Hellobee Boards

No help here just commiseration. I take both kids (2 and 4 months) either with my dad or by myself and i've been trying to make it a habit but dang it's hard

I second the snacks. Just make sure they aren't messy or crumbly or else you'll spend all mass trying to clean it up. Another thing that is working well lately is to involve her what is going on. We clap during the song, we point out the piano or other instruments (there is a guy in the choir who plays the tambourine and LO loves it). She puts the envelope in the collection basket. We let her climb up on the kneeler so she can see. We tell her that we're going to hear a story during the readings. Oh, and we practise whispering. "Can you show my how you can whisper" (lasts for about 30 sec, but whatever). Besides that it's just books and colouring. And also, you are right - no one is really bothered by a two year old making noise. You've got a year or two at least before you start getting the side-eye.

Snacks, balloon pop app on my phone, singing, sit in back row so she can walk about and dance a little during more upbeat songs, she puts in some change during the offering. All of that fills about 30 minutes and then my little one goes to Children's Church.

Yup, snacks! We're still trying to find a church, and the last one we went to offered children's activity bags. The bag I grabbed had one of those Wooly Willy guys in it, and D LOVED it. Kept him entertained for probably 20 minutes! If we end up going to a different church in the long run, I will probably buy a Wooly Willy because it was so successful.

My 3 year old is now pretty good in mass. But my 16 month old is a mess. I bring snacks, books, and small quiet toys. And we sit in the cry room so he can't escape.

He's a kid! No one should expect him to sit quietly and still for an hour+. If anyone gives you side-eye, he/she is being a jerk.

Our church takes the kids out during the reading and sermon but DD (3.5) doesn't always go. I'm usually solo with both her and my younger one (10 months). I bring emergency snacks (usually Cheerios) but try to rely on coloring or letting her bring a doll. For the baby, I have some toys and let her crawl around on the pew or floor next to me (we sit near the front but also near a side section...weird layout).

ETA: clearly a screaming child (crying or happy) is a different story. But I don't think some happy noises or one-off comments are a big deal.

I sympathize and I totally understand the stress. We did what @matador84 does, and my 5yo does an excellent job in Mass (now, but it was a process to get here ). My advice is to take the long view, explain as much about Mass as you can to your LO to help give them a sense of what's going on, and then just keep at it. I never liked cry rooms and I'm too disorganized to keep a special bag for Mass snacks/toys, so I didn't use either. If LO got loud (more than babbling and actually unhappy), I took him out. Mostly I just expected him to learn what was going on and why and to behave appropriately. He rose to the challenge.

Our churches have almost all had gardens with statues in them so when I had to take him out we went there and walked around while I explained who the statues represented and I said prayers with him. My objective was that he understand that the time during Mass was for focusing on God, not playing. We also stood in the back a lot when he was really wiggly. Basically, we took the standard church aerobics to a whole new level (relatively quietly and while trying to be as little of a distraction as possible).

Snacks, coloring, books, and a stuffed toy. Plus she runs around to my parents and back. If she gets really disruptive, I take her to the back and let her run a bit. I've just had to get over my initial discomfort and embarrassment and embrace the fact that she's two and is going to make a little noise.

It also helps that there is another toddler there doing the same thing, so we commiserate about that.

Our church offers children's activity toys which helps our toddlers but with my LO, I just chill outside in the foyer when she wants to chat (9 months old). I can hear everything from outside and there's plenty of other moms who are doing the same thing so it becomes baby play time.