Children in restaurants

I agree. I love children, and don't think they should be seen not heard. They need to be able to play and move around. But not at mealtime at a restaurant. If children cannot sit at the table and act apropriately they should not be taken to restaurants. If they start to run around or have a fit I think the parents should remove them from the restaurant.

I agree that children running around restaurants especially that of a busy one can cause accidents. I saw one incident here in the Philippines. Fortunately, the waiter was only carrying around 8 tumblers of water. The tumbler was made of plastic so tyhere was not much damage. Only the boy got wet all over. I think there is nothing wrong with bringing children to restaurants. Its just a matter of responsibility for the parents to keep their children with them safely.

I couldn't agree with you more. It annoys me when kids run around the restaurant. This happens to my daughter when she has company who also influence her to run around. It angers me so much but I can't reprimand the other kids--I mean I can't because their parents are doing nothing about it and it doesn't seem to bother them. I keep reminding my daughter to behave at the restaurant because accidents can happen like what if the waiter accidentally spills hot soup over her etc. But we can't help it if she has company who can't behave.:(

I hate that, I'm not near as bothered by the kids as I am about the parents who sit and continue with their conversation, allowing it to continue as if they were at home. We went out for pizza once, and some little kid still wearing diapers was just a running all over the place, she came by the table and reach up and grabbed a piece of pizza, my kids though it was funny. I wasn't as impressed as it was my plate she grabbed for, the mom just laughted, never told her no or anything, looked right at her and laughted. We just got the pizza to go, before we said something.

Yes, it bothers me to see kids running rampant. I would have never acted like this and if I did my mom would have been a stop to this behavior very quickly. Whenever I go out it seems like there is always one family in the restaurant with an unruly child. Some parents just let their kids do whatever they want these days. It's like they want to be the kid's friend and not their parent.

You know, it really depends on the restaurant. Like a local pizza parlor with a billion video games, it's to be expected. But if I pay money to eat at a fancy joint, yeah it annoys me, but then again I always have my toddler but I try my hardest to keep him entertained! I make sure he's rested and he's got snacks and toys. What I really hate is when some random kid comes up to my table, it's so weird, like "yeah do you want something?"

I worked as a server in a nice vegetarian place for about 6 years. It clearly stated on the menu to 'please keep children seated', but not too many parents followed through. The problem I see with it is that it's super dangerous in some restaurants. At the place I worked, we had a garden seating area with swinging doors and it was common for a server to come through with their hands full, kicking the doors open as they went. The last thing any of us want is to knock over an unsupervised child! They would also run around back and forth because we had a coy pond they LOVED. I understand wanting to see the fish, but again, parental supervision is key. We told parents not to let the children feed the fish, however, parents would let their kids run all over the place and several times we had coy die because the kids were feeding them. I am grateful for my experience, though, as I VOW to never let my own children behave in such a way. They should be taught to be aware of what's going on around them at all times, for their own safety.

NO KIDDING! Seriosly, parents..BE parents. Don't let your children run around. It is only going to cause a huge accident. They need to elarn from a very young age that they need to be considerate of everyone else.

I agree with you. We should teach our kids manners and we should be aware of others around us. We shouldn't disturb others for our carelessnes. Besides it may hurt our own kids.

Ooohhh...I was at a restraunt today and I was bringing a bowl of hot soup to my table and nearly dumped it all over this kid that wasn't being watched. I saw other children just falling all over the place because the parents didn't want to watch them. They have chairs, saftey harnesses and if need be, baby leashes for a reason.

YES!!! Not only is it dangerous for the child and for the waiters and waitresses trying to do their jobs, but it is irritating and rude to the other patrons at the restaurant. My parents used to take my brother and I out to dinner quite frequently from the time we were very tiny. We KNEW not to try any of that crap or we would lose the privlege of going out, which was a huge treat. If either one of us started to misbehave, my father would remove us immediately and we would have to go sit in the car until we were ready to behave. If you are a parent and your child cannot behave appropriately when you go out to eat, than you should not be bringing your child. Find a babysitter and leave them at home until he/she is older and more mature. I am the mother of a young child and you'd better believe that she will be brought up with some manners. If she misbehaves she will lose privleges. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect children to be perfect little angels all the time, kids will be kids, but there are certain restaurants that are geared towards families with children and there are certain basic rules that need to be followed for the safety and consideration of everyone. I don't blame the children either, it is the parents who sit there and don't do anything about it that are to blame. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND TEACH THEM HOW TO BEHAVE IN PUBLIC!

Hi, ryleesmama. I do agree with you. If there are waiter, waitresses or busboys that are walking around with hot food, then I would never allow my children to play around out in the opening. This is very dangerous, especially when the floor may be slippery. I believe that all parents that have children that are running around, should make sure that their child is seated, still, at all times.

I was thinking about starting a discussion about this until I found this one. Tonight, when we went out, as soon as we got there, our son started to rush off and then screamed loudly when we tried to direct him to where our table was going to be. When he started fighting and yelling as my husband tried to calm him, we turned and left. We sat outside in our car for a few, trying to calm him down. When on the second attempt he started flipping out in the parking lot, even after we told him acting up would cause us to have to leave, we got in the car and went home. This was the first time we have ever done anything like this, though this is the first time our son acted like this before we were even seated. There was once a time, when dining out, when we as a couple would wonder when people would do something about wild children running about and screaming. I guess in a way I was proud we had done so, even though we were hungry and that meal really sounded good.

It is quite dangerous to allow kids to just run around the restaurant. Parents should really take care of their kids especially when they are in public places.

We hate it when our children act up in restaurants, crying/whining whatever, but they are NEVER aloud out of their seats, (I'm assuming we are talking about sit-down restaurants, not one's with play places of course). We have some friends that we went out to a restaurant with once, and their daughter was standing up in the high chair, I think I almost had a heart attack like five times, thinking she would bust her little head open, they didn't even react to it! Then she climbed out and started running around the restaurant, going to other people's tables to talk to them, and see if they would give her any food. They still didn't do anything. My hubby and I left early with our son, because we were mortified. We tried to act like they weren't with us, but that's hard to do when they are sitting with you!

Yes, it bothers me to see the holy terrors running around. Terror is the root form of terrorism, hmmm. I get to-go orders pretty often, and that's one of the reasons. Why don't those families get the to-go orders and leave everyone else alone? Interesting question.

i am a firm believer that there should be bans on children in restaurants after 6pm.

I don't ever see children running around restaurants...at least I can't think of any time I've seen that. It probably wouldn't bother me unless they were loud and disturbing my experience. I'm pretty laid back about other peopel's kids. I wouldn't let my own kids run around a restaurant, but I try not to concern myself with what other parents do unless it is effecting me. I think kids make noise and as long as it is a kid friendly restaurant then a little noise is fine. I don't like it when people let their kids become overly load to the point of making other people's experiences miserable. I take my kids out if they get loud and I don't bring them to restaurants that aren't kid friendly.