SmackDown: Should Parents Bring Babies Into a Bar?

I have worked inthe bar/restaurant biz for some time, and so has my husband. When we had our daughter, we still wanted to meet up with our friends once in a while, and it was hard with our schedules. Going to a restaurant with a bar area is more acceptable during the day, so we would meet around 4 to get to visit for a few hours. Two things to think about- new parents need a break too, and it's a lot of work to get your kid to the babysitter, and then pick them up. We were all babies once, and all of you that feel this way now will probably have kids one day and change your minds. That's human nature.

I think it depends on the type of bar it is. A friendly neighborhood pub where everyone knows everyone is a lot different than a place where people are only interested in picking someone up. That said, I wish we had places we could ban whiny twentysomethings (or even immature thirtysomethings) because I don't want to hear about all the drama queen stuff in their lives, breakups, how bad their childhoods were, yada, yada, yada. These people are wet blankets and dead bores and a lot worse than any baby or small child I have ever been around! And who told this Smolinski that PARENTS have disposable income? What rot! Not only do we have to pay for everything she does, but food, medical care, day care clothing, education and many other things for their children.

I agree it's not buzzkill that's the issue. It's the baby's health and well-being. Second-hand smoke, uck. Overstimulation can upset babies......Most of all, when the parent has a couple of drinks, how responsive can they be to a baby's needs? Not to mention safety concerns. A couple of drinks and you just aren't as top of things. I was brought to a bar from time I was an infant to when I was a teenager. It's horrible. You are there to totally get your parents' needs met. Forget about the baby's. Great way to start life.

I have been in bars, pubs, gasthauses, etc., not all over the world, but certainly most of Europe, and many countries in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Like most other areas, they are not as messed up as here. They haven't yet destroyed their cultural norms.

Local pubs and gasthauses are social centers and nothing to be ashamed of happens there. By the same token, they don't hate kids, they love them, and of course children are welcome, as long as they are under control.

There are some places that are appropriate for kids, and some that aren't. Usually, the parents are expected to have enough gumption to figure that out for themselves. If not, the owner or manager will quietly, diplomatically ask them to come back without their children.

Only in the USA must we have uniform instructions on what each of us should do in every situation and have the proper balance of political correctness explained about everything. Duh!

Why is this even a question is really scary?

Fir stable if you have a baby, drinking or smoking in public should be the last thing on your mind, if you can afford a box of butts and a drink,and lets not forget dinner then you can afford a babysitter or is the money you are saving on a sitter getting you an extra drink? and a closer chance to endanger your child's life which he or her didn't ask to be there in the first place with mom or dad boozing it, baby's belong home!, if you are that desperate for a drink outside the home,please do yourself a favor leave BABY HOME you'll be glad you did .

Babies do not belong in bars. People go to bars for relaxation. People want to get away not be subjected to crying, whining babies. Get a babysitter or go to a child friendly resturant and have a drink. Exposing children to bar activities exposes children to drinking at a very young age. When I was very young my parents took me to a bar to see friends that were the owners. The law at that time stated I had to sit in the dining area only and could not enter the bar itself. I think to benefit children it should stay that way.

I agree with Shannon. I have no problem with the child himself. It's not a "buzzkill" scenario. I feel it is irresponsible parenting. I have been in a bar awaiting take-out while watching small children sit at a smoke-filled bar inhaling tons of second-hand smoke, listening to profanity and witnessing drunks acting like idiots. What responsible parent would actually want, much less put their child in that kind of atmosphere?! Legal doesn't make it right. If you can't afford a sitter, then stay home and invite some friends over to have a few drinks, play some cards, or just hang out. The kids have rooms to play in and eventually need to be put to bed. Then the adults can have "their" time. I believe that we have become a society of such self-indulgence that our priorities have become incredibly misplaced.

The answer to this is tough.
1.were we live children are not allowed in bars(a business serving mainly drinks with little food) that sloves that answer.
2.restaurant where drinks are served and childern are not at the bar area. parents can bring children to a restaurant as long as they can control them.This includes and public restaurant like Denny's.
It is rude and disrespectful to allow your child to run all over the place bothering other customers.

I am 62 years old and I have watched the discipline of children.
almost disappear. It almost seems like the child rules the household. .

I am a firm believer that God but butts on chidren so parents had a target to aim for turning a childs but cherry red is not abuse it is discipline.

Over the years discipline has been removed from schools and households. In my day if you misbehaved in school the teacher could smack your hands with a ruler. When you went home and told your mother the teacher hit you. You got it again for upsetting the teacher.
When your parents were taking you out to a friends house or restaurant you were told how they expected you to act and you better have done it that way or you would have wished you did.

I would go to my grandparents house at the shore in the summer.
Dinner was served 5pm sharp. I was to be up from the beach showered and dressed and ready for dinner at 5pm. You sat at the table and ate. You only spoke when spoken to.(would you like more potatoes etc) your answer better be no thank you or yes please. When you were done you had to be asked to be excused.
I got a dirty look and then a sharp comment one night when I was eating and humming a song that I had heard earlier that day. "we will have non of that at the table young man" .

I raised 2 children by my first wife .They turned out just fine with good manors, education and jobs, I have raised my second wife's son (step-son) since he was 5 now 25 in college will graduate with 2 degrees . He had his butt turned red only twice after that he only had to be reminded. So all you crazy liberals that let your children run free and then complain to everyone else when they turn out rotten. How can you say how I raised my children abusive.

NO NO NO !!!! The law states that NO ONE under the age of 21 be allowed in a bar unless there is a restaurant where anyone under 21 can sit and eat, I am a bartender and I would NEVER allow anyone under 21 years of age to come in the bar no matter...

Much better to take them in rather than leaving them alone in the car. unbelievable that people are so selfish to do those things. not a good parent for sure!!

There shouldn't be any children in any bar, period. Not because it disturbs the some adults but because it's not a good environment for a impressionable child.

I am 21 years old...finally legal enough to drink at a bar :) When I was young my family owned bars around Queens. I would always be in there talking to the customers, getting my own soda, playing games, etc. I loved it...lovved it! It gave me a chance to be with my family, socialize, have fun, and couldn't imagine growing up any other way. I love kids, and maybe the people that don't are the ones who have the problem with kids being around. People are going to do what they want to do and eveyone has a different way of doing things. It's nice to talk/debate about it, but to get upset over it is a waste of time and energy in my opinion.

as a single parent on a limited income -- 80's) -- I took my daughter to the neighborhood bar with me after work. we left by 8 pm -- early enough to avoid any nasties -- if the place has an eating area away from the bar -- great. sitting at the bar -- deifinitely not.

I am a parent. Don't take babies to bars, not because it disturbs morons from trying to get STDs from strangers but because you should have enough sense to know that it is a dumb idea. If you are in a bar to find your soul mate, I feel very bad for you. Parents who bring babies to bars, I just feel bad for babies. When children come into the picture, you have to change and if you don't then you are doing something terribly wrong.

Some people dont have the kind of extra cash laying aroiund to pay for a sitter and go out. If I bring my family to a resturaunt/bar I will sit anywhere I please, if you don't like kids around maybe you should lock yourself in your house and remain alone. While I agree a bar alone is no place for children, if I go to Bonefish grill or applebees there is sometimes no table available away from the bar area and thats to bad for you. It's to bad that you once were a baby I hope someone was just as rude as you are to people with family's to your parents. Since your so self absorbed you obviously don't have any children, the day you do you will see. It does not matter how much income you have it is extremely hard to find a trustworthy babysitter on a Friday night.

Kate said: "Adults need a place away from kids. Some of us choose to not have kids and we should not have to put up with them every place we go."

Sorry, Kate, but children are a by-product of the continued existence of humankind. Without them, human life will extinguish in one lifetime. You will see them in stores, you will see them on the street, you will see them every where you go.

I do believe there are some places that are not child appropriate. Of course, a neighborhood bar in the early evening isn't necessarily one of those places. I assume we're not talking about parents bellying up to the bar with a toddler, but rather sitting at a table somewhere in the barroom (a much more likely scenario).

And frankly, while I'm not inclined to hang out in bars, I have gotten dirty looks from obnoxious adults just for walking into a coffee shop to have a cup of tea with my kids. These adults seem to think that (1) all children are noisier than adult patrons, and (2) the coffee shop is some sort of library zone where they are entitled to a near silent environment in which to use their laptops. This attitude of zero tolerance toward any words or giggles uttered from a child is creepily hostile. Having once been a childless, single woman, and now being a wife and mother, I did not find justification to be hostile towards children when I didn't have them, and I cannot find sympathy for those being hostile toward them now.

As a parent, I am always saddened when I see parents who make no effort to civilize their children by teaching them standards of behavior that reflect courtesy toward others. Obviously, many of the loud, drunken, stumbling, foul-mouthed cranks who are patronizing taverns are the by-product of such lax parenting.

what does no one under 21 mean or cant any one read meaby it has to be written in taco or burrito just dont understand the lunk heads of today back in the 40,s and 50,s men weremen and women was women and babys were babys really not so hard to understand