About babies and the Olympics?

[curiousgeorgie]

I really don't understand why parents have taken tiny babies and toddlers to the Olympic games.

Last week I went to beach volleyball, and the crowd was very rowdy and lots of audience participation, and loads of people had babies in slings and toddlers with them who were subjected to the rain and cold with no shelter and huge crowds.

At Athletics the couple behind me had a baby I think was probably about six months.. Very calm for most of it, but everytime the crowd cheered and screamed (especially as lots of GB competitors) the poor baby jumped and screamed, clearly terrified.

At water polo / football / rowing & gymnastics it was the same.... Children who were too young to be there, and were clearly not getting any enjoyment out of it.

Leaving wembley stadium after the football is the scariest crush of people for even an adult... Being jostled through that crowd trying to stay with my friends I just felt so sorry for the poor children who's parents had subjected them to this. (and absolutely packed tube after tube with a buggy / pram?? Madness!)

I have a 22 month old DD, and wouldn't for a second even think of taking her to something so busy and loud. The scope for getting lost or injured or just being scared and having a rubbish time is too great.

AIBU to think people with these young children were being irresponsible abd even selfish to take them to the Olympics?

To be honest, Ds seemed more traumatised by going to baby yoga today than going to the Olympics. But don't let that stop you op!

Yabu.
I wrote a long post but lost it, but im glad you had people you trusted to leave your toddler with. Not all of us are that lucky.
A mile in another mans shoes and all that

I was at Wembley Stadium last night for the Women's Football Final. Saw several babies in slings, none of whom seemed traumatised. In fact, most of them dozed peacefully through what was an exciting and well-supported game but by no means a shriekfest.

I was also very impressed at just how calmly and quickly the crowd of over 80,000 got back to the tube and on their way. Crowd control was excellent. It didn't seem at all frightening to me and most people with babies seemed to be managing without any terrifying trauma.

I reckon it's probably far easier to take babies than it is toddlers who are much more likely to get restless, tend to be in more of a routine so far as bedtimes are concerned (or at least get grumpier when tired and be less prepared to just drop off anywhere) and who can't be expected to be very interested in the events themselves.

I don't think you can make generalisations about how suitable or reasonable it is for babies to be at the Olympics either. Especially since babies are often far more adaptable then you assume they might be.

YABU

Haven't taken baby to the Olympics, but certainly at two of the events we went to she'd have been absolutely fine. No risk of sunburn, not too loud, no crush to get out / onto tube / into station. Athletics that DH went to was possibly a bit loud, but she has a hearing loss so it wouldn't have bothered her (and if not and we'd been planning to take her we could have brought ear protectors).

Have taken all 3 DCs to rugby matches, though. They don't seem unduly traumatised.

Interested in idea of "doing things when they are a bit older" in relation to the London Olympics, though. Would appreciate tips on how that's done as when I checked the "How to get there" pages time machine was not mentioned as an option.

i think you are being a bit over the top too be honest i went to the horse thing and tennis and at the horse thing there were young kids infront of me about 7/8 ages and they were fine and when they were bored they had clolour olympic books. when it started raining,lighting thundering and folk lightiing i heard a few kids screaming as i coming down the stand as we were quite high up so most people got up went into the bit under the ground but i did see one kid screaming about 3/4/5 years when that was going on and he looked quite upset but i think it was becsue of the weather so most people with kids there were fine.

i went to the tennis finals where murray won and kids were there an they were fine again only thing i heard was a baby crying about 5 times but to be honest no one seemed to mind and i think when it happened they took the baby out what was far more annoying was this man behind us 2 rows who kept talking very loud so again it was fine.

the whole point of our olympics is/was to get kids into sport more and i think it is working and im now playing badminton and aim to go far in it.

of course some kids might not be good at that these type of events but thats up to the parenet to decide but genaraly i think its fine as most kids have behaved and enjoyed it.

So who was looking after your dc for all those events op? If it was family then you are very lucky and can't really comment on other people who may not have that support. If it was formal childcare, then you are saying that you essentially chose to have your holiday while your dc was left in childcare. That is not really ver child-centred of you.

Surely it depends on the kids ands the parents as individuals as whether it's appropriate. It's a busy, noisy event but so is going into town on a Saturday when the football is on or going to something like the Sunderland airshow which is considered a 'family' event but getting there is a crush of thousands of noisy people or what about going to a 'family' fireworks event surely that's crowded and noisy. Some kids especially tiny babies are actually fine with noise especially if tucked up in a sling attached to a parent. My DS as a baby would sleep through any noise it was quiet that disturbed him. As long as you are feeding & watering your kid, putting sun cream on and getting some time in the shade, ensuring they don't get lost etc I don't see why it's any more silly than lots of other ' family' days out.
I'm not sure I would personally take a toddler to an event like this but that's because generally they can be really hard work and I wouldn't enjoy it. My 4yo has been really put out that we haven't taken him to the " 'Limpic games" as he's been ridiculously excited about watching it on the telly.

We took our 2 year old to the Olympic Park and into the Basketball. He loved it, he loved the crowds, he loved the noise and he loved the sport. Noise really doesn't bother him. So not selfish of us at all really.

I suggest you get your beak out of other peoples decisions.

I took my DS(5), DD1(3) and DD2(1) to the Olympic park, triathlon and open water swim (mainly on my own). We sat in the very busy parks watching big screens, got a bit crushed at the triathlon, and got very hot at hyde park. We all screamed and cheered a huge amount. They had a great time and I had a great time. They won't remember it but we have the photos and will talk about it. Tbh, there was no way I was going without them. I wanted to share it with them. Yes, it honestly is a once in a lifetime thing.

And we are going to the paralympics twice also. All of us.

You are lucky to get so many tickets, and lucky to have someone to look after your children.

I took DD, 2.9, to handball and she really enjoyed it. As soon as she became bored we left and spent ages walking around the park which she also loved. She was really happy about seeing it on TV and then being there herself. She is beaming in all the photos, and not once was her safety threatened.

We took DS2 (6 months) to the rowing.

Judging from the way he carried on, this was clearly the best day of his little life and we are most unreasonable parents for failing to provide massive, colourful crowds, rows of waving flags and shouting, smiling people every single day.

[beats self in face while screaming 'Bad Parent! Bad!"]

Also, OP, I can't believe you left your poor little DD to go galivanting off to all those events.

Poor little mite.

All those parents with their happy, snuggly babies would JUDGE you.

[dons self-righteous expression and pulls up judgeypants]

I am so sorry for all the children of parents who are scared about the 'dangerous' and 'traumatising' events.

Surely you know how your kid will react? They might love the crowd, the atmosphere, the day out. Yes the will probably be tired and tearful at the end of a long day but that happens at the end of a trip to the soft play sometimes!

What happened to showing your children the world and exposing them to different experiences?

Sunburn is not a symptom of the Olympics, it's a symptom of not taking appropriate precautions.

i didn't take DD (nearly 3) because she would have been a pain in the arse but i saw plenty of babies in slings and little kids having a great time.

And the volutneers were brilliant with people with buggies, helping them lift them upstairs, taking them to the front of lift queues etc.

I wouldn't want to take my 2 year old to the Olympics personally. I think he'd get really bored. I'd rather take him and my DD somewhere more geared up for their enjoyment. But I guess it's up to the individual parents to know how their children are likely to cope. (Having said that, I would have been upset to see a screaming baby frightened by the noise, and the 5 year old getting upset and sunburnt too, and if it were me, if I HAD taken children who once there were obviously finding it distressing, I would have left.)

Tryingtoleave - my daughter was with my parents for a couple (and they took her to peppa pig world, Gambado and the park) and PIL for another, and spent the last one with B and SIL and her cousins. She had a great time. So did I. It's not that hard to spend a few occasions apart and still ensure she's not having a horrible time.

Magichouse - yes, it really was horrible to see a baby so distressed. And it wasn't the only one I saw.

Leafysuburbs - I know I am lucky to go to so many events, but ha I not had childcare, I would have given them up in an instant. My child is my first priority, and that's how it should be.

HAD I not, not Ha...

And whois.. There was no shade sitting in the stands. Even with block on a six month baby shouldn't be sitting in direct sunlight from 10 till 1!

To echo a lot of others I must be a terrible mum. We took ds (4) and dd(2y5m) to the rowing and they loved it. They ask when we can go again. We are taking them to Olympic park for he Paralympics too.
They loved it, having children should not stop you from experiencing once in a lifetime events.
At 8 weeks old we took ds to an outdoor gig. He was smiling and giggling and slept between the bands.
At 6 months old we took dd and ds(2) to a music festival, the were crowds, loud music, and sanding and again they had a ball. They will be going to their third music festival this year and very excited.
Children need to be exposed to normal activities. Dh and I accept that we can't just go to a gig at the drop of hat so instead we have our main holiday as a festival where we can be together as a family.

curious " If someone is just dragging them along so they can go, then they shouldn't be going. That's the responsibility of a parent."

You sound like you're saying no child should be made to go anywhere they don't want to! In that case, should I never take DS shopping with me? Being a parent is not just about doing everything the kids want to do and nothing you want to do, it's about balance.

Have a

The thing is, the OP isn't talking about children who had a ball at the Olympics, but children who were very upset and distressed.

I do agree with the OP that it's not on making your baby sit through events where he/she is obviously frightened, or letting small children get burnt, or very bored and upset because they're really not interested (and if they can't see or understand what's going on, that's fair enough).

I guess it's about getting the balance right between making sure you don't avoid all sorts of exciting events, because you think your children might get upset, making sure you plan for those events if you decide to go and there are problems (suncream, sunshades, finding out other places to go if it gets difficult for them), and also being prepared to leave if it's really not working out, rather than saying for eg "but it's the London Olympics, a once in a lifetime event, we're staying and so what if the baby's terrified of the crowd and screaming his head off". (Or maybe that's just me!!)