So yesterday my toddler had a pretty long day, almost no nap. We've been away from home for several days and she's a little dysregulated. We took her out for dinner and she had a pretty big meltdown near the end of the meal, and was also a bit fussy and hard to entertain until we got our food. The only time she really got to screaming-crying was at the end though, and we took her out quickly.
I came across a Reddit thread about an "entitled parent" with a screaming toddler in a restaurant. A lot of the comments below were of the opinion those parents should have made their kid be quiet, or taken her out, or just not gone out at all. I kind of get it. No one wants to be around a screaming kid that isn't theirs.
For us though the thing is that it was our last night out of town, we were all tired and had no food left in the airbnb because we plan these things pretty tight. We also didn't really want to do fast food or takeout because we had been having a LOT of terrible food and wanted to eat a decent meal (I'm pregnant, and fatty foods in particular are making me nauseated, so real food and good nutrition is kind of important for me). I felt bad taking my toddler out while she was overtired, and I get that it's generally kinder to not take an overtired child out in public, but in our case I really kind of felt like we had no choice.
So AITA? Should we have just stayed back at the Airbnb and gotten takeout? š«¤
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F 'em. They'll all cringe when or if they have kids of their own

People that have kids will be thinking āoh that poor mum, is she okayā . Not getting pissed off about it. The ones that havenāt got kids as said, will look back one day and cringe at their judgemental self.

As long as you werenāt at some super upscale fancy place where people are paying for the atmosphere, I see no problem with it. We take our son out to eat all of the time. Heās pretty good and we try to keep him from getting out of hand but kids deserve to be in public spaces and they canāt learn how to behave in them if they donāt go.

Only if it set my daughter off crying as well lol but no of course not, unless you were purposely making her worse or punishing her or something. Nothing I hate more than seeing an upset child and their parents start saying things like ābehave or Iāll take your toy off youā or āSanta wonāt bring you any presentsā, not only is it mean but it just upsets them way more

The only way kids learn how to be in public is by being in public, parents shouldnāt be made to feel like they have to hide their kids away ājust incaseā. You done the best you could with a grouchy over tired toddler, and the fact the screaming didnāt happen till the end of the meal Iād say is a win!

My opinion is as long as I can see that the parents care and are trying to help the kids through their moment then let them scream š¤·š¼āāļø it's not like im in a fancy 5star restaurant lol
Now if the kid is going insane, destroying things, etc and the parents don't pay any attention to them I for sure judge

If itās a family-friendly place then absolutely NTA.

you were totally fine then! Weāve taken our son with us to get sushi since he was like 3-4 months old. Itās never been an issue. Honestly, now at 13 months the bigger problem is he wants to make friends with the other tables and thinks he should get to wander around.

I understand people don't want to be around crying children, then they shouldn't have any. They are the ones who are entitled.
This world has children, children cry. Children make tantrums. It is irrational to expect them to stay composed all the time.
If they want to go to a restaurant without risking hearing a child cry, they can find the kind of restaurant where they only accept adults.

If they wanted a silent dinner they shouldāve gone to a fancy restaurant that doesnāt allow children. Otherwise you get what you get and you donāt get upset. Our children should be allowed to experience life just like everyone else.

Ppl are entitled to a child free life but not a child free world.. thatās on them! And Iām sorry you were made to feel an ounce of shame for involving your child in a normal outing.

I donāt understand the acronyms but you can take your child anywhere unless there is a sign saying no kids allowed .

You took your rod out and re-regulated the environment. It doesn't matter what others think of your parenting.
If they don't want the possibility of being around a child they can eat at home.