Babies and Movies
Saturday September 15, 2007
A reader asks:
"Please advise if it is safe to take my 5-week-old baby to a movie in a movie theater. If not, what is a safe age?"
When was the first time you went to a movie after having children? Got any movie-going tips for first-time moms? Please, share them in the comments.
Comments
You would bring a BABY to a MOVIE THEATER? At FIVE MONTHS??? DO NOT TAKE THE BABY OUT OF THE HOUSE! HE/SHE IS IN MORTAL DANGER! Until at least Kindergarten. Even then consider home schooling, so that you can be sure to control all aspects of the environment. It’s the only way to be absolutely, positively sure that your baby is safe. And even then, you never know.
Think of the other people in a movie theatre. Even if you have the best baby in the world, a loud noise could upset your child and the other movie goers are not paying to listen to your child either scream or make any other baby noises. Hire a baby sitter
I hope the previous answers you received were from jokesters - if not they are in need of professional help.
First, this is the world we live in, and if staying locked in the house is the only way to prevent “mortal danger”, well, I hope we are all blown to smithereens to prevent the anxiety.
Secondly, you, even as a parent, have every right to experience life around you. WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT YOU ARE A CONSIDERATE PERSON. And should your child begin to fuss AT ALL, you would remove him/her immediately (from a seat chosen specifically for it’s proximity to the exit.)
In response to YOUR actual question (unlike the other two) regarding the safety issues, my opinion is that if you must enter any loud situations with your child, your responsibility as his/her parent is to protect her ears. As I don’t know the end result of medical testing regarding the safety resulted from using earplugs/earmuffs/etc, I would try to find out the percentage of protection various methods provide. And remember to try them out with the baby prior to any real-life scenarios, in order to see if he/she is comfortable and not afraid of them.
I would like to include an excerpt written in response to a “Dear Abbey” question about someone (highly irresponsible) taking an infant to a rock concert:
DEAR EXASPERATED: I took your letter to Dr. Allen Senne, director of audiology at the famous House Ear Clinic. This is what he had to say, and I hope parents will heed it:
“Any noise in excess of 85 decibels — that’s about as loud as a power lawn mower — is damaging to the human ear. That’s why OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines prohibit workers from working in areas where they’re exposed to noise greater than 85 decibels for an extended period of time.
“Children are at least as susceptible to the effects of noise exposure as adults. In fact, professionals in the field of audiology are now seeing an increase in the incidence of younger people demonstrating hearing loss due to noise exposure from listening to iPods, Walkmans and other in-ear receivers because the digital sound produced by these devices can be played at louder levels without distortion.
“A typical music concert is amplified 110 to 120 decibels, which is significantly beyond any damage risk criteria, and has the potential for causing irreversible hearing problems. THIS CAN BE THE RESULT OF A ONE-TIME EXPOSURE.
“In fact, I recently treated a boy from Texas who had lost his hearing in one ear because he wanted to be close to the music and stood directly in front of an amplifier at a rock concert. That was a one-time exposure, so draw your own conclusions.”
Well as a dad of a 2 year old, I wouldn’t dream of taking him to a movie. Not because I am afraid of the world, that’s a hitler world not the one I live in. The reason is because, he would not sit through it and distract others. The real thing is it depends on your baby. Kids are not washing machines and don’t come with manuals. At five weeks old you are still figuring out your own kid. My son did great at movies from 4 months old until about 11 months old. Before and after that it was impossible. However I do have a very good tip for you. Here in Los Angeles there are some theaters that offer a “Mommy and Me” showing. It is a show just for this. Check your area for availability.
Finally, as a movie lover, I couldn’t handle the idea of not seeing movies at least once in a while so I found a place that shows movies on Monday and Tuesday nights to go to. These showings are generally empty especially in the fall, winter and spring. This place didn’t have stadium seating a bonus with a kid so we could sit all the way at the back and run out quickly if need be. We were always first to arrive to the place and so when others came in if they didn’t want to sit near a baby they sat on the other side or in the middle. There were plenty of options when 15-20 people share a place that sits 125 - 150.
I didn’t even attempt on the weekends. Living in Los Angeles I am sure this applies to some degree to the rest of the country.
I spoke to my friend who is a hearing doctor and she says you don’t have to worry about it if you sit in the back towards the center.
Good Luck and happy movie watching.
Good Luck.
I agree with some of the above. In the womb, noises from outside are said to be as loud as a vacuum cleaner, or so. Babies, as far as I’ve found like loud noises. You have to be considerate of others and think if your baby starts to fuss, you should take them out immediately! Movies are expensive, and I woudn’t want to listen to an upset baby. When my baby was about 3 months old or so, friends of ours, who also had a baby around that age, would go bowling every once and while. The babies would fall asleep, because of all the activity, and made us feel like we could still go out with friends! Also, maybe if you have in your area, try a drive-in movie!
The original reader just sent me an email yesterday:
“Thanks for your advice. We took the baby for a movie. Throughout the movie, our baby slept quietly. The baby is on mother’s milk and since it was dark inside, feeding was no problem.”
I’m so glad they decided to give it a go. Like Jason said, there comes a time where you won’t even consider taking your child to the movies because they are all over the place driving everyone crazy. If you’ve got a baby in that quiet/sleepy/non-mobile period, take advantage of it while you can.
When my daughter was a baby, we didn’t have many babysitting options…at least nothing reliable. We found a theater in town that worked perfectly…a dinner-theater. They serve dinner to you during the movie…since people go there with the expectation of being interrupted, we had no problems. Better yet, our daughter slept through every movie we took her to before the age of 1. Now at two years old, we can take her to movies like the latest Disney fare and she is very well behaved…even in the terrible twos.
My husband and I went to our first movie when our son was 5wks old. But it was a date night as we believe that our children are just as important as our relationship. I was lucky to have my parents watch him. I pumped before going and it lasted through the movie
and thats all that we did, because as new parent we were still nervous about leaving him anywhere.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to go to the movies but you may want to give thought to the baby and the patrons that come. I have a 5 month old and I know that they sleep alot sometimes through massive thunderstorms, parties with booming music. However there are the times when they wake and want attention, food, or changing - these are times when other theater patrons can be disturbed. Be willing to leave the movie during these times immediately. The only problem I see is that when my baby was that old, my pediatrician told us not to visit areas with the baby with large crowds - and the movies is certainly a large crowd arena.
I like the idea of seeing the show when the theater is empty at 1:00 during the week - you are right no-one is there.
All the other details about consideration, etc. aside, I wouldn’t take my baby into any crowded environment until he/she has at least received their first round of vaccinations. Any illness can be very serious for a baby of such a young age.
I would recommend going to a matinee, as these are usually less crowded and more people with young kids tend to attend these, too, so you’ll be less likely to get all the crusty looks that people tend to give.
I say go for it, though. Make your children part of your life, don’t leave them out of it.
Please–don’t take babies to the theater. Hire a babby-sitter or have a relative watch the baby if you go. Your baby MAY sleep through the whole thing, but what if he doesn’t?? Now I as a patron just wasted my money to be disturbed by your baby. Use common sense!!
I know a bunch of you are going to spout off that I am anti-baby, etc. But I have two boys of my own (a 3 yr old and a 9 month old) and neither one of them has suffered because my husband and I went to the movies and left them with their grandma.
I just came from seeing a movie where a couple brought their very young child. The child was a problem during the whole movie. Yes, the mother was kind/considerate enough to take the baby outside, but she came right back in. And soon the baby was crying again. So instead of disturbing us once, it disturbed us through the whole $10 movie. What good did that do? On the way out I asked them in a normal tone to please get a babysitter next time. I went to the restroom and came out to find the boyfriend and his friend in my face asking me to come outside and … So, after cellphones, talking neighbors, and now another inconsiderate incident, I’ll be spending my $ on DVD’s. There, that’s off my chest. Go ahead and flame me.