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.

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.

Um, maybe stick to McDonalds and Chuck E Cheese until they've mastered behaving in that environment, and then work your way up from there? I'm all for socializing kids and teaching good manners, but you start with places that have kids menus and play areas, not nice seafood restaurants and steakhouses.

- Said the person who had their anniversary dinner at 8pm at a nice seafood restaurant spoiled by the ~3y/o at the next table over randomly shrieking just because.

Quite honestly I'd prefer my children didn't get used to Chuck E Cheese and McDonalds. We've taken them out since they were very young. And we've had to leave early because of them, I've had to hold them the entire time so they wouldn't scream.
But now they are very well behaved in public, because we exposed them to it.

I think the worst kids are the ones who DID always have their parents leave them with a sitter.

**that said, I have the good sense NOT to take them to a place where we spend over $20 a plate just yet. Soon though.

I would never take my infant to and upscale restaurant if I'm paying $25 just for the entree then that's obviously not an infant friendly place! But, I wouldn't get worked up over it the baby is just doing what it does crying. I think because you don't have children you find it annoying once you have your own trust me you just kind of develop Mama ear filters you can just drown out what you don't wanna hear!! lol

Whether you hear it or not, your screaming child is f***ing annoying.

Look, a well-behaved child in a restaurant is just fine - it's not as though the presence of a child is upsetting. However, the screaming, crying and mess are just a handful of reasons why I don't want kids. Just because you have to suffer through your kids' tantrums doesn't mean I do, especially not in an upscale place catering to adults.

The parents have just as much right to be there as you do. I don't have kids, but I don't get upset at babies being babies. If the kid is five and running around, that's different. But an infant crying--get over it.

*If you're being a nuisance to everybody else, get your food to go!

Fixed it, because this should go for EVERYONE not just children.... I have been way more annoyed at people talking loudly for the whole restuarant to hear about their drama for their mama problems, than any children fussying and carrying on.

^^This. My husband and I went to a jazz restaurant where a group of adults talked and laughed so loudly it was hard to hear the music. A fussy infant, I can understand. Adults? Unacceptable.

I love how some of the replies are about everyone having the "right" to be someplace, as though this supposed "right" excuses bad behavior (whether from an infant/child/adult). Aside from whether or not it's a right to patronize any establishment you want regardless of one's behavior, whatever happened to ***common courtesy***? If I'm trying to enjoy a meal out, which I rarely do because I do not have the funds to go out whenever I want to, I don't want to hear a constantly screaming child anymore than I want to hear a group of adults talking loudly so everyone can hear every bit of their conversation while they also laugh like a pack of hyenas. And I would say that (nearly all of the time) the number of patrons practicing common courtesy outnumber the ones who don't give a f*** because "they're paying too" or "they have a right to be there." Maybe those who have learned manners should drop their courtesy every once in a while and have a word or two with the discourteous.

My ex-husband & I took our kids out at various ages. If they got fussy, we’d take them outside until they calmed down. If they didn’t, we’d ask the server to box up the food & we’d go home. If we hadn’t ordered, we’d just leave. Our kids learned quickly that they needed to behave if they wanted to go to a restaurant.

Even before I had kids what would irritate me the most is when the parents ignore their obviously distressed infant in favor of continuing their meal. Or when they let their toddlers run wild. Really? My boss told me a story about how he & his wife were at a local Mexican restaurant and toddlers were running amok. The parents did absolutely nothing to control them & they kept running by the door to the kitchen where the servers would enter the dining area. Well, they ran by one time right as a waitress was coming out with a tray of sizzling plates of fajitas. The kids damn near tripped her…she lost her hold on the tray & ended up dropping the sizzling plate on another patron. The paramedics had to be called & the poor woman ended up with 2nd degree burns. The waitress was beside herself because of what had happened & the parents…NOTHING. They collected their kids & left.

Sorry but I brought my daughter everwhere with us. I work full time and I would never leave her to go out to eat. I spent enough time away from her. And If I am paying $25 a plate then they can put up with my child is the way I see it. She never had crying fits however she was good even as an infant and I think in that case I would of brought her outside till she calmed down. But yes I would bring a child to a high class restaurant.

You're not paying the other customers that $25 - they are paying that much per plate too, so it could be turned around to say that they should deserve an enjoyable meal without screaming or squealing.

Re-read the part about tending to the child IF the situation occurred.

1 - Kids scream/cry. You did it when you were a child...It's a fact of life, Get over it. Think of the parents needing to keep the magic in their relationship at all costs...could have been the situation
2 - Parents allowing the child to continuously cry/scream without attempting to calm them...FAIL.

^^ THIS

I hate to say this... but I have asked for the manager and told him that my dining experience is being ruined and I have no intention of paying $60 for two of us to eat at Chucky Cheeses. He needs to ask them to quiet the child down or take he/she outside until he/she has quieted down or I will leave and not pay.

Makes the manager uncomfortable, but there are people who don't have any manners at all.

I think it's cute that you think you won't take your baby to place like that one day.

Everyone makes "rules" for their future babies.

And then they have a baby.

hahaha
so true, like i would never be "those people" welp, walking through publix this morning i am sure some heads turned.

I am really conscious over her behaving in waiting rooms or out to eat, lots of times dinner for me is boxed and eaten at home..

I only brought my baby to family oriented (loud) places. Even then, if he cried I would never ignore him and continue on with dinner. If I couldn't make him stop crying I would walk him around, and have hubby get my food to go and pay the bill. Luckily that only happened once or twice early on.