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.

Would never take a baby to the cinema . It is too loud for babies ears

Huntley a generation ago was my childhood. I can assure you there was plenty of films aimed at children and adults. ETC, star wars, the goonies etc Generation before that chitty chitty bang bang, Mary poppins, etc. Even my grans childhood, wizard of oz. All tne Disney stuff. There has always been films aimed at kids and adults but in tne past parents had more consideration for others and kept babies away and ensured children didn't disturb others.

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

How sad. My daughter fell in love with the movies aged 3. She was completely entranced.

I doubt my grandparents went to see chitty chitty bang bang without one of their children. And children have always made noise in the cinema - my parents enjoy telling stories of uproarious visits to the pictures with their friends.

Maybe we should turn the sense of entitlement around - some posters clearly expect their cinema trip to be conducted in silence, thats pretty entitled isn't it? Nobody else can make a noise or disturb anyone because one individual feels they are more entitled to silence than anyone else?

The only time I've ever truly been disturbed at a cinema (and asked a parent to control their child) was when another child kicked my child in the face.

No its not entitled. It's called being courteous and allowing others to enjoy what they have paid for. Plenty of my mother's generation saw films such as chitty chitty band bang before they had kids. Just because your grandparents didn't dosent mean others didn't.

My grandparents who had SEVEN children

Frequently went to the cinema without them a new film would only come along once a month or so, they lived in the country, and they would go without them and if they thought it was suitable for them send them along alone the following week

The Sixties

"Maybe we should turn the sense of entitlement around - some posters clearly expect their cinema trip to be conducted in silence, thats pretty entitled isn't it?"

No, that's just expecting the normal standard of service.

To hear a movie, you need silence while it is playing.

Normal sounds - shifting position, coughing, odd rustle of snacks, all to be expected.

Baby crying for a prolonged period, talking at normal conversational volume, phone ringing - inconsiderate twattishness.

If it's 'entitled' to expect to hear the movie you paid to hear, it's also 'entitled' to expect to take your shopping home once you've bought it, or to eat the meal you bought in a restaurant.

". And children have always made noise in the cinema - my parents enjoy telling stories of uproarious visits to the pictures with their friends."

I see the apple didn't fall far from the tree there then.

Expecting the concept of going to the cinema to be upheld is as entitled as expecting the school rules to be upheld really and if that makes me a snotty little prefect in your eyes well to use your words I really couldn't give a shit

Maybe we should turn the sense of entitlement around - some posters clearly expect their cinema trip to be conducted in silence, thats pretty entitled isn't it? Nobody else can make a noise or disturb anyone because one individual feels they are more entitled to silence than anyone else?

lol Come on! It's the cinema one baby will ruin the film for everyone else. A child needing to go to the loo or a little bit of quiet chatter is fine for a kids film but not a baby fussing and crying around the entire time. One person wanting to see a film with their baby shouldn't be able to disturb the entire experience for everyone else.

I agree with PP , just because it’s marketed at kids doesn’t make it ok. I know my 7 year old would be seriously unhappy if her enjoyment of the film was spoiled by a fussing baby.

My 10 year old follows tne rules. The ones played before every single film at tne cinema. Turn off mobiles, no talking, silence during the movie. If a 10 year gets it I fail to see how adults carnt. After all its there in writing and verbal instructions before every single showing.

We've taken our 15 month old to the cinema three times as we have two much older children who wanted to see films with us. The first two times he slept the whole way through, the third time was a Sing along screening. Even though this was a 'noisy' screening, when he did start to to get fractious (he was older and had begun to be more mobile and had (has) an aversion to sitting still) I left straight away. I had already ensured that we were sitting on the end of the row and near to the exit. I see no problem with taking babies to family films, as long as the parents are considerate enough to remove them as soon as they become noisy and restless.

They should have taken the baby out. There were two adults so one could have taken the baby out while the others stayed.

Our local cinema says yes to babes in arms for u or pg showings until 6pm but asks you to be considerate if the baby is noisy. 7pm is too late and I am surprised they were allowed in.

Yanbu

There's no problem taking a baby to the cinema. The problem is the parents who didn't take it out when it cried or fussed.

It's the same as children in restaurants. There is not a problem, only problem parents who don't discipline or remove their kids, when they get out if hand.

I also agree with PP that as long as their ears aren't damaged by the loud noise it's fine to take a baby as long as you take them out if they start crying.

This is why I rarely go to see new films at the cinema. It’s very expensive and there is inevitably going to be someone doing something annoying.

I often go to the ‘Silver Screen’ films aimed at older people. They are inexpensive and the films are relatively new. However, there are people who will answer and conduct conversations on their phones or chat/comment loudly throughout the film.

It seems the ability to disrupt other people’s enjoyment can occur at any age!

OP’s example is different but what’s the problem if the baby is settled? I took DD to the cinema in the West End when she was five months old and she watched wide-eyed for the first half hour, then fed snuggled up to me & covered in a light scarf and then slept til the end. I got to see a film I wanted to with a friend and I hadn’t seen for ages and no-one was inconvenienced.

She made far less noise eating than anyone else in the place.

We’re too critical of mothers with small babies. Babies should be welcome pretty much anywhere if they’re reasonably quiet.

We’re too critical of mothers with small babies. Babies should be welcome pretty much anywhere if they’re reasonably quiet.

Yes.

This was a children’s movie. You were two adults. Go to a later showing if you don’t want chuldren and babies there.

"This was a children’s movie. You were two adults. Go to a later showing if you don’t want chuldren and babies there."

OP said it was the latest/evening showing, 7pm.

None of the cinemas in our city allow babies after 6pm.

As well, I intentionally avoid "children's films" at the cinema, since a really bad experience
with BFG

Certain films do have crossover appeal though

The Marvel Ones
Mary Poppins

I don't remember any babies at the cinema when I was a child. Children and babies are completely different.

Must be something about the Lego Movie as there was a baby crying through most of it when I went too. It got really annoying after a while.

There is no way a baby should be taken to the cinema, children's film or not! It's a baby for goodness sake. Their poor wee ears too

cloudyTuesday
I don't think I've ever said that I, or my children, disrupted other people's cinema viewings? The reference to uproarious children in the cinema was to the entire cinema being full of uproarious children, mostly getting over excited while watching cowboy films.

I don't understand why you think I'm a terrible cinema patron.

The one incident I referred to was me not giving a shit because I was grieving for my gran, wanted to spend time with my family and distract myself from thinking about being in the room while she was in her final few hours of life. I appreciate other people may have been in a similar boat, and I'm quite tolerant of shit people go through. So I don't judge them.

Had my baby cried, I would have taken him outside. He didnt. Win for everyone.

Just because someone has a baby with then doesn't mean they are entitled, it means they want to watch a film. A baby isn't guaranteed to cry and their parent isn't guaranteed to ignore them and let them ruin a cinema screening.