I don’t mean “is it allowed in South Carolina”, although if you know one way or another, good. I mean is it socially allowed? I’m really not sure and we don’t have a lot of friends with kids, you know?
Friends I never get to see are in town and they’re planning on going to a bar Christmas Day to escape their families and I did want to see them, but I’d have to bring my five month old. I was planning on wearing him, so not taking up a seat with a car seat or anything. He’s generally very good in public. This is a bar bar - they serve food (although not on holidays) but it isn’t like a restaurant that also has a bar. It’s got, like, gross bathrooms and all. Kind of a hipster bar.
Is that okay, or is it a huge party foul? It wouldn’t be late - probably before 8.
Both the law and the social acceptability vary by state/local criteria.
When I was a kid, the local bowling alley had a bar in front, and you had to walk right through the bar to get to the lanes. Nobody had any problem with kids coming in to bowl after school, and if they wanted a coke, they had to order it at the bar. There was a presumption, in those days, that people had common sense.
I’ve been to a few bars where people bring their kids.
I can remember a few times when my father took me to the local bar with him.
Usually they are neighborhood bars and the kids have to leave by 6 or 7. As the evening goes on you wouldn’t want your kids there anyway.
If there is a claw machine with stuffed animals in it or kiddie arcade games, it’s probably okay to bring your kids.
I knew a guy once who brought his, oh, let’s say 6 year old to a bar, on a Friday night, around 11. He then proceeded to ignore his sleepy/bored son while he drank with his bros. That guy was a raging asshole.
A quiet bar in the middle of the day, that you pop in for a chat and a quick drink? I don’t see a problem with that.
8pm on Christmas seems like it’s pushing it a little, under the assumption that it’s going to be loud, there’s going to be drunk people there, and you could make people who want to let loose feel uncomfortable. Get there at 6 and leave at 7, could be OK, get there at 7:59 and leave at 9, I’d rethink it.
There is a depressing dive bar open to the street I walk by often on the way home, looks like a dark cave inside with wizened pensioners sadly drinking away their last days(you think I’m joking but man those guys always have a sad look.)
Anyway my wife called me and asked me to quickly get her a prepaid cell credit, the bar also sells lotto tickets and phone credits so I duck in to get a $20 credit and send her the code and I had my infant son strapped to my chest. As I am leaving a woman yells at me “FATHER OF THE YEAR”.
It really, really depends on the bar. There are places I’ve taken my kids, and places I wouldn’t dare. Often the barflys were entertained by my kids, and I even had a couple bikers hit the claw machine to win them some stuffed animals!
The fact that it’s early on Christmas makes it better, but I’d be prepared to make a quick exit if things are uncomfortable.
I took my kids to bars for lunch when they were pretty young. They don’t remember that, but they thought it was really cool once they were school aged. I wouldn’t do it in a crowded noisy situation though. And some bars just won’t allow anyone under drinking age come in.
I don’t think it’s inherently “wrong,” but if he is starts acting like a baby (I know, it’s not an act), you need to take him out. People often come to bars to get away from kids and family. There should be SOMEWHERE people can go and not have to listen to kids scream and cry. Your baby is obviously somewhat likely to behave this way and cannot reasonably be expected not to, but as long as you stop the experiment and go outside or leave if the child cannot be quieted, do not let him crawl around or grab people’s stuff, etc., it shouldn’t bother most people. If there is smoking allowed in the bar, I’d skip it, not because I believe your baby is going to be horribly affected, but because you may well be publicly trashed for your parenting, which would probably spoil your evening, plus it is a bit unfair to smokers who may not want to be put in the position of contaminating the air for a baby even if you don’t care.
Babies are awkward in general, and the only way to get around it is to hide in a cave. Adventures as a new parent are rare, so if it is really what you want to do, I think it’s fine (assuming local laws permit-- you will need to check that).
It may backfire, and you may need to be prepared to spend most of the evening chatting outside or rushing home to manage a blowout or whatever. But there is also a chance baby will just sleep. Five months is a pretty portable age.
We’ve taken our 7 month old to bars maybe a half-dozen times, but it’s always been in situations where we were seated at a table or booth, and it was empty enough that we weren’t keeping other paying customers from sitting down. So, that basically means we were there early, but sometimes bars get crowded in the afternoon. If we got there and it is so crowded that, say, some people will be standing and servers have to say excuse me to get to tables, then I wouldn’t go in. No one wants to be carrying a couple of pints and bump into the lady with the baby. Including myself.
I think it is fine at least to try. This is a good age, especially for wearing a baby.
My own personal guidelines for bringing my own personal baby to a bar were to do it earlier in the afternoon/evening, and to sit at a table not AT the bar itself. I think where I live the at the bar v. at a table thing was a law at some point.
And then to be prepared to leave right away if you need to, in the event of a screaming baby.
I once brought the Celtling with me to a Dopefest at what I thought would be a restaurant. They did have a full menu, but it was clearly a bar/club atmosphere, and I was extremely uncomfortable. We ended up leaving before our food even arrived.
Is there no way for you to get a babysitter? Or just invite them over to your place? Give yourself a chance to relax with your friends, is my advice.
