Do babies annoy you?

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I was thinking about this one time I was at the store and this mother and grandmother had a toddler with them and obviously something was seriously wrong and they just sat there, made a bed for him in the buggy and did nothing while he carried on in agony. It was just so weird. I don't know what was wrong with him but it was scary the way he was carrying on and them not being alarmed.
I think he either needed to be at the doctor, or at home in bed with some children's tylenol or motrin, or at the least the mom could have given him something at the store. It was eerie. I don't know how they could listen to him and not do anything.

It is possible that the baby had colic, and basically cried for 20 hours a day. When that happens, you have no choice but to learn to tune it out while doing your best by the baby.

Pretty much all babies go through a period where they have what some call witching hours, basically 2 or 3 hours every evening during which absolutely nothing you do will soothe the baby or stop the crying. It was during my second child's witching hours that I discovered internet forums. I had to distract myself from her crying or I would go nuts, but I also had to do my best by her, so I would take her into the darkened computer room with me, lay her on my lap on a boppy cushion, allow her to feed if she wanted, then rock gently in my computer chair and start surfing and typing to take my mind off the noise. For the longest time after that period ended she would only go to sleep on my lap listening to computer keys, lol.

He was a toddler, not a baby, and I think had just caught a bug or some other problem. Whatever the case the mom and grandmother was so apathetic, they were just going to sit on a bench waiting for the child to go to sleep in the buggy when it was so obvious that wasn't about to happen.

You are right. You said toddler. I misread.

Hmmm ...

There was the time I put my son screaming into the shopping cart because I had told him that this would be the consequence if he ran from me in the store or started grabbing things from the shelves without asking first. And I had to at least pretend to finish the shopping trip so that he wouldn't think screaming could get him out of it ... I was also apologizing and explaining myself to everyone around me, lol. But not all parents are that open.

If the boy was sick one of the two should have taken him home or at least outside. I agree with that.

It's just difficult to know from the outside looking in exactly what is going on. Now that I've been through it as a parent, I try hard never to jump to conclusions with other parents. I have needed that allowance from others so many times, it is my duty to give it and try to ask others to.

But he wasn't misbehaving. He was feeling bad and that is why he was crying and carrying on. I can always tell the difference between the two and most of the time when a child that age is acting up in a store it's because they aren't comfortable for some reason and the parents think they are just being spoiled but it's really because they are uncomfortable and the parents misread them.

Well, we parents do that a lot, too: misread our kids.

Face it, perfect parenting is impossible. I think I apologize to my kids a dozen times everyd ay. But it doesn't mean I'm not trying and it doesn't mean I'm a bad parent. It's just the multi-tasking required as a parent is going to be flawed, in no one actually has 6 sets of eyes and 5 separate brains. We learn to accept ourselves as "good enough" parents, and to accept that with others as well. It's either that or lie down and give up, the job is that overwhelming.

Although ... I have a few times seen things that have made me want to speak out. Some parents really are idiots. But most aren't. With most, if you track them for a while, you see that they really do care and really are doing their best.

Ugh, I can't stand babies. Too bad I have to live with two toddlers.

Don't like babies, especially when they cry. Or any kid for that matter; anything less than 13/14 or so it just can't stand. Can look at a picture of a baby and agree that they're cute because that's what's expected, but once it has to be near them in real life...just <i>no</i>.

No, they don't annoy me.

I've always hesitated to admit this, but here goes: I just do not like babies. The noise, the mess, the smell, all of it is a sensory nightmare. I don't even think they're cute until they're about two. Fortunately, I never had any of my own and rarely have had to spend much time with any.

I think you totally misread my posting & assume I know nothing about babies! Of course I don't think all cries are hunger related!! ! As I said not all crying bothers me. It's the obvious cry of hunger that does! I've raised 2 babies, I KNOW that sound. I dropped everything & took care of their needs & then went back to what I needed to do. I hear it all too often when I am out in a public place. It's also bad for a infant to wait to be fed when they have been left wailing for a long time. It means they are so upset, they can't feed properly. That's cruel. Young babies need to eat on their schedule period. Once they have reached 3 months of age, they should be able to wait at least for a little while between feedings. My youngest daughter constantly wanted to be fed, even at 3 months. Between the feedings, changing of diapers/clothes, housework, etc I rarely had a free moment to myself!

Trust me, I know it's not easy to care for a baby. I never said it was! Having raised 2 successfully, I understand this fact! I also tried breast feeding. I know how difficult it is no matter where a mom is. Often times, I waited until my kids were asleep to get things done around the house. Never lasted long enough before I was summoned again!

I did so with no help raising my 2 kids. I also had to put up with 4 hour long temper tantrums from my oldest & I never knew when one would strike (could be at home, at a store, etc). I am only now finding out that my oldest probably has a severe form of AS, while her younger sibling has a mild version. Neither child was a piece of cake to raise, but the younger one was not nearly as difficult! I am somewhere in between the two on the spectrum. It wasn't easy, & some days I cried my eyes out because I had no support or help. But they did thrive, & they are now well into their teens. There are still good & bad days for both of them, but life is like that!

Yes.

I second, third, fourth or whatever the count is now the fact that for me, babies are living sensory nightmares.

This sounds harsh, and won't universally apply (for instance, taking babies on family vacations or to doctors' visits or other necessary forays into public space), but I really wish prospective parents would factor babysitting costs as a definite expense when deciding whether or not to reproduce, and SLOWLY introduce their kids more fully into the public sphere once they've been taught the basics of "indoor" and "outdoor" voices. At least hold off on taking the baby everywhere until it's possible to calm them down somewhat, or have a system of taking the baby outside or to the bathroom until it calms down when it has a tantrum. I can't count the number of times I've been in a restaurant or some such and heard a kid shrieking incessantly, and tried to telepathically will the parents to please, for the love of god, have some mercy on the other people sharing that space with them and get the kid out of there until it's over.

The baby can't help screaming, I know, but the parents CAN help in many cases where they choose to take the baby and how they choose to deal with it. I can't imagine it's very fun for the kids either, if they're agitated enough to have a tantrum.

But of course, if I ever tell a parent or other person with a baby that I have sensory hearing issues, and some post-traumatic problems related to people using those against me on top of that, and so hearing a kid scream and wail for 20 or 30 minutes is making me want to cry and hide somewhere where no noise can reach me, they either think I'm a psycho or that I'm the biggest, most insensitive baby-hating as*hole to walk the earth.

And I'm glad that I'm not the only one to whom baby food even looks disgusting... *shudder* Forget about even touching the stuff. Not to mention a lot of other fluids or semi-fluids having to do with babies wig me out when I think of having to touch them.

I'll stick with cats, thank you very much.

I hate the social pressure that comes along when a coworker or relative brings a baby to visit. It's always "Here, you can hold the baby, if you want." I always feel like there's something wrong with me for not wanting to.

I never know how to get out of that situation without hurting the parent's feelings. So, the next thing I know, there I am peer-pressured into stiffly holding some baby in front of everyone and praying to God I don't drop it on it's head or something.

Then, after that, it's always "So, doesn't it make you want one of your own?" No. No, it doesn't.

babies do not annoy me all the time.
sometimes the noise bugs me. A LOT.

people do try their best usually when it comes to kids, but sometimes there are just parents that should not have had kids in the first place. you know the ones (abusive etc),

I babysat my niece when she went through the colicky stage, and she continued to cry even though she had been fed, and had a dry diaper. Even walking around didn't help, and I realized that I had to tune her out. Now, she's teething, so most things have to be kept out of reach, but her disposition is calmer. In fact, she even laughed and cooed at her baptism last Saturday, which was really cute. One of the benefits of being an aunt is that I can give her back to her parents.