Do you bring your babies to the restaurant?

Last I checked this is America and you can bring your children anywhere but an R rated movie. I might have thought the same way as you before i had kids, but until you have them and know the situation as to why their children are with them, you shouldn't judge. Perhaps there is NO family to care for them and the friggin parent needs a night out. Albeit, I've always kept my kids as quiet as possible when out, stepped outside if I had to and had the most respect I could for others, but we all gotta eat, and kids are a part of us.

Long as you keep them under control, or remove them if you can't.

I would take a little baby, but if the baby were screaming I'd leave. Nobody's having a good time if the baby's upset, so I don't see the point in hanging out there letting the baby scream. I would not take a child who was old enough to eat solid foods, since as you said, there's no kids' menu.

For me, when my kids were newborns, they were kind of like... an appendage. They went everywhere with me. We didn't leave them with babysitters. I wore them in a wrap and just went to normal places. But I made a point not to go out when it was naptime, or if the baby wasn't feeling well, and if the baby did get upset and was inconsolable, I'd go to a quiet place to try to get them calmed down. And if I couldn't calm them down, we'd just go home. That's parenting. It's not even about the rest of the patrons, because frankly I couldn't care less. It's about the fact that clearly your child is unhappy, and you should try to solve the problem, since young babies don't cry unless there's a reason. And sometimes, that reason is simply that they dont' want to be in a busy restaurant because they're feeling stressed and need some quiet time. And your job as a parent is to keep your infant feeling safe and secure, not stressed out just because you're too bratty to give up your dinner.

This, this and this!!! Very well said!

Since about 6 months, I've always taken my child to nice restaurants, conventions, and all kinds of places where he must be quiet and well behaved. And now that he's almost 7, he carries himself very well. Because I've taught him to. If he's in the rare snarky mood, I remove him from the situation.

At the same time, you have to know your kid. There's been times we've gone out for a swanky meal with friends and I've had to go home without ordering or take him outside and let him run around while they prep our food. But due to home training (and a little video game bribery) those rough experiences are few and far in between.

Spot on!

Last I checked this is America and you can bring your children anywhere but an R rated movie. I might have thought the same way as you before i had kids, but until you have them and know the situation as to why their children are with them, you shouldn't judge. Perhaps there is NO family to care for them and the friggin parent needs a night out. Albeit, I've always kept my kids as quiet as possible when out, stepped outside if I had to and had the most respect I could for others, but we all gotta eat, and kids are a part of us.

If you have the money to go out to a nice restaurant, you have the money to hire a babysitter.

Last I checked this is America and you can bring your children anywhere but an R rated movie. I might have thought the same way as you before i had kids, but until you have them and know the situation as to why their children are with them, you shouldn't judge. Perhaps there is NO family to care for them and the friggin parent needs a night out. Albeit, I've always kept my kids as quiet as possible when out, stepped outside if I had to and had the most respect I could for others, but we all gotta eat, and kids are a part of us.

Pretty sure, I have seen children at R rated movies... I have seen a 9 year old at a showing of the Dictator not too long ago....

How do you know he was 9? lol

Because he looked 9... and even if he wasn't 9, he was still underage. The point is, kids are taken to R rated movies ALL. THE. TIME.

I have five children from 16 to 2 months old. There has to be a give and take. IF we take all 5 kids out, we have to police the younger ones because they are too young to know better. There have been times where one of us has had to take a kiddo out until the food arrives.

We don't have family close by and thankfully we've got a built in babysitter; but there were times when we had no one to call on. I personally find it rude when a parent doesn't diffuse the situation right from the start. I don't want to hear your kid, you're sure as heck not going to hear mine; so return the same courtesy.

Nope. Wouldn't put her in a difficult situation or us. If she cries, I take her outside but I wouldn't take her to a fancy restaurant. That's what babysitters are for.

We do our best to try to plan dates when our children are with a sitter, but there are times it doesn't happen like that. For instance, if you are out of town or on a trip somewhere, you need to eat. I do my best to keep my children quiet, but sometimes it doesn't work out. We have a 7, 6, and 1.5 year old. The older ones are very good 99% of the time, but even the best 1 year olds are going to have their moments. Its part of life and part of living in a society with others. As parents we do our best to soothe the child, but any parent knows this isn't always possible.

That's why take out is so awesome!

Like others have said, I don't mind quiet, well behaved children in restaurants at all. In fact, they can be quite a pleasure.

The worst is when the child is screaming and everyone else notices but the parents are either ignoring it or not doing anything about it.

I'll admit, I haven't read all the replies but wanted to get a say in. I think, if you have regular family meals at home and your children are expected to have decent table manners (i.e., not jump up & down, yell, etc.) than you should be able to expect them to have these same manners at ANY place you eat. Babies of course will cry but a parent should be expected to tend to them & quiet them even if this means holding and bouncing them while they try to eat their own meal. As a parent, if you aren't willing to do that in a nice restaurant than you should have hired a sitter!

This reminds me of a restaurant we visited in Niagra Falls. Probably not upscale but not Denny's level either. My kids were probably 9, 9 & 12. They are expected to have good table manners and did while we were there. A few tables over was a couple and their two children, approximately the same age as mine. The difference was that the 2 children were rolling around, wrestling in the isle between tables. I watched an older lady try to get past, she had no choice but to step over them. Just as she did, those kids rolled over and caught her foot! She fortunately caught herself on a nearby table. All the while the parents just sat at the table chit-chatting, never once even glancing in the direction of the kids.

THIS is the memory I have of one of our very few family vacations.

Last I checked this is America and you can bring your children anywhere but an R rated movie. I might have thought the same way as you before i had kids, but until you have them and know the situation as to why their children are with them, you shouldn't judge. Perhaps there is NO family to care for them and the friggin parent needs a night out. Albeit, I've always kept my kids as quiet as possible when out, stepped outside if I had to and had the most respect I could for others, but we all gotta eat, and kids are a part of us.

If you have the money to go out to a nice restaurant, you have the money to hire a babysitter.

And then your children never know how to properly behave in public. No thanks.