If you were honest (noisy babies on buses)

[LoftyRobin]

If you have a baby aged approx 9-12 months and they get a fit of loud giggles* on the bus, do you hype them up and get them to do it more and more, or sort of encourage them to quiet down?

*that kind of giggling and high pitched scream that young babies do

I would kick open the emergency exit window and throw them out in case the sound of a child laughing should upset anyone.

Well that's worrying, isn't it?

Can a 9m old be encouraged to quieten down? That’s quite a receptive 9m old. Mine screamed and screamed on a packed bus once and there wasn’t really anything I could do. They were hungry, but the bus was packed (standing room only) and I was only a few stops from home so I just had to let them scream as couldn’t feed them there and then.

A bit excessive. The emergency exit window normally has a handle to open it easily. Smashing the window will make too much noise on top of a happy baby.

I avoid such situations by making sure my child's pram has a rain cover which is also soundproofed. I also ensure that my child is never allowed to see anything funny.

Honestly? Any one being loud on a bus is annoying - of course it is - even with the best noise-cancelling headphones. But babies are much less annoying than human beings who have control over the noise that they make. And no, hyping up is an antisocial activity when you're in a confined space, obviously.

I think OP is talking about a situation where the parent in encouraging them to be noisy, I assume by playing some sort of game (peekaboo or whatever) that is causing the giggly shrieks.

I would assume that anyone on the bus would prefer baby laughter to baby crying, so would do whatever to keep them happy, even if that meant they were a little loud. If I could keep them happy and quiet, even better.

I travel by bus regularly. Honestly noisy babies never bother me. I am annoyed by people playing music or videos on their phones without headphones, or loud eating.

Yes by not doing the thing again and again so they don't keep making the same noise.

Only sensible answer.

Oh come on. How annoying can a happy bay really be. The parent may have been doing the same thing again and again to make sure the baby didn’t start crying

A bus isn’t the library or a West End show, no need to be quiet. Maybe just don’t have a loud Teams meeting on speaker for an hour. Babies giggling, totally normal.

I had a baby who shrieked with joy when he was happy. I only realised how loud it was when the neighbours across the road mentioned it.

I would certainly not be encouraging it to ensure they carried on because I would know that while baby giggles are cute, the ear piercing squealing is far less so!

I would just stop doing the thing that was resulting in the squealing.

Whether a baby is crying, giggling or squealing I don’t mind at all.

A parent doing whatever they could to keep their baby from being distressed on public transport is fine.
Crying is fine if they are being comforted (although sometimes they don't want to be comforted so you just need to endure it).

As they get older the volume levels should be controlled, but babies laughing isn't that loud.... more normal conversation level.

I wouldn’t stop playing with my baby on a bus if they were happy, no. Presume others would far rather hear a happy baby than a crying one, and also- a bus isn’t a library, silence is not required nor to be expected :)

Happy babies are fine. Jayden and Kayden on their tablets with the volume on need thrown out the nearest exit.

I would be happy that they are not crying. I love hearing my baby laugh and I would be encouraging it and probably filming it if she was as you by for a while.

The worlds not meant to be quiet

Better a happy baby then a crying baby! Maybe the baby needs entertaining?

Happy babies are lovely. Performative parenting however is irritating. Which were you in this scenario OP?

I LOVE that high pitched giggle babies do - it’s bloody infectious. I end up laughing helplessly too. As a passenger, I’d probably try and keep the person’s baby on a roll. As a mum, I’d think it was probably preferable to them screaming the place down 😂. How long was the bus journey?

Came on to say pretty much this

I love a giggling happy squealing baby.

A bus is not a library. If you don't like noise or people, you shouldn't be on it.

Literally at the moment I started this. I didnt feel charitable about the situation so opted for distraction.