Full price babies at the Olympics

[littlepinklizard]

I'm shocked by the conversation I just had with the London 2012 ticketing poeple. My dh and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the horse jumping on 8 August. Our baby is due 2 June, so was enquiring about what I need to do about tickets for the new baby.

They said eveyone needs a ticket - fine.
Children's tickets are £1 - fine.
But there are no children's tickets for the horse jumping so I have to pay £95 to have a 3 month old in a sling!!!
I said I was planning to bf and couldn't go without the baby.
They said the only alternative was to re-sell my ticket or give it to someone else.

I can't justify £95 and I know lots of people who would love the ticket so I guess I just have to transfer it. But I am fuming.

AIBU or are the 2012 people?

I was just talking to a guy on the ticket hotline. He said there would be tickets available in mid april & they are currently looking into making a lot of child tickets available as well, so I guees we have to see what happens.

For what its worth, we have tickets for the sailing - a venue chosen because we felt it would be easier/more enjoyable for us and 2 young children than a long journey to London, underground, seating etc. That doesn't mean I think people with young children or babies should be banned - that frankly is ridiculous - everybody is free to choose for themselves.

We are expecting DC3 shortly (conceived after we bid for tickets) and from previous experience the baby will be fully breastfed when we are due to go to the olympics. I can't express (mastitis issues) and at that stage will not be able to be separated from the baby for more than 2-3 hours. The only people who would be able to provide this sort of cover for us are my parents - who are volunteering in London for some sort of sport event at that time. If the baby can't go, I can't go and it is likely that the rest of my family will similarly not go. No-one can tell us if there will be tickets available or at what price, so basically it feels as though we have no option at the moment other than to sell the tickets.

For those who complain about excessive baby baggage - its been mentioned upthread that buggies etc won't be allowed in some venues so am not sure what the problem is here. And those who complain about the noise - have you ever been to a major sport event? Do you have any appreciation of the general noise levels or how that noise is swallowed up in a large stadium or the open air? Am not sure I would want to be next to a rowdy group of teenagers or noisy, chatty, people eating constrantly - but then am not intolerant enough to think they should be banned or small minded enough to judge people in that way.

Rant over. Breathe..........

BlackSwan, I don't think anyone has cast judgement on ff parents. The fact this that a baby who is EBF, not even using bottles of expressed milk, cannot survive without their mother being available for regular feeds. A baby who is fed with bottles, whether formula or breastmilk-fed, can.

As for the people saying the OP should just get a babysitter, that might be your choice but it's not everybody's. If, for example, the OP has no family alive or available to care for the child, it would mean relying on someone outside the family. At that age some parents prefer to do the caring themselves, and why shouldn't they?

I wouldn't want to leave my 3-month-old in someone else's care for a whole day - and it would basically be a whole day, wouldn't it? I'm not convinced that I'd want to take a baby to the Olympics, either, because of all the hassle involved. But, from experience, I'd say it would be far easier to go with a 3 month old than a toddler/ 5 year old.

Sorry BlackSwan. Of course a young baby, regardless of how it is fed, should be with its mother. It wasn't meant to suggest that BF babies are superior to FF babies or that only BF babies should be allowed in.

"Am not sure I would want to be next to a rowdy group of teenagers or noisy, chatty, people eating constrantly - but then am not intolerant enough to think they should be banned or small minded enough to judge people in that way."

Hear, hear, tilder!

Some people do tend to pay too much attention to their imaginations and then end up getting their knickers in a twist over nothing, don't they!

Just to reiterate the point about buggies - they're not allowed in the seating area at any of the venues although there will be a storage area at most venues - check the website.

I also noticed that someone up-thread was talking about taking food, drink and bags of baby paraphanalia into the venue - according to the website:

The following is a non-exhaustive list of restricted items which may not be taken into a Venue (LOCOG reserves the right to amend this list, generally, or in respect of any Venue or Session): food (save for baby food), alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (save for baby milk and other valid medical reasons), liquids in containers of greater than 100ml in size, needles (save as required for valid medical reasons), animals (save for assistance or guide dogs), weapons (including knives), illegal drugs, other illegal substances, fireworks, firecrackers, poles, flagpoles, sticks, large photographic equipment (including tripods), bats, large umbrellas and other blunt instruments, motorcycles, bicycles, roller-skates, skateboards, or other types of skates, electronic transmitting equipment, flags of countries not participating in the Games, large flags or banners, horns, whistles, drums, rattles, musical instruments, lasers or any other devices that in the opinion of LOCOG may disturb a Session, objects bearing trademarks or other kinds of promotional signs or messages (such as hats, T-shirts, bags, etc) which LOCOG believes are for promotional purposes, counterfeit products, balls, rackets, frisbees or similar objects, large quantities of coins, lighters, advertising or promotional material of any kind, printed matter bearing religious, political or offensive content or content contrary to public order and/or morality, bottles or containers made of glass or other material, flasks, thermoses, refrigerators, large objects such as suitcases or bags, and in general any material that LOCOG may deem dangerous or that may cause damage or disruption to a Session.

Amazing that elsewhere on AIBU a mother is being advised that attending a wedding with a babe in arms will be hell on earth (yes I'm aware that much of the advice concerns her C section but a lot of it also mentions how difficult small babies can be) and yet all of the babies mentioned above are silent and won't cause a second of fuss.

Just been on World at One - Radio 4. Probably on iplayer later.

Did anyone see that awful woman on bbc breakfast this morning talking about babies at the olympics. She made me so angry I actually swore at the tv infront of my kids.

All of the advice on that thread concerns the health of a woman travelling SIX hours just ten days after major abdominal surgery. None of that thread is anything about the baby being disruptive. Simply that it is difficult to take care of a ten day old baby and attend a wedding. The two threads are totally unrelated. I would also not expect anyone would advise a woman to attend the olympic games with a ten day old baby. It's quite different if the baby is 3 months old though.

And where will they take their babies when they start crying? They will be jammed in and short of getting everyone to stand up (hopefully not during the 100m metres final) how will they get out! Just leave them at home and let everyone enjoy the day

But you could say that about toddlers surely? The only difference is that the toddlers were already born/conceived when the tickets went on sale, there was nothing to stop parents buying tickets for 2-3 year olds. Toddlers of that age could arguably be more annoying as they have a tendency to sleep a lot less than a newborn baby and they can walk and talk.

This thread was originally about people who had bought tickets for themselves when there wasn't even a baby on the way at that time. So it will mostly involve babies of six months or less. It isn't possible to just leave them at home. So if the baby can't go then the mother can't go.

The argument is not that babies are annoying and shouldn't be allowed at the olympics. Babies are quite clearly allowed at the olympics if a ticket has been purchased for them. A woman could have bought a ticket for a new baby "just in case" she got pregnant (although few people would actually do this I imagine) and that baby would be allowed into the event. Regardless of how annoying the people nearby would find it.

Since babies are allowed, it wouldn't be difficult for the ticket authorities to also allow these extra babies who don't have a ticket because they were not yet conceived.

I would never of taken my newborn to the olympics. If you all put your babies before yourselves then you wouldnt dream of taking them. It will be crowded, busy and very stressful for everyone. Why not stay at home and watch it on TV.

The "you selfish PFBs, why don't you leave your baby at home" people have utterly missed the point, of course.

It is nothing to do with noise, is it? They don't suddenly stop making noise at 3. And children quite manifestly are allowed, so it is clear that the organisers are not following an anti-child agenda designed to pander to your delicate ears. It is just the fact that this is the latest in a long string of brain-achingly ridiculous cock-ups, this time involving the ticketing system not taking account of people who didn't exist when the tickets were first sold.

So saying "leave them at home otherwise you might upset me and all the other thousands of people (children included) who will be sitting together in silent awe in a stadium" (erm, yes - have these people ever watched any sport before, I wonder?) are just being ridiculous and irrelevant.

Yes! I was the same. My DS is only 8 months, but he got to hear all about what an ignorant, ill informed witch she was. It is hard enough for mums to feel confident about bfing in public without the likes of her spouting off about not wanting someone getting their mammaries out in front of her. And of course an eight week old is going to be more manageble in terms of noise and disruption than a toddler. She is clearly one of these idiots that think shouting over the top of someone means she is cleverer than them.
Sorry to rant. I have been bottling this up all day.
As to the Olympic tickets, I don't see why they can't charge £10-£20 for babies to be kept on their parents lap like they do on airlines.

Great disguise Hopkins

I am with the camp of leaving baby away.
Love kids and babies but wouldn't want an event ruined by screaming babies.
And would be worried about noise and crowds and general chaos. Noise levels alone with small babies would be a concern, crowds clap and cheer etc!
Sorry but think they have got it right on this one!

I agree xmyboys. I think alot of this is about the selfish mums who don't really think about how stressful it will be for babies.

It's more of a "we're mums we have a right" rather than them really wanting to take them!

But they haven't banned babies!! If the parents could get their hands on tickets they could still pay £95 to take these babies with them and then they could still scream all day long or whatever and annoy others. This is nothing to do with whether or not babies are annoying. The issue is whether they should have to pay £95 for a full priced ticket when they are not occupying a seat.

I don't think this is a 'we're mums, we've got a right' attitude. It's about people who bid for their tickets like everyone else, were lucky enough to get them, have paid for them, and now, because of different circumstances, find themselves potentially paying £95 extra or leaving their baby at home (not always easy to find a babysitter actually,especially for one that's a few weeks old) or missing it all together.

The bizarre thing is, it seems that the £95 is to pay for a seat, not a ticket. Today they were saying that they can't guarantee that the seats would be together. But babies don't need a seat! So potentially there will be all these empty seats dotted about the stadium that could have gone to actual grown-ups or children who could sit in them!

Well I'm afraid that I find myself disagreeing with many here. Tickets are so oversubscribed that only children old enough to remember the experience and paying full price ought to be allowed seats in my view! The Olympics here is a once in a lifetime experience so bf just get a pump and express - I did this with both of mine as they started day nursery FT at 5 months when I went back to work. I fed them for 10 and 8 months respectively like this and the breast pump was loaned to me by a work colleague and I bought one myself and lnow oan that! Where there's a will there's a way! ( I would not risk a baby in that environment as it could well be the melting pot for the long expected viral pandemic...I'm sure the tv coverage will be excellent!)

God it really is frustrating reading all the comments about not wanting to be disrupted by children's noise - how long will it take for the penny to drop that many people have already bought tickets for young children for Olympic events? And what will you do when you find yourselves surrounded by sticky fingered yelling two year olds at your chosen event? Storm out? Demand your money back? As I said a long way up thread the Olympics is an inclusive event to which ALL are invited, children almost more than anyone because of the LEGACY the games is supposed to leave us with. That is why schools in London have been allocated tickets to distribute among pupils. It's not fucking Ronnie Scott's.

Re plane tickets for babies - I would be more than happy to pay a charge to bring a baby, and hold a ticket for them to guarantee their entry, in fact I'd expect to. My problem is that babies have be allocated a seat, in which they obviously won't sit, meaning they can't attend already sold-out events (unless they 'sit' in a different area from their parents. Umm...)

This thread is in today's Guardian with quotes.

Katie Hopkins is professionally insane.

I have mixed feelings about this, we have tickets to the marathon and show jumping final and will have a lo who will be a few weeks old by then. Obviously no tickets for him/her who wasn't even conceived when we bought the tickets. I really really don't want to miss the opportunity to see the events on home turf but is it too much to take a tiny baby to something like this? I'm a FTM and no idea what I will feel like or what's achievable tbh. I would hate to sit next to a screaming baby but aren't the Olympics meant to be the ultimate family event?

I agree with the Olympic organizers. I don't think everyone in society wants to watch women breastfeed, and it is their right not to be surrounded by breastfeeding women. PLUS, no one wants to go to olympic games only to listen to crying babies. I think there are too many women in society who think that becoming a mother is a license to be rude, and inconsiderate of the feelings and needs of others, and they use the "baby" as an excuse for such behaviour. I too am a mother but I want my children to see the best possible example of respect and kindness for others, and I accept that not everyone in society cares as much about my kids as I do, therefore I cannot makes demands of others or expect special accomodations just because "I CHOSE" to become a mother. That was my choice, and it does not entitle me to privileges in life, anymore than it does women who remain childfree. Just my two cents.