Crying babies in public? - Page 3

Folks with babies would likely be happy to take the baby out until they are calmed but a rude man would likely start a fight so I don't think starting a fight would be an option, at least for me. Some folks are crazy and go all commando when challenged, for instance, I slowly backed out of a parking spot after checking that no cars were coming when suddenly some idiot guy came barreling up the aisle and got royally ticked off with me for blocking his way. He then proceeded to chase me out of the lot and onto the street.

this has many sense!...

Our church has mother's room with the piped-in service so that cranky babies don't disturb others. When our grandchildren were younger, my DS and DIL would stay in that room with their babies. But they were with their children; they didn't just hand them off to a stranger.

I don't think it's fair at all for people to have to deal with a crying baby. The parent should take the baby some place else to get it calmed down. If it won't be calmed down, they should leave. And if the parents won't leave, I would.....and be assured I would want my money back.

It's not fair to other patrons at a restaurant, movie, play, what-have-you to have to deal with a screaming baby. I paid my money to see the movie or have a nice dinner.

Several years ago, we were at a very nice restaurant, not a family-type place. Some people came in with a screaming baby and that baby simply would not be quiet. Fortunately it was before we ordered our meal and we immediately left....as did several other people. It's one thing to have a baby at a family-type restaurant, quite another at a nicer place. Then again, I try not to be around babies at all if I can help it. I have a very low tolerance for screaming babies or for kids who don't know how to behave. Or for the parents who are blissfully unaware that their kids are terrors in a public place.

As for the man on the cell phone, my GF and I were visiting a used book store. There was a guy there who was obviously going through a bad divorce. And believe me, everybody knew it. Everybody. He was sitting on a chair, pretty much screaming into the phone, calling his wife all kinds of names, swearing up a storm. It was nasty and there were young children in the building. Somebody did report him and he was asked to leave. He finally did, but the episode was really ugly.

I think everyone is forgetting that at some point and time they where screaming babies. It isn't always easy to quiet a baby if something is wrong with them and you cannot always call a babysitter. Me for example if I had kids I would be in a mess I have no one I trust that is close enough drive that could watch them for me and like with my sister we don't take the kids to restraunts and movies but we have to take them to the store sometimes and we are limited on family so if we have to go to the store if one of the kids was upset we try to hurry but leaving them at home is not always an option.

I was thinking of this thread the other day.

My car needed some expensive (and lengthy) work done last week. I used to go for a walk at these times but my mechanic moved and now is on a busy road, four lanes, with nothing but a walmart on the other side of those four lanes.

It was pouring rain so I brought some paperwork and a book. I'd been there about an hour when a young couple came in with their 2 year old. The little boy started crying in about 15 minutes. I felt bad for the mother. There wasn't any where for her to take him. She had to wait for her car, and it was raining.

There were two waiting sections, I was in the one area where there is no TV, they were in the other.

I turned to look their way in the hopes of distracting him, I can be pretty good with kids, but when the mother saw me looking she got up and moved from the area. I noticed though that when she was not seated in the waiting area he didn't cry. Every time she came back to the waiting area he started wailing.

I wanted to point that out to her, but she kept avoiding my glance, she probably thought I was annoyed. In many cases I would have been but it was quite obvious the child was exhausted, and she had no choice but to wait for her car. It was too distracting to work though, so I got my book out.

What was more annoying was the two other women waiting in the section I was in. At first it was interesting. They discovered they knew one another from high school and it seems it's been a few years...they sat and gossiped about other former classmates. Then one of the women's cell phones rang, she answered it and sat there and talked, so the other took HER phone out and made a call. The two of them sat there within a foot of one another each yak-yaking very loudly into their phones.

That out did the crying baby as an annoyance by a landslide

Then I got up, paid my $700 and left, and I was actually smiling as I walked out into the rain with a hole in my bank account, because the whole scene had seemed so...surreal. Or maybe I was just a little high from breathing all those rubber fumes from the displayed tires for two hours.

Though I haven't read this entire thread, I feel I can contribute at least a little to it, as I happen to be the mother of one of those crying babies.

My daughter is one year old now, and her latest habbit is, when she gets even a little too tired, she starts screeching. Ironically, she loves being out of the house. So I am stuck in an odd situation- I have a very public baby who is currently not very well behaved for being in public. As many of the posts I have read mention, tired babies often can just not be quieted; it's really not a matter of good parenting or allowing the behavior.

I'm also one of those "crunchy" moms who honestly believes babies and children are just as important as adults (Dr Seuss said it best- "a person's a person no matter how small"), and though I'm very open minded about most things, one antiquated belief I can't stand is "children should be seen and not heard". I believe children have a right to be heard as much as any adult. I also believe they have as much right to be anywhere* as any adult, including tennis matches and restaurants. (*with a few exceptions for extreme things, of course)

However, with that in mind, I think it is the parents' responsibility to care for their child. The baby in the tennis match obviously should not have been there- not necessarily for the sake of the players or the spectators, but for that baby's own benefit. I know when my baby starts screeching, I remove her from the situation because it is was SHE needs.

I also believe that just as adults should take care to not go places they don't fit in (don't go to a cat lover's house and tell them to throw their cats outside because you don't want to get furry; don't go to a casino that allows smoking and tell everyone else to quit smoking because you don't like it!), parents should take care that they don't bring a child somewhere they don't belong. If your baby doesn't want to sit still, don't go to a tennis match. If you child can't speak quietly, don't go to a high class quiet restaurant. If your baby will get bored at a movie, don't go to a theater.

And if by some chance you think your child will enjoy, say, the tennis match so you bring them and then they start screeching, leave. In the example of the above post, if you can't, you should do all in your power (as that mother seemed to) to try to make the situation as minimally painful as possible for everyone invovled- your baby and your fellow patrons.

As a Mom of four, Grandma of one, I can see both sides of the issue. I was pretty much the type to bring the kids along anywhere with me, but held them to behavior standards. For movies (or tennis matches), honestly I would have better luck keeping an infant happy than a cranky 2 or 3 year old! But I would also take them out if they began to cry.

Always attended churches that approved of babies in the sanctuary, but still if they caused a disturbance I would take them out.

I think that you have to know yourself, and your babies/kids. And be prepared to remove them from the situation if needed.

Ok, this makes me mad... I have done 2 international trips - from the US to Australia - with my baby at 8 months, and 11 months old. We'll be heading back again in October, and will probably do a trip to Malaysia while we're there. Each time so far, so 4 flights, I was in the bulkhead with parents of other babies in bassinets. Each of the 4 bassinets had a baby in it. Each flight, while there was often at least one baby crying, but the plane drowned out a lot of the noise, and with headphones on, you couldn't really hear any of them, and none of them cried for very long. My daughter is awesome on the plane. She slept 6-7 hours straight in the bassinet each time, and the rest of the time was pretty happy just hanging out with us. She walked up and down the aisles with me, and she grinned at everyone, and even the most grumpy looking person ended up grinning back at her. So many people had a chat with her, tickled her belly, waved, or reacted positively in general. There is absolutely no reason why we should be treated as second class citizens, and there is no reason why we should be discouraged from flying. I have done a lot of international travel and adults have annoyed me much more than children have.

You think it's stressful flying? Try doing it as the parent of a baby, it's 10 times more stressful. Worth it in the end, but still stressful.

No, people pay for first class because they have money to burn and want luxury. Do you really think rich parents are going to fly cattle class just because someone else might be bothered?? I would MUCH rather fly in business or first class with my baby because we would both have so much more room and be much more comfortable!

Yes, that woman was an idiot, and highly irresponsible, but the airline staff could have asked her to quiet down her baby.

Once again... it's SO much worse for the parent. They have to deal with the lack of sleep on the plane, then the lack of sleep for the next week while the baby deals with jet lag. Doesn't mean the parents shouldn't be allowed to take a holiday, visit family, take the family with them on business etc.

Wow, that sounds like an unhappy way to grow up - for both your parents and you. My daughter has been to the baseball, she's been to numerous zoos, the Academy of Sciences, been to Australia twice, Denver CO, various restaurants, parades... and probably many more things, and she's not even 1 yet. I believe it's all these experiences that help make a well rounded kid. She's thankfully a laidback baby, so she's never caused problems, and been a pleasure to take with me to experience all these things. She LOVES new things, she loves seeing new people, she's fascinated by animals, she likes bright, colourful things, she loves music. I will continue to take her everywhere, and show her everything I can.

I agree with everything Janet said

I think all people are saying is that they don't like excessively loud noise blaring at them for hours. Pretty reasonable and understandable IMO.

A friend of mine has a dog that just barks and barks and barks, and while I <3 dogs and you may find them fun little creatures too, I'm sure you would consider it selfish and inconsiderate subjecting an entire airplane to that for 13 hours even though the owner may be trying to quite his dog and its completely natural for dogs to bark.

Also, you fly first class for comfort, and surely not being subjected to very loud noise that many would find irritating falls under the category of discomfort. I'd be quite unhappy if I saved up my money to fly first class (done it only twice so far) only to have a baby crying into my ear for hours on end. I didn't get anyone pregnant, so why am I having to share in the sacrifices of parenting?
I can say with absolute certainty that I do not remember anything from before I was 1 year old.

And a family flying first class with a baby had to pay for that seating as well. If there were any rights or expectations of being free from the sound of children, then the airline would not sell them those seats. Pretty simple, yes?

The suggestion was that there SHOULD be a separate section or at least a place to go to take a break and quiet a baby, not that there already is one.

I mean, there is no stipulation that says I can't sing loudly the whole flight either, but most would agree they'd prefer peace... and yes, my singing is worse than a baby screaming heheh.

A slight hijack here -
During 2 of the 2004 hurricanes in Florida, we and our cats stayed at the business below our apartment since the 1st floor is safer (block rather than wood). There were about 8-10 people including the building owner. I did my very best to keep the cats contained and calm. They were in a large dog crate that I bought especially in case of this situation. Oliver was fine. Tripod, on the other hand, was terrified and extremely vocal. Loudly vocal. For hours. And hours. I laid half way in the crate with him and couldn't stop him. I held him and couldn't stop him. I kept apologizing to everyone. I was afraid the building owner was going to tell me he couldn't stay. I would have had to take him upstairs before it got bad and stayed with him.

Thank God for compassion and understanding people. It was even ok with them the 2nd time.

From the World Health Organisation http://www.who.int/mediacentre/facts.../en/index.html

Oh, I absolutely agree, and children shouldn't be just left in a room and not fed, but you're not going to convince me that I was able to distinguish between the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Great Pyramids in Egypt, and Chuck E Cheez or the mall kids playcenter or the zoo down the street. I could be wrong, but I feel pretty safe saying that.

It's all about new and varied experiences I agree that it doesn't matter what it is, but getting out and seeing and experiencing new things really helps with a child's development. That's why I think the old "children should be seen and not heard" thing is ridiculous.

I don't go to Australia because I want my kid to fly - I would really prefer not to do another international flight with her for a looooong time, but I do it so I can see my family. I'm also not going to not do things because I have a child, I want to include her in our experiences. We're taking her on an 8 mile hike down into the Grand Canyon with us in a couple of months She does awesome travelling, and LOVES airports and planes, and new places, but man it is exhausting!

Yes, I was a screaming crying baby at one point at a public event - and my mother took me outside until I calmed down. She told me this story many times as I grew up. Why is it so hard for people to understand that its better for both the baby, the parent, and the other patrons to remove the child until he/she calms down?

This thread came to mind when I just saw a tv add made by a finnish traveling agency and they were advertising 'child free' holidays. The hotels don't allow kids, so people who want to spend their holiday in child free environment can do so. (Of course they have holidays to kid friendly places too). There had been lots of suggestions and interest in this kind of choice and apparently it has been a hit.

I believe those type of trips are also available to us here in North America, i.e., no children allowed.

There is a tropical resort which does this.