by Dr. Gregory Popcak

Parents often feel self-conscious taking their small children to Church.  We worry that our little ones will disturb others or prevent us from “getting anything out of Mass.” While we do need to be sensitive to people around us and it can sometimes be hard to attend to what is going on when we are trying to manage a crying baby or squirming toddler, the truth is, our children are a valuable member of the faith community. As baptized members of the Body of Christ, it is not only good that infants and toddlers come to Mass, they have a right to be there.  As Pope Francis recently put it, “Babies cry, make noise, go here and there.  But it annoys me when a baby cries in church and there are those who say he needs to go out.  The cry of a baby is God’s voice: never drive them away from the church!”

The following tips from Discovering God Together: The Catholic Guide to Raising Faithful Kids can help make any churchgoing parent’s life easier.

1. Sit in the front.  Yes, it’s counter-intuitive, but kids behave better when they can look at what’s going on.
2. Don’t start out in the cry room.  Though well-intended, most cry rooms look like Lord of the Flies Sunday School.  Go in only for as long as it takes to quiet your child then go back to your pew.  You and your child will get more out of the experience
3. Know When to Hold ‘em.  If you have to remove your child from the sanctuary, hold him the entire time you are in the cry room or the back of the church. Letting your child play and run in the back of the Church teaches him–through simple Pavlovian conditioning–that he NEEDS to cry and fuss to earn play time.  Let your child have a minimal amount of freedom of movement while he is in the pew, but none if he makes you leave the sanctuary.  Is your child genuinely upset?  Brain science shows that little ones need cuddles to help them calm down.  If your little one makes you leave, by all means be loving, sympathetic, compassionate, and affectionate, but DO NOT PUT THE KID DOWN.  When he’s quiet, return to the pew.
4. Engage Them. By all means, for children under 4-ish, bring some quiet, soft, preferably religiously-themed plushes, books, etc.  Keep them in a special “going to Mass bag” that is reserved for church.  That will keep these activities special.  Regardless, try to put these things away before the consecration.  At the elevation, point to the host and whisper something like, “look at the miracle!  Look at Jesus.  Say, “I love you Jesus!”
5. Don’t do Mass in shifts.  If you feel you aren’t “getting anything out of Mass” when you bring small children you are missing the point.  What you get is the joy of passing your faith on to them.  That’s what you signed up for when you became a Catholic parent.  Yes, it can be tough, and yes, you may certainly do other things to get your spiritual needs met, but Sunday Mass is for your family.  Go as a family.

Attending Mass as a family can be a challenge, but remember, God will abundantly bless those who bring his little ones to him. “For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these” (Matt 19:14).