Toddlers in Restaurants

[OptomisticGirl]

OG, you are awesome. And I agree.

 

I try, lol

 

I love babies and I love cooing at them accross the resturant and yes, parents have as much to be there with their kids as well as someone who has no children BUT it's the parents who let their unruly children cause a scense and do nothing that puts a bad taste in child free people's mouths about children.

[Fudgie]

Yeah it's those parents who really do ruin it for others.

 

And it's all about place. Id never eat in a family restaurant and be mad about babies crying or loud kids. I mean, it's a famy restaurant. It's to be expected. Just with formal places, well, there's no reason for a tyke to be there.

 

You can always order it to go or cook stuff at home. The kid isn't going to care if the fries come from a formal place versus a family restaurant.

[Moontiger]

Welllll, that all depends. I used to work with a guy who never took a shower. I daresay most people find Eau de Feet And Sour Milk quite annoying. Nothing is absolute.

 

I don't understand why, when someone brings up ill-behaved children in restaurants, parents will respond with "Well, I saw some adults acting badly too!" Isn't bringing a baby to an upscale establishment just another permutation of adults behaving badly in public?

 

I agree with this. Also, I don't see why people don't say something when another person is disturbing them in a public place like a restaurant. Simple mention to your waiter that the person is bothering you. Most likely they will get a manager who will deal with it. Children are harder to deal with because you cannot simple throw them out the way you can an adult. I don't think is unreasonable to expect that a fancy restaurant should be an adult environment. The way I see it is this:

 

1) First you need to order something special for the child which it is difficult for the waiters to both put in an order for in the kitchen and difficult to ring up on the bill.

2) Loud noises, smells, etc

3) When parents bring toys for their kids the toy are usually loud and/or dropped a number of times resulting in screaming until they have it again or the toy rolling under another table where other are trying to enjoy their meal.

4) The child usually ends up running around at some point (to go to the bathroom for example) nearly knocking over wait staff and generally getting under foot.

5) The child normally leaves a huge mess with is once again is very inconvenient for the waiter.

 

Leave the kids at home or go to a family restaurant. I do not believe that small children have so fine a pallet that they need to go to high end places. I mean, most adults don't have pallets for that. There is simple no good reason to bring them.

[Miss Firecracker]

The kids in our nice restaurants are all quiet. Guess they like the food as much as their parents. Or maybe the parents just have some good ole common horse sense and bring things to entertain the kids while they are waiting. People in this area, adults and kids too, just seem to be well-mannered and considerate of others. If the children start getting fussy, the parents just go outside or something. They never sit and let them scream.

[Sanesoul]

The kids in our nice restaurants are all quiet. Guess they like the food as much as their parents. Or maybe the parents just have some good ole common horse sense and bring things to entertain the kids while they are waiting. People in this area, adults and kids too, just seem to be well-mannered and considerate of others. If the children start getting fussy, the parents just go outside or something. They never sit and let them scream.

 

This has been my experience too. I've never run into a situation where a parent lets their child sit and scream. I think more credit should be given to parents than what some people in this thread have. Not all of us are inconsiderate of others.

[FarthestEdge]

I'm having serious deja-vu with this thread.....didn't we debate this not too long ago?