Loud babbling in restaurants? - Page 2

[lucy_v]

Originally Posted by Honey693

Beef O'Brady's

I've never heard of this place, but the name cracked me up! I'm a vegetarian, so it made me think of what the veg equivalent would be... Veggie O'Malley's, perhaps?

Originally Posted by paintedfire

Let her talk! Or better yet, let me hold her.

So cute!

Originally Posted by rightkindofme

I didn't vote because my answer is, "It depends on your definition of loud." If my kid is louder than the ambient noise I take her outside. If she fits in with the general noise level I don't worry about it.

My LO is just starting to babble loudly, and this will probably be my approach. And of course, it would depend on the crowd. If I can tell the crowd is baby-friendly and doesn't mind, then i'd stay.

[mambera]

Originally Posted by rightkindofme

I didn't vote because my answer is, "It depends on your definition of loud." If my kid is louder than the ambient noise I take her outside. If she fits in with the general noise level I don't worry about it.

You know, I actually cannot tell if she is louder than the ambient noise. I tend to be pretty concerned about not disturbing others and I'm not sure if she really is bothersomely loud or if it's just that I'm so tuned into it (and sitting right next to her of course).

She doesn't shriek at all really. It's more like "BWAH BWAH BWAH! MAMA! DADA! BABY! BWAH!"
(If I look upset by the babbling she'll give me a mischievous look for a second and then yell, "BWAAAAAAH!" extra loudly , so I've learned to be chill about it.)

She is for sure a lot louder than me and DH. OTOH we speak more quietly than a lot of other people we've sat next to in restaurants.

[tzs]

i'm saying other...depending on the type of place and atmosphere.
for a cheapo restaurant or an empty place, yeah, i'd stay. my babe is a LOUD blabber.
but we were at a hipper wine-bar place just the other day and although according to my standards i would normally take her out, the place was super loud so we stayed.

[akind1]

I vote other. We try to eat/sit in the outdoor dining space, baby noise doesn't seem quite as loud there. Happy noises, other than shrieking, I notice and encourage! who doesn't love a laughing baby?

If he gets upset and won't calm dowm, we nurse at the table, or if it is close to us being done, I take DS out to the car to nurse and let DH finish and pay.

[2xy]

Happy babies don't bother me. Even a happy shriek here and there, I can deal with. Constant shrieking would get on my nerves.

You know what annoys me way more than a babbling baby? Adults who go "SSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" as loudly as they can. That sound is much more obnoxious than whatever the baby is doing.

[AFWife]

This actually happened the other night. I noticed, however, that the noise of the restaurant was higher than "average" (it was Texas Roadhouse so there was loud country music and people yelling over it) I think THAT is why he was loud...everyone else was doing it.

[L J]

I've worked in the full service casual family restaurant concept for over 10 years now, and I have to say, from a staff prospective, happy babies are great fun, and never bothersome. Crying, shrieking babies? Yes, please take them outside and calm them down. Happy, talkative babies, even those that aren't saying "real" words yet? Let them be happy! As long as they aren't crushing up crackers and throwing them on the floor, emptying the salt and pepper shakers onto the table and strowing the contents of the sugar caddies all over the place, let them be! And don't worry about it.

[oolongtea]

My "rule" is that if the restaurant has a high chair, then babbling is fine. If they don't have a high chair and LO is on my lap or on a chair we brought from home, then I will be more conscious of other patrons' ability to converse due to our noise... just to be respectful in case they didn't expect children.