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We have a nursery/ Sunday school that the kids go to.

I take my LO to mass every week and it's highly encouraged even if they are being disruptive. Mine has started "talking" loudly during the homily and people still come up to us and say "oh what a good baby". I think a lot of people turn a blind eye to young kids. We bring toys and give them to her one at a time. I sing all the hymns/reponses straight to her and she listens very intently. I've seen people let their LO crawl up and down the pew. Worse case scenario, we take her to the back of the church, or to the crying room (although lots of churches don't have those anymore).

@Applesandbananas: Shoot! I'd let my LO stand up and grin at the people behind us! Especially if you are sitting in front of grandmother types. They'll just make goofy faces back at your LO and keep him entertained for a few minutes. I think you've got quite a few years before you need to worry about him sitting still and paying attention to the mass. The only thing I do try to be consistent with, is saying "shhhh" when LO starts talking. It doesn't work, but I figure it's good to get in the habit.

We bring books, stickers, a bag of small toys, foam shapes in a small bag, colouring stuff and snacks. She's 16 months, and spends the first 10 minutes looking at people come in, snacks take 10 minutes, the inevitable diaper change takes 10 minutes...we have a 90 minute meeting and only rarely do we have to take her out because she's disruptive. We just keep distracting her.

We use the nursery! He has a blast playing with new toys and has more people to love on him its a nice break for us and we can really focus on the service. A church without a nursery would be a deal breaker for us. As kids grow up they move into age appropriate small groups where they talk about topics that are relevant to their little lives. I think it is important for their religious "education" to be something that they understand. Until age two it is just playtime, but after that they do a short lesson (like 5 minutes) and a craft that is related.

I've been meaning to write a post about this! Thank you for the reminder! Maybe it will be of some use to you. Our church is not catholic, but we also don't have a nursery so I DEFINITELY feel your pain.

We keep our boys with us for the music at the beginning, take them to the nursery during the sermon, and then get them again for the end, which at our church is a couple more songs & communion. Even that is exhausting, but I like to have them with us during church as much as possible. We try to keep them entertained & quiet, but mostly we just rely on people's forgiveness! If they start really being disruptive, we take them to the back or outside.

I usually try to sit with her for awhile, give her a drawing pad, crayons, sing the songs a little louder so she can feel like she can sing to...when that fails I hold her in the back of church. I take her back and we keep trying. It's exhausting but just lately at 22 months, she's gotten a lot better. She wants to follow along with sitting, kneeling, standing but I still have to keep her distracted most of the time. Wearing a sparkly necklace or an intricate top helps for when I hold her. So silly but I know how stressful it can be to try to keep a toddler quiet and happy.

We keep him in mass as long as possible. Puffs, books, back and forth holding, ppl watching..etc. We sit toward the back pews or seating and take him out to the kids' table/reading area for some running around if he gets fussy. (He's almost 17 months)

Our church has a baby room in the back w/ a huge glass window & sound system connected so parents can hear/see everything that's going on while being with their kids. There are chairs, a play mat & toys in there. We also have Sunday school for ages 1 & up! For the youngest class, the parents can be in the class with their babies.

If there are other parents w/ young kids, maybe you guys can get together and start something and take turns babysitting, or recruiting young people at the church to help?

I send her to the nursery now that she's older.