Glaring at someone with a crying baby in a baby friendly performance

[CruCru]

I recently went to a baby friendly performance at my local children's theatre (usually the kids have to be 3+). When the lights went out, DD (7 mo) and a lot of other kids started crying.

The man in front kept turning round to glare at me whenever DD made any noise. In the end we left after ten minutes (the staff said babies were allowed to make noise in the baby friendly performance but she wasn't having that much fun).

There wasn't anywhere else to sit as the performance was fully booked. AIBU to think that, if you don't want babies to be there, you should avoid the baby friendly performance?

Despite the 'baby friendly' angle to the performance, I would leave if my baby's crying was prolonged, and would hope other people would do the same.

Having been to my fair share of kiddy shows, the noise and clamour of the audience is part of the whole atmosphere...but not prolonged crying. It's totally invasive and spoils the experience of anyone who is in close range.

I'd have been annoyed with a baby crying for ten minutes. I'm not the confrontational type so no glaring from me but I'd have been pleased when you took the baby out.

My friend and I went to see Julia Donaldson in a storytelling performance with her family, where they did all the classics. There were babies there, lots of them....but we lost 15 minutes of magic owing to a woman behind us and her crying baby. She knew the performance was being drowned out by the noise, but she just stayed there anyway. It wasn't until someone on her row eventually snapped "for goodness sake, take him out!" that she removed him.

Could have high fived the woman that spoke up.

Yabu! You have misunderstood what baby friendly means, it's not about everyone else putting up with your crying baby for ten minutes! I don't blame the guy, because you certainly didn't consider anyone else.

I agree.
To me 'baby friendly' does not equate 'feel free to allow your baby's wailing to drown out the performance that people have bought tickets to see'.
Sorry OP.

Lots of venues in Edinburgh have baby friendly performances but as others say it means fidgeting, odd bout of crying is fine, but not drowning it out for everyone else.

Is this different to baby friendly showings at the cinema then? I took DD to Odeon Newbies or Big Scream at the PictureHouse cinemas weekly when she was small. Lights up, sound down, subtitles on and an expectation that there would be crying. In fact everyone seemed to throw friendly glances to mums who's babies were crying.

As others have said baby friendly means more relaxed not that others have to be happy to listen to a child cry for 10 minutes

Yes Cheby different to parent and baby cinema screenings that are aimed exclusively at people with babies under 1. Though even at those screenings I would go out if the baby didn't settle in a couple of minutes.

Sorry but inconsolable crying for 10 minutes is way too long , baby friendly or not. It isn't about babies being there but the level of distraction.

HWBU to glare at you, however you were extremely inconsiderate to subject everyone else to 10mins of wailing.
You could have asked the nanny to take her out for a bit so you could keep watching, so no excuse really.

I have taken DS to autism friendly screenings, and they keep the lights on low, the sound is fairly low, and people are allowed to walk around. I would have thought baby friendly screenings would be the same?

Thanks fledermaus. I was lucky in that my normally collicy loud baby was always good as gold in the cinema, no idea why!

I'd have done more than glare at you after ten minutes of your child crying. Baby/child friendly means that a child making a few comments, child wanting to go the bathroom, baby fussing for a minute until you feed them/take them out, is ok and not to be frowned upon. It doesn't mean that you get to sit on your arse and subject everyone else to your child crying for ten minutes because you think that your viewing of the show is more important than any other member of the audience.

She wasn't howling non stop for ten minutes. She cried when the lights went out then calmed down when it started. Then after a few minutes she started crying again so I tried feeding her. That didn't work so I took her out.

We went to a theater performance last week with a crying two(ish) year old, two seats down. I did glance over. She should have gone out.

Sorry it's good manners. I always sat at the back with babies, I didn't take them to the theater until they could be relied on not to cry.
It's expensive I don't want to listen to your child cry, nor do I think it's darling for them to do a running commentary or shout out.

Was it the Three Little Pigs in ballet? :o I took my two to see that last week, hilarious. I didn't kind the crying babies half so much as the girl behind me who had seen it on CBeebies and gave her grandma a running commentary for the whole performance.

No, but we did enjoy that. Really I thought child friendly performances were to teach them the rules, respect for others etc etc...

Mine hated the cinema until they were 3 or 4. The loud noises and dark freaked them out.
I think a bit of whimpering and chuntering is fine, but sustained crying is no fun for anyone. 1 baby shouldn't ruin the film for everyone else.

Personally I think that the whole concept of baby or child friendly theatre is a special kind of hell!! Would much prefer to leave children at home with a sitter and enjoy a night out with no commentary, crying, wailing or other irritations.

What palnet has he been living on because it can't be this one. if he's so shocked by a baby crying and children making a noise. xxx

planet not palnet. xx