Crying babies in public?

IMMATURE. But they should have halted the game till the baby was quiet or taken out. Players should be able to concentrate on what they are doing.

I'm not used to crying babies any more since our kids are grown, but its does irritate me when a baby starts crying and won't be quieted. It IS disturbing if you are trying to concentrate or listen to someone talking.

1) What kind of parent brings a baby to a tennis match? What a stupid thing to do.

2) Since he did, he could have at least had the courtesy to get up and leave when the baby started crying. What a selfish way to be.

I don't think the tennis player was aiming at the baby, but the behavior was over the top, for sure. Tennis players do seem to cultivate a prima dona type attitude.

But the parent used poor judgement. So everyone is wrong, in my opinion.

Ditto that!!

I agree that it is really not right to bring a baby to a tennis match (or anywhere quiet is expected like that). As for babies crying in restaurants or other public places; well it depends on the age. Nathan and I have had to take turns eating while we were on vacation so the other one of us could take our child outside. It was horrible! I'm the kind that DOES NOT like having attention drawn to me for stuff like that. The restaurant was busy, we were on vacation and it was a special place the in-laws were taking us. But Tressa was overtired from not sleeping well with all the activity of the trip; so we had a miserable meal. But at least it wasn't miserable for everyone else in the restaurant!

Now for an older kid who is just wanting their own way; it would be nice if people could be understanding. How will they learn how to behave in public if every time they act up you leave? Yes you maybe should step out to quietly correct them; but not leave altogether right away. Sure the parent's have a job to do; but it would be nice if others could have a little patience too. I used to get very annoyed when people had kids acting up in the grocery store. Now that I'm a parent I'm not so quick to judge!

As for the tennis player in this instance....well I just love Otto's comment about the prima dona type attitude! Couldn't he have stopped and asked that something be done? Do they have "time-outs" in tennis?

Overdramatization.

It was a soft lob no where near the baby. Of course, the appropriate thing to do would be an italian up wave of the hand in that direction to get the point across.
Seconded! And the motion is carried.

Just like how they used to have separate smoking sections on flights, IMO they should have this for babies as well. Last flight I had an infant two inches from my ear screaming louder than should be humanly possible for a creature of that size. Luckily, it was only for a few hours.....

Someone needs to invent a lightweight fullface scuba mask or similar with mufflers on the air-outlet.

As a parent I will say no the baby should not have been at a tennis match but the tennis player should have had more concentration as a professional athlete.x

Bottom line...you chose to have the kid. You chose to fly or whatever with them. It is your responsibility to make them behave mannerly in public. And, all of us paying passengers/spectators are entitled to a reasonably quiet flight/tennis matches under the burning sun etc....I don't bother you...you, (and your kid), shouldn't bother me...that is part of living in a civilized society. Quit making excuses for your choice to have a kid, and not properly parent them.

From a never to be parent.

How can you make a baby well behaved and stop crying, my gosh I wish I could have had better parenting skills when mine woke up at 3 in the morning for a feed.x

The Dogbert solution...

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1996-06-26/

Um, yeah. . .I'm never going to be a parent, either, but even I know that you can't keep a baby from screaming on an airplane (especially if their ears hurt, which mine do when I fly. . .hey, I want to scream during takeoffs and landings. Ouch!), no matter how "properly" you parent. And there's nowhere to take them where people can't hear them. Sometimes we all just have to suck it up.

Don't know why they took a baby to a tennis match, though. That's just crazy.

Exactly, its impossible, which is why babies need to be quarantined somewhere in the back.

That way when I'm picking my seats I can choose some way up front.

The worst is when you are flying first class and you still have to endure a screaming baby.

On a flight from Seattle to Texas, I asked to be moved to Coach mid flight and was eventually credited the difference in price from the downgrade from first to coach. The baby (not even an infant was about 2) was just WAILING. The mother, who HAD to have taken some type of sleep aid to be able to tune out the noise, seemed oblivious to the whole thing and everyone had to suffer. The child had his own seat, and just screamed and kicked the entire time.
Very unfair when you pay the cost of a first class ticket to have a quiet, more comfortable flight.

While I know you can't ban babies from planes, they should be banned from first class.

There should absolutely be airline policies to discourage those with babies in tow from flying because parents DO need to think twice before boarding. Ideally they should have available the alternative of a 'family-friendly' flight - or find another way to get there if at all possible.

I do international a lot and no matter where you are positioned on the aircraft, 11-12 hours of a screaming monster with no possibility of a optional parachute or emergency landing is not something anyone should have endure. Long haul flying is stressful enough, without an airline putting you through more problems.

I think when it comes to children in public places, everyone should exercise a bit of common sense and patience. Parents should be aware of their child's mood prior to going someplace where a crying baby might disrupt others. This isn't always something you can do, though, so patrons might want to exercise a bit more patience and understanding in the fact that you can't always quiet a crying baby, especially immediately. The situation is a bit different when you can clearly tell that the parent doesn't give a hoot what anyone else thinks and doesn't even try to calm the child.

I've also recently understood that not all kids who are acting up in public act like that all the time. Maybe it's just a bad day? I used to snarl under my breath at children in public who ran around like heathens. But you know what? I remembered that *I* used to get that way sometimes and I often got into trouble for it too.

But as it pertains to this story...I wouldn't take a baby to a movie, and I wouldn't take a baby to a tennis match. But I also wouldn't throw or hit something into the stands to make a point. The best course of action would have been for the parent to remove themselves, and the baby, from the stands and if that didn't happen (which apparently, it didn't), the player could have asked for them to leave or be escorted out.

Two bad behaviors don't make a good one, IMO.

They pay too and for the baby!Why should people with babies and who are paying be a less priority than people that aren't. It just comes down to people who don't like kids really. I agree keep kids under control but really a BABY you cannot tell to behave, they may be crying for a number of reasons. x

I'm sure I would go insane in a plane with a baby that cried for more than five minutes. I don't fly any more though., However I know these days don't they have head sets and movies? Or you can carry ear plugs, I guess.

But. Anywhere else, besides long distance public transportation such as planes and trains and greyhound buses, the parent, in my opinion, has the obligation of removing the crying baby from the area.

You don't sit in a movie theater, sports arena,concert, restaurant or continue your grocery shopping, and just let the baby cry. You take the baby out. Home if necessary, or until the baby is quiet.

It's selfish, not just inconsiderate to other people, but to the BABY, to just let the child wail as you go about your business.

People pay for first class tickets to avoid having to deal with such things. I'm not just shelling out that extra money on every flight I take for the leg room.

And if you are going to force those of us who paid extra to endure it, at least have the common courtesy to stay awake and deal with your kid. This woman had a few drinks, popped a pill, and slept the entire time with a WAILING baby right beside her. It was a disgusting display of lack of consideration for those around her.

Half the problem was that this "mother" allowed her kid to carry on while she slept and everyone else had to suffer for it.

I don't agree about it coming down to whether or not you like kids in these types of scenarios. I think someone who loves children - would still be totally miserable if one was screaming and disrupting the peace, ruining a nice night out when they may have left their own children at home, or kicking their chair on a 5 hour flight.

And for the record, I'm not a kid person. That's why I have cats!!

If I had to travel with my cat and he was disturbing even one person (never mind an entire plane full) I'd do something about it. I certainly wouldn't sit with him in first class, and if he screamed while in coach, I'd buy those around me who are suffering a drink at the VERY LEAST as an apology. It's all about common courtesy. It's nobodys problem but my own that I had to travel with a cat. Nor should it be my problem that someone had to travel with a cranky baby.

You can always fly Ryanair:
Child free flights from October 2011

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I am always amazed by how little compassion the majority of the members on this site have for children. Cats and other animals? You might as well build a shrine to them. Children, on the other hand, get talked about as though they're objects/property/less than human.

And that's at the heart of all this babies/children discussions. Many adults seem to think that children are less human because they're, well, children. The big ol' news flash is that babies and children are FULLY human and deserve to be treated as such.

It's not the babies I have no compassion for. It's the selfish parents who think it's okay to go about their business and ignore the screaming babies' obvious distress and need.

You, maybe. Others that have responded (to this thread and others) seem to think that parents should beat their children into silence or gag them or something.

Well, when adults scream at me inches from my ear on an airplane and kick my seat, I'm actually far less understanding. With children, I don't blame them, but I'd like to see them quarantined.

And yes, I prefer to refer to children as sub-adults. A necessary evil required to perpetuate the species.

I'm confused. That link doesn't look like an April Fools thing.

Infants will cry for various reasons (aside from ear pain and pressure) - some particularly sensitive or allergic babies simply react badly to high altitudes. So no one is advocating kids in obvious pain be treated inhumanely, children have a right to exist louder than adults. Even granted that parents who “allow” their kids to act like terrors in public places may be few and far between compared to parents who are genuinely trying their best in stressful situations.


But by the same token, out of control families don't have the right to make potentially hundreds of other passengers angry, upset, uncomfortable, exhausted - barely coherent walking zombies arriving at destination with bloodshot eyes. I think some people need to get some personal education before you try to be so opinionated.

And in absence of parental involvement, aren't airlines and by extension the flight attendants ultimately 'in charge' of all passenger behavior, well-being, comfort, consideration ?? I personally would pay for a guarantee that all crying children/toddlers/infants be carted off in the rear of the plane, with a nice big sound proofing divider curtain or hermetically sealed "cry"/sick room between them and everyone else. How about a quiet cabin like the trains have the quiet cars ?

Experience sleep deprivation over an extensive period on an international, overnight (or any) flight.at the hands of an unraveled baby screaming full volume for hours on end and at some point even patient ears are overwhelmed.

LOL, airlines are trying to cram people into smaller and smaller seats, so that they can fit more people on every flight so they can make maximum profits. I can't imagine what they'd charge for a flight with a quiet room. Of course it's possible (some private jets are like nice homes with small windows!) but with the current money-saving situation I don't think it'll ever happen.

How about the crying kids in Walmart late at night. Drives me nuts. Just because the store is 24 hrs doesn't mean children should be there after 10. Kids are whining because they are tired and should be home in bed and the parents are yelling at them because they are whining...hello?

Babies cry thats what they do. Sometimes nothing you can do will stop them I am Mom to a baby who had colic I tried it all he cried and nothing at times would stop him. I spent many many nights walking the floor. TG hes all grown up

It makes me SO angry when I see young children put in that situation. I can't tell you how many times I've encountered it at a late night movie (ending around 11 or later). Usually these moves are SO loud. The poor child is sitting there screaming their heads off because they are exhausted & probably scared of the loud noise and the parents are determined to get their moneys worth of the $10 ticket while everyone else is suffering. Just because it's a dark theatre, it doesn't mean your child is going to nod off because it's their usual bedtime. They should be in THEIR OWN BED. Hire a baby sitter, or see the movie at an earlier time!

Once, a couple allowed their 4 or 5 year old to run all over the theatre, leaping over the seats, trampling up and down the aisles, and crawling under everyone's feet and chairs. I nearly kicked the poor girl in the head because I didn't realize she was right at my feet. It's not only disruptive it's dangerous. What if someone grabbed the child and ran out?

Same thing at restaurants. No reason for a young child to be at a loud restaurant past a certain time. I once had the pleasure of sharing the wall of a booth with an incredibly selfish couple who more or less put their exhausted child to bed on the booth and continued their evening. They had to gall to ask myself, and the couple on the other side of them to keep it down, because their baby is sleeping!!!!!!! My husband told them that it was 11:45pm and their child shouldn't be out at this hour, and reminded them that we didn't ask them to keep it down when their baby screamed through our meal.

So I supposed the point someone made earlier is right - it isn't the childs fault. They can't help it. They can't help where they are dragged. It's the parents & caretakers I have a major issue with who selfishly go about their business, upsetting their childs routine and disturbing everyone else while they go about it. It's also the fault of the people in charge of these establishments who won't say anything because they don't want to offend the parent.

Children of course should be allowed in restaurants and movies. Just not during hours where most logical people would feel the child should be in bed. It's unfair to everyone, especially the child who is exhausted and probably wants to be sleeping comfortably at home.

Looking back at all these horrendous stories I have about children - I'm beginning to think I attract these scenarios the way people who aren't fans of cats will automatically have one sitting in their lap within the first 10 mins of meeting one.