Silence in the waiting room

[Meatandseventeenveg]

Was at the doctor's with my 2 year old this afternoon. We were playing in the children's corner of the room, nothing noisy but just a chat about the pictures of the animals in the room, and DD was also making the animal sounds.

Another person in waiting room told DD to be quiet as there are sick people there (at this point it was just us three in the waiting room). I'm afraid I snapped back that my daughter is sick as well, and turned away.

My daughter, the angel, understood the woman and proceeded to talk in a whisper until the woman left.

So WIBU to think that toddlers are allowed to talk in the doctor's waiting room?

"My daughter, the angel, understood the woman and proceeded to talk in a whisper until the woman left"

Oh bless her, what a sweetheart.

You are right, there is nothing wrong with toddlers talking and playing in the children's corner. It's not like she was running around the waiting room, shouting and screaming!

I don't understand people who expect silence from children and I'm glad you snapped back because those people would never tell other adults to stop talking (and it's completely normal ime to hear adult talking in the DRs waiting room).

Ah the person was being ridiculous

Talking yes
Making loud enough animal noises to annoy other people, no

The person is a moron- ignore - even if your child was screaming, they are 2, how much can you do

Were you doing loud parenting about animals and their noises though?

If so it would be very irritating to listen to when sick and trapped in a waiting room.

It was the animal noises, I'm guessing, not the talking the person objected to.

Normal chatting is fine.
Loud shrieking is best avoided and discouraged.

I've been in the GP's with ear infections/ perforated ear drums that made normal background noise such as traffic deeply unpleasant, but you can't silence the world.

Perhaps they were MH. I’ve seen kids climb on the benches & charge up & down before now. I’d rather hear a child playing than someone taking loudly on their phone.

What the hell?

Sorry but there are people in doctors waiting rooms who arent just going because they have an ingrown toe nail or a bit of a cough.

There are people there who have been given or who will be given heart stopping news, people sitting there terrified knowing their life and perspective is about to change within the next half hour.

Respect that please. If your angel was loud enough to be told off, she was loud.

I think at times like that it is polite to find the quietest possible form of entertainment.

Everyone will be feeling rubbish and worried and as such may not be feeling their most patient

Talking is fine. With a little volume control, which some toddlers can struggle with, though it sounds as if your DD isn't one of those.

The woman sounds like an idiot.

My daughter, the angel

This alone tells me that you account is probably entirely biased and unreliable. Your little darling was probably a pain in the ass, when you are sick/in pain/tired tolerance for irritating things dries up.

I'm guessing you were much louder than you think. I've been in the surgery waiting with the worst head pain of my life. I've also been in with ear infections and to discuss horrific test results. All of these would mean I'd be more sensitive to noise then usual, especially in an enclosed area.

It's not a place for noisy play or performance parenting.

@FrankGrillosWrist

Perhaps they were MH. I’ve seen kids climb on the benches & charge up & down before now. I’d rather hear a child playing than someone taking loudly on their phone.

“Perhaps they were MH.”

Do you mean they had mental health issues?

I have to admit I hate when I go into the surgery waiting rooms (I remember the days that was a thing) and there's children there. With the best will in the world I bet she wasn't as quiet as you think.

I suffer from several medical conditions (physical & mental) and appointments can be incredibly stressful. The last thing I need is a child making a racket.

I always really appreciate when parents talk quietly to their child rather than letting them chat and play noisily.

I was in the drs surgery and a child vomited at my feet, wonder what she’d have said about that. She was obviously feeling rubbish so anything would likely have annoyed her.

I wouldn’t think twice about taking to my child in a waiting room. Babies abs toddlers make noise, until they can understand how to be quiet there’s not much you can do but cuddle or distract them but as op says if they feel poorly then that’s how they are communicating it. I work on a children’s ward and it can be really loud, kids make noise. I wouldn’t change it tbh.

Show parenting about animal noises and 'my angel' .

Oh goodness, I'd forgotten about the performance parenting issue on MN. I was talking quietly to her, and she did demonstrably move from talking to whispering after the lady had spoken, so I'm not sure how that could be biased information. I was not performance parenting, I was enjoying the company of my sick child (and she wasn't there just for an ingrown toenail or a bit of a cold either).

Nevertheless, I will take on board what people have said about being silent for other patients and maybe plug her into the telly on an iPad, as that's of course the only way a two year old will be silent.

@BogRollBOGOF

Normal chatting is fine. Loud shrieking is best avoided and discouraged.

I've been in the GP's with ear infections/ perforated ear drums that made normal background noise such as traffic deeply unpleasant, but you can't silence the world.

Well they'd hate our GP surgery then, because they play loud music and radio (2 radios on differing stations in one room) to prevent you overhearing the consultations.

If your angel was loud enough to be told off, she was loud.

I absolutely agree that OP is possibly unaware of how loud her child was being.
But I totally disagree with your statement that if someone complains, that means you were definitely being loud. Some people are unreasonable about noise and will complain about people who others would think are being perfectly fine.

A waiting room is one of the places an iPad is designed for!

Personally I like a bit of noise in the waiting room but that's because my GP appears to have walls made of paper. I'm softly spoken but if someone with a loud voice goes in they get no privacy at all.

It is a hard one. A GP waiting room is certainly not the place to let kids go wild, as there could be people waiting that are on the verge of a breakdown, or about to get bad news, or are just unwell and grumpy.
But it does sound like your DD was not tearing around the place and being a pest.

She was probably louder than you're admitting. Its important to remember that some people could be there for really sensitive/life changing reasons and to be a little sensitive to others.