But as you say, different ones have different atmospheres. including many, many lovely city pubs, and some absolute dives in the countryside!

mancshell I also think you would benefit from a nice trip to a decent pub, in the city!