Movie Theater Success!!!

HBirdie · November 2013

Today was DH's birthday so we decided to go to the movies (he chose to see Monsters University, which was playing at the cheap theater... funny choice for two adults, but it was great!). We took Caleb. I was a little worried, but since we went to an afternoon show and the movie's already out on DVD, I figured it'd be safe to try it out. It went really well! He slept for the first third of the movie in his carseat, which I rocked with my foot, and then when he woke up, I fed him (sitting in the dark really takes the pressure off of public BFing, which terrifies me). After he ate, DH burped him and he fussed for a second, so I stood up and walked to the back of the theater and rocked him to sleep. It was awesome! This gives me confidence that we'll be able to see Ender's Game and Catching Fire soon.

Anyone else brave the movie theater with baby in tow?

AppleMuffins · November 2013

Kudos to you! I wouldn't even try it personally. My dd gets way too fussy so I'd be embarassed. Plus when I inevitably have to leave in the middle of it I'd kick myself about the wasted money! Was the sound too much for lo? I've read that it's not that good for them, but I also live in the city and take public transit and those trains ain't quiet!

HBirdie · November 2013

AppleMuffins said:

Kudos to you! I wouldn't even try it personally. My dd gets way too fussy so I'd be embarassed. Plus when I inevitably have to leave in the middle of it I'd kick myself about the wasted money! Was the sound too much for lo? I've read that it's not that good for them, but I also live in the city and take public transit and those trains ain't quiet!

I honestly didn't even think about the sound issue until the second we were walking into the theater. Then I had a mini freakout, but my husband was like, "He'll be fine, let's go find a seat." So we did. He didn't seem bothered by it at all. I really hope it wasn't bad for his little ears though!

Part of the nice thing about DH choosing MU was that it's at the cheap theater, so our tickets were only $3.50 each and obviously we didn't have to pay for the baby... so if we did have to leave in the middle of it, we wouldn't be mad about throwing money away, since $7 really isn't much.

My family always sees a movie on Thanksgiving night (we have since I was a kid and Toy Story came out, since we didn't live near any extended family it became our special tradition). They want to do it again this year and so it's nice to be a little more comfortable with the idea knowing Caleb will probably handle it fine.

MrsB924 · November 2013

We went to Enders Game last week to a weekday evening showing. Our theater (Harkins) will reimburse parents for the price of a ticket if they have to leave with a child. Mostly this is a benefit to the rest of the theater so people won't be tempted to stay with their screaming child. Anyways, our LO slept through the entire movie! It was great

bexsd · November 2013

you are brave! we were usually too cheap to pay for movie tickets even before baby, so we will probably wait til he is older and can appreciate it. i do want to see about time though

bumpuser9130703 · November 2013

Wow. To be perfectly honest I think it's kind of selfish to take a baby to a movie theater. Glad it worked for you though.

averettgirl · November 2013

That's great :-)...I personally would be scared to death to do that at such an early age but kudos to you for doing it and being successful at it :-)

mrsmoxie · November 2013

You are brave! And lucky! But I would never bring my baby to a movie. They are unpredictable. Just because he was good with this movie, doesn't mean he always will be. My SIL learned that the hard way with her baby and movies. And you know Catching Fire is going to be busy. Sorry to be a Debbie downer.

HisChamaoleGirl · November 2013

When ever I think of trying something new with baby, I try and think about how I would have felt pre baby and let that determine if I take her or not. Babies are unpredictable and I know I always would get upset when a baby was crying in a movie theater. Bringing a kid to monsters University, okay. Kids movies are always full of rowdy audience members so no big deal. But enders game isn't for kids so I second the get a sitter and enjoy the movie alone

Kristonita12 · November 2013

I have to be honest.. I'm so jealous it worked for you and I'm tempted to try it myself because I'm desperate to be functioning like I was pre-baby (i.e. to enjoy a movie with my husband and be out and about), but while a small amount of crying and back to sleep is an amazing feat for us new mommies, any amount of crying is irritating for everyone else in the theater who also paid to see the movie.

HBirdie · November 2013

Wow, didn't expect those responses, but okay. Even pre-baby, I didn't care if I heard a baby fuss for a minute in a theater. I mean, sure, if someone's letting their kid scream, GTFO. But I would never do that. Yesterday there were about six other people in the theater, so I don't feel bad at ALL for taking him. Even if he had cried, I would've left immediately. But he didn't, so no guilt here.

We aren't really big movie theater people because it's too dang expensive, so we generally wait until stuff is out at the cheap theater, or at least out for quite awhile, even pre-baby. I have NO problem taking my still tiny baby to a theater, and I feel like I see people do it quite a lot. At least in my town. I don't want to leave my baby at home with a sitter yet, so I'll take him to a movie if I want to. My holding my quiet baby is not going to impede anyone else's enjoyment of the film, because I'll sit close to the door and leave immediately if/when he cries. Sorry not sorry.

bumpuser9130703 · November 2013

I cut you some slack (not that you're asking for it or need it, it is a free country) because you did see a kids movie, but really pre-baby and post-baby any amount of a baby fussing in a movie would annoy me. Even if your baby isn't crying, the whole ordeal is distracting, rocking, burping, walking... And IMO the cheap theater doesn't make it any better. People are still going with certain expectations for a quiet theater.

Like I said, you did choose about the most appropriate movie for doing that, if you had seen an adult movie at night I'd really flame. Most parents get babysitters and use movies as a date night and they probably don't want to hear your kid fuss.

HBirdie · November 2013

I see your point, I guess. It just never occurred to me because it never bothers me personally... But like I said, I don't go to a lot of movies (I can count the number of times I've been to the theater in the last two years on one hand). Maybe I will reconsider catching fire and ender's game, but I live in a pretty hippie town and I don't think people care too much around here. I don't know.

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