By all means, kids (noisy and not so noisy) should be brought. My father (who is no youngster himself) tells his senior cronies, “in the old age home, and in the bais ha’chayim, its quiet.. shul is for kids, and noise is a sign of life”.
My kids have been coming since they are able to walk. Not for the whole davening, and loads of nosh to keep them quiet, but I would not have done a thing differently. Now, they sit nicely, sans nosh. So all in all, kids in shul is a good thing.