to leave my 8 year old in the cinema?

[biddysmama]

ds is 8 and wants to go to the cinema, dd is 15 months and hasnt been before so i dont know if she will sit there/ fall asleep/scream in terror... i cant see her sitting happily being bribed with chocolate the whole time....

would it be unreasonable to go, sit as long as dd will let me then leave ds in there on his own for the rest of the film with instructions not to leave the building if he doesnt see me as soon as he gets out (if i'm de stressing in the bar in the toilet ?)

i have no childcare for dd so not an option, no one seems to want to take ds to the cinema for me either...

If you're not comfortable why not rent a DVD instead?

And get in some popcorn too.

he loves the cinema, we used to go all the time a dvd isnt the same

ive been trying to get someone to take him since dd was born

I only have a 9 month old so don't have much experience. I think it should be fine. Could you seat him on the same row as another family?

I wouldn't leave a child of 8 alone in the dark.
Does your cinema do family showings to which babies are welcome? In these sessions the lights are raised, the sound is lowered and the only people there are parents with children...

thats what we were planning on going to, its saturday and sunday mornings, i'm still worried about how dd will react and dont want to go there and have to make him leave

clemette - the baby friendly showings are usually of adult films. Also in my area they are on a weekday morning when 8yo would be at school.

Oops when I said adult films, I didn't mean "adult" films iyswim.

Have you got a partner or is his father in the picture?
I would get someone to mind your 18 month old tbh or get a school friend to take him with their child iyswim
or make a movie at home night like someone suggested

Do they have kids am near you? The cheap weekend morning show 99p/ child adults free.

Vue and Cineworld both offer similar schemes.

This usually has a selection of young children going in and out. This way if your dd gets distressed you could pop out for 10mins and let her have a run around then go back in.

Could you go a bit early and show him where you will be if you do have to leave? Find out exactly what time the film will finish and be outside the door waiting for him? Can you find a nice-looking family with similar aged children you could sit next to and explain what could happen and ask if they could keep an eye out for DS. Sit him near the door and bob back in to check he's OK?

DD is 8 and I would do it, but that's knowing our cinema and its layout and knowing my child.

I left my 9 and a half year old in the cinema during the middle half of the film . I stayed for the first half, popped out then returned towards the end.
I hasten to add we dont livd in London but in a small country town.
He enjoyed it and was fine, and confident to be on his own.. . Did feel a bit guilty though.

most cinemas offer a kid friendly saturday morning screening. its £1 or £2 per child/adult.

i have taken all my dd's since they were weeks old. dd4 is 19months old and loves the popcorn cinema experience

Is this the Saturday morning cinema club? Ours allow you to leave your kid from the age of 8 - they don't provide childcare per se, but do have extra staff and no unaccompanied adults.

Under those circs, if DS knows exactly where you'll be waiting if you do have to leave (not in the ladies loos - somewhere in the building he can reach you), then it's probably not unreasonable - depending on his maturity.

Send him in with a friend?

biddysmama I understand you want to go on a Saturday or Sunday morning, when the cinema has a special showing for children and there will be lots of other children and there parents there. However, without wanting to frighten you, the first time I was allowed to see a movie without adults accompanying me was when I was 13. I was thrilled - an 8-year-old girl who was staying with my family and I were allowed to go into the theatre without our parents, and we sat near the back because the theatre was so full. (I can't remember what the movie was).

Not long after it started, some one came and sat down near me. It was summer, and we were wearing shorts. Then the man put his hand on my thigh and started moving it around. I was 13, and scared stiff. I got up and sat on the far side of the 8-year-old and said if the man did anything, we were leaving.

I didn't tell anyone, because I wanted that freedom and independence of seeing movies without adult chaperones, and I knew that would disappear if I told anyone what happened. So I never did.

That is why I wouldn't leave an 8-year-old in a movie by himself. I think 2 children at least can look after each other....

Why not get a little group of them and leave them together?