Baby in the cinema???

[Lalapaluzza]

Just that really. DP and I went to the cinema last week. It was The Lego Movie and I fully expected it to be full of children (we were on our own). When we got there I saw a group of three women, five children between I would guess five and ten, and a baby of about nine months. When we got tickets and went into the movie, I noted the whole lot of them, including the baby. I made an effort to sit a good bit away from them as I could see what was coming. For the next two hours the baby had to be entertained, handed over three rows, cried and fussed. At no point was the baby taken out of the very loud movie though there were two other adults who could have watched the other children.

Help me. Is this a thing?? I found it really distracting. Maybe I'm in the wrong, but it seemed really bizarre to me.

Cineworld, Vue and the light don’t let under 2 yr olds in though the Odean does.

Our local Vue does, I took DD with us to a Mini Mornings showing of The Smurfs when she was about 4mo. She had a feed while we waited for it to start and then slept the whole way through.

Beg to differ, baby starts fussing or crying, time it takes Mum to scoot they have already crates an unnecessary disturbance

No more so than any other child being removed by their parent for being noisy. For example, a 4/5/6yo who won't stop talking and is told by their parent "right we're leaving" then has a tantrum the whole way down the aisle and out the door.

@EwItsAHooman ours don’t unless it’s baby friendly screening. It’s different everywhere, my point to the OP was that maybe she could find a cinema that doesn’t allow under 2yr old into her kids films.

Ahhh just re-read, if it’s mini mornings of course the baby can go in. But generally under 2’s aren’t welcomed into most ‘normal’ screenings especially evenings.

YANBU. My four month old only goes to Odeon Newbies screenings. DH and I take it in turns to go on our own in the evenings.

The cinema is an expensive outing so it’s not unreasonable to expect to be able to sit and listen to the movie with minimal disturbance. Unfortunately cinemas attract many inconsiderate self entitled parents who do not parent their DCs but allow them to talk loudly, kick backs of seats, run up and down the aisles and across the front of screens and tantrum loudly throughout the movie. It’s no use confronting these parents as you will only invite lots of verbal abuse. Best to go and get a member of staff as I did on one occasion, and get them thrown out. If your DCs can’t behave, then don’t take them to the cinema. Simple as that.

now I think about it why wasn't this baby in bed?

Lots of babies don’t go to bed early.

And perhaps she didn’t have anyone she could leave the baby with. It’s not as if they have cages or lockers for them to be left in.

I’m always mystified about how many people now take multipacks of crisps to the cinema. It’s happened too many times to be a minority’s thing. That’s really disruptive.

We’ve been hit twice with this.
First time was King Kong. Baby crying and toddler running up and down the aisles. We got our money back for that one.
Second time was most recently, we booked tickets for Aquaman. Walked into the screen room to see a huge group of very young children plus one in a stroller. We walked back out and asked if we could swap to he next showing! When we returned, the usher said we were right to do so because they ended up with lots of complaints!

I think the point is a generation ago parents of babies and toddlers were expected to suck up the fact that they couldn't go to the cinema without arranging a babysitter. It's really entitled.

I took 6 week old DS to the first Lego movie with my older daughter, then 3. But a 6 week old is quite different to an older baby, DS just fed and slept then. If he'd fussed I'd taken him out. I don't think the issue is the baby, it's the crying / fussing and then the parent/s not taking it out at least for a bit to resettle it. I'd be annoyed about any major fussing that wasn't dealt with. A brief cry e.g. upon waking I'd live with!

SnuggyBuggy my parents took two primary school children and a newborn in a carrycot to the theatre more than once in the late 1970s/ early 1980s...

A generation ago there weren't that many films in the cinema that were aimed at children AND adults so you wouldn't really have childless adults going to see children's films.

Plus that generation of parents are the ones disturbing folk by going out to the toilet all the time so they not only got to enjoy child free films that were for adults only, but they also get to merrily disturb other cinema goers.

Lucky them.

I doubt a baby will get much enjoyment from a film, it's selfish as fuck and surely an adult needing the toilet a lot has the sense to sit near an aisle

I live abroad and I think things must be different here because I've never been in a cinema screening where children have run in the aisles or disturbed the film.

I have been to more than one children's film which adults have talke and used phones with lit up screens throughout. Adults watching children's films at the cinema often seem to think they are very special and more important than the children who have often been looking forward to the film for some time.

YANBU. I would have taken the baby outside (or more likely I would have let the other adult take the kids and not bothered the baby with the film).I don't think it's a done thing by the way. I've never seen an actual baby in a cinema. (I've seen toddlers who were probably a bit young for the film but it's never been a problem and they'd always been either happy to watch or fall asleep or they've been taken out for a break).

"A generation ago there weren't that many films in the cinema that were aimed at children AND adults so you wouldn't really have childless adults going to see children's films. "

Which decade are you referring to here?

"have been to more than one children's film which adults have talke and used phones with lit up screens throughout."

Anyone disturbing the movie for other people is a selfish prick who deserves kicking out imo.

Standards of behaviour in cinemas has really dropped in the last decade

YANBU. Cinemas are not appropriate places for babies unless it’s a specific screening for parents and babies.

I hate that people don’t seem to be able to grasp that their child, although wonderful to them, is a fucking nuisance to everyone else.

I also agree that at 7pm, the baby should at least be at home and being prepared for bed. When you become a parent, most sane people accept that there are some things that you simply cannot do for a while. I’m the parent of a pretty fractious young child and I’d rather stand outside the screening with him than have him piss people off inside as, invariably, that’s what would happen. It’s extremely selfish, really.

Going to the cinema is quite expensive now and I’d be mega unhappy if my experience had been ruined.

Does anyone know if that other kids film that is on- How to train your dragon- is any good?

I also agree that at 7pm, the baby should at least be at home and being prepared for bed. When you become a parent, most sane people accept that there are some things that you simply cannot do for a while.

Genuinely don’t get this attitude that babies and small children should be asleep early. It assumes they are all the same, that every family is the same. It’s almost unheard of on the much-more-family-friendly continent!

My DD went to the cinema at 2 months old with her dad and a group of kids aged up to 6. She apparently fed, smiled at the people behind her, watched the lights and then fell asleep. Now 3 months on she would be terrible at the cinema as she would try and "talk" through any film. Oh and it was a kids screening in the morning.

It's an appallingly selfish thing to do!

Boobiliboobiliboo I’m from continental Europe and, sure, during the summer months it’s not uncommon to see kids out for walks with their families in the evenings. We certainly don’t have babies in cinemas, however!

I think it’s only in Southern Europe that children are out and about late at night. Italian and Arabic families were often in restaurants until quite late back home, but that wasn’t the norm.

I would never in a million years take a baby to see a film unless it was a specific parent and baby showing.

I have a 3 year old and won’t be taking her to the cinema for a good few years.

I go to the cinema, I get a babysitter.