to want to take a 21 month old to the cinema?

[complexo]

The film is The Lion King

Only if they will sit still and watch it and not spoil it for everyone else.

why not

can't imagine them sitting still for long, not if awake. i'd make a point of sitting nowhere near you :)

depends on your 21mo old. dd2 would cause untold chaos before the trailers were over, so i leave her at home if i'm taking dd1.

dd yes at that age,
ds not a hope!

I think my daughter was a bit older when I took her to the cinema the first time... I was expecting her to be awful, but she was really well behaved :)

It's not like you can't take him/her out if they start crying etc.
Odeon has a parent and baby/toddler showing on some films that are suitable btw, they will be full of people with other little ones that may not keep quiet, and the lights aren't completely off so you can see well enough :)

I know they do special toddler showings at our local cinema, they're on in the morning and it's expected that there will be a fair bit of noise. Might be woth checking out?

If you think there's a good chance of them sitting through it then yanbu.
Wish I could take ds (same age) but he would be a total nightmare!

It depends on WHY you are taking them. If its because you think they'll enjoy it then you're wrong and they won't! If it's because YOU (another child) want to see it and it's the easiest option to take them then no YANBU. You can always let them run up and down the area by the door. I often took my kids to the cinema and the youngest (at the time) would run around quietly, out of sight and no-one knew they were doing so. (Tip - take some books, a dummy, and lots of food!)

Not a hope in hell DD would stay still for two minutes that long. Good luck!

Depends on the child - DD was about that age when we started going to morning screenings (NB DS1, nice dark place for lots of undistracted BF!)

The first one was Madagascar and she was transfixed. The other two kids have been going since birth, with a gap between about 10 months and 18 months (when they are too young to understand The Rules) and all three behave beautifully in the cinema and theatre now.

Why would you want to?

Given that the chances are a 21 month old won't enjoy it much and will create and not want to sit for that length of time, I'd say 'no'.

It will spoil it for other people.

Someone brought their 3 year old to see the last Transformers film and ruined half the film for everyone else, before they thought to take him out, as he howled from the opening credits.

I wouldn't have done. Unless I was absolutely certain that my 21 month old could sit through a film. ds1 might have been OK but ds2 would have been a nightmare and I didn't think it was fair to other people who'd paid for cinema tickets with the reasonable expectation that they might enjoy the film.

Not at that age, not unless it's one of those specific early morning mum and baby screenings.

We took DS when he was 3 and he was only just about ready - even now he struggles with a full film unless he LOVES it (he's 4.7 now).

BTW, I love the Lion King, but it was only film that we actually had to leave in the middle of because DS hated it so much!

mine were both about 4 when i took them to the cinema for the first time and I dont think they would have sat still any earlier.

Does depend on the child though.

Oh, and i agree with nowayhow, neither ds' enjoyed the Lion King !!

I went to see Avengers Assemble the other night and just as the film started a very young sounding baby started crying. Someone took the baby out more or less straight away but I couldn't help thinking why on earth would you bring a baby to the cinema, especially to a film that is clearly going to be very noisy?!

Even at 21 months, and to see the lion king, I reckon you'll regret it.

One of my earliest memories is crying hysterically in a cinema when Bambi's mother died and having to be taken outside by my mum, I was 3 and a half-ish. I haven't braved the cinema with DD1 yet, who is nearly 3 although she has seen the Lion King on dvd aged 2.5, but it didn't hold her attention all the way through and she kept wandering off.

At my local Odeon they do baby morning screenings where the volume is lower and lights slightly less dimmed which might be an option for you. See here to find out if there is one near you that does it.

Massively depends.
Are you taking them to see it? In which case I think there is enough scary stuff in there to advise you it could overwhelm your DC.
Are you going for you? Don't take your DC.
Are you going for their sibling? Your DC might freak out and then all of you will have to leave.

Either way, I think it's a bad age to take them. Under 1 - great, I used to love going to our local cinema 'baby time'. Over 4, not a problem. In between - good luck, it may be a spectacular waste of money.

Also it's the bloody noise

Every time I go to the cinema, the film is broadcast louder and louder each time. It could frighten the living shit out of a baby that age.

I know someone who regularly takes her very young baby to the cinema (took them when they were about 1 month old). If you are prepared to walk out of the cinema so you don't disturb other people, and you are confident that you can easily settle them into a 1.5+ hour film, I say go for it.

God, yes. Please don't.

Walking out of the cinema does disturb other people.

I've never met a 21 month old who would be anything other than an utter pain in the arse at the cinema.

My main concern is the noisy and flash images. I'm doing a favour for a friend and it will be raining, my husband will be having a day off after a 14 hours shift so I don't really want to be at home. I know the little girl is very good at watching and sat at home and watched the DVD Cars not long ago. I will be taking my 5 year old with me too so I think he would be very upset if I leave before the film finish. Anyway it would cost only £3 (£1 each) and it is a morning session, so not a big waste of money in case I have to leave the cinema but a big disappointment for my 5 year old.

Walking out of the cinema does disturb other people.

Not if you are sitting near the exit.