New Mommy Questions

[gron0083]

I became a mom about six months ago and am wondering if anyone here can provide some insight as to how to deal with attending Mass and dealing with an infant.
When my son was first born, he was so colicy I was hallucinating from sleep deprivation and stopped attending Mass altogether (I’m living thousands of miles away from family and friends and my husband works 70+ hours/wk). He is a little better now and I could see him being quiet through Mass, but I am worried too about nursing him in public. I’m pretty clumsy at it! How bad would it be if I accidentally flashed everyone in my pew?!! The church near me doesn’t have one of those separate rooms for parents with noisy kids, so if he wouldn’t quiet down I would have to leave and that would make me feel 10x worse and so defeated.
How have other people dealth with this? I want to be able to go to Mass but it seems like there are so many obstacles and I need some advice how to tackle them.
Thanks!!!

 

[Eucharisted]

Welcome to motherhood!

According to the Catechism (2183), you do not have go to Mass if you need to take care of your child. Be at peace. However, you are required to at least read the Bible on Sundays - or, if this is impossible, than pray for an appropriate amount of time. Trust in God and ask Him for the grace to be docile to His inspirations.

 

[kaws]

Do you have a pump? You could feed pumped milk if you feel uncomfortable nursing.

Or you could bring a blanket with you. I thought I would feel uncomfortable nursing in public, but have found that it is easier to be discrete than I had anticipated.

If you sat near the back and nursed with a blanket I doubt that many people would find it scandalous.

I can understand your feelings. There have been a few times that my toddler has been throwing so much of a tantrum before we even entered church that my husband and I just turned around and went home

I love my toddler son and infant daughter but I am looking forward to when they are old enough that I can concentrate more at mass or at least hear the sermon instead of screaming
Thankfully our church does have a cry room:thumbsup:

Hang in there

 

[gron0083]

Welcome to motherhood!

According to the Catechism (2183), you do not have go to Mass if you need to take care of your child. Be at peace. However, you are required to at least read the Bible on Sundays - or, if this is impossible, than pray for an appropriate amount of time. Trust in God and ask Him for the grace to be docile to His inspirations.

Thanks! I didn’t know about reading a bible verse…that is definitely doable and gives me an idea - I can order a picture bible and read one to my son too.

 

[gron0083]

Do you have a pump? You could feed pumped milk if you feel uncomfortable nursing.

Or you could bring a blanket with you. I thought I would feel uncomfortable nursing in public, but have found that it is easier to be discrete than I had anticipated.

If you sat near the back and nursed with a blanket I doubt that many people would find it scandalous.

I can understand your feelings. There have been a few times that my toddler has been throwing so much of a tantrum before we even entered church that my husband and I just turned around and went home

I love my toddler son and infant daughter but I am looking forward to when they are old enough that I can concentrate more at mass or at least hear the sermon instead of screaming
Thankfully our church does have a cry room:thumbsup:

Hang in there

Thank you! I do have a pump unfortunately since I am really the only one able to take care of him (my husband is a medical resident and works SO many hours he’s either working or sleeping) so my son refuses the bottle. I’ve tried the blanket thing but he seems to squirm so much even those blankets with attachments around the neck don’t really stay in place. It’s good to know hear your experiences too, I know it must be really common I’ve just never dealt with is before and since I just moved away from everyone I know I don’t really have others to ask!

 

[iluvmybabies]

I became a mom about six months ago and am wondering if anyone here can provide some insight as to how to deal with attending Mass and dealing with an infant.
When my son was first born, he was so colicy I was hallucinating from sleep deprivation and stopped attending Mass altogether (I’m living thousands of miles away from family and friends and my husband works 70+ hours/wk). He is a little better now and I could see him being quiet through Mass, but I am worried too about nursing him in public. I’m pretty clumsy at it! How bad would it be if I accidentally flashed everyone in my pew?!! The church near me doesn’t have one of those separate rooms for parents with noisy kids, so if he wouldn’t quiet down I would have to leave and that would make me feel 10x worse and so defeated.
How have other people dealth with this? I want to be able to go to Mass but it seems like there are so many obstacles and I need some advice how to tackle them.
Thanks!!!

I had the same issues…lol…Not funny I am sorry but for me now looking back I crack myself up! Anyhow…I still went to church, I would sit the furthest away from everyone, tried to find a pew that was pretty empty, families really didn’t mind, when they were young or older couples oh yeah I got the same look all the time but I was there to PRAISE OUR LORD and I am sorry if it bothered people! My daughter had intestinal problems so yeah big colic problems…

I would usually feed right before church, at least 30 mins before, therefore she was full, if I had to change her diapy then I would just leave the pew for a few minutes and come back and she was fine…I would carry a baby bottle of about 4 oz of water in case she got hungry during mass, this would keep her busy for a few minutes…She would get full enough and fall asleep…if not I would give her some colic med just a couple of drops, or get the homeopathic colic tablets for babies…They work miracles…there are some that are for teething as well and OMG those are miracle workers!! So with that said, if they didn’t work I would carry her and hold her as much as possible to try and keep her calm as much as possible, the noise was minimal and things started rowdying up by the time church was over and then I would feed her in the car before we left, and I breast fed too…If you must feed her in the church, get the mommy bras, back then they were non existent now they are everywhere and they make things sooooo much easier…some are a bit expensive but well worth it…there are some that nothing shows, and are part of your shirt, and you just put the baby towards your chest put the blankie over and a small opening is there for the baby to latch on, no one sees anything and no one knows what you are doing except that it looks like you are holding your baby!!

Other times she was fine during church being fed right before, given the colic drops or the tablets and water and she was fine until about 10 minutes before mass was over…

So it wasn’t that bad and like I said most people might not be bothered with it but you have all the right to be there as well!

They are not obstacles just another new member of the church that has something to say!! Besides if she’s having those problems try the homeopathic tablets for colic and teething, and try the little drops…

Good luck and GOD bless…

 

[Em_in_FL]

First off… welcome!

I’ve never felt comfortable BF’ing in the pew at Mass…
I usually walk to the back of the church and either sit or stand against the back wall tucked in the corner - or I pull a loose chair over to the back corner. Sometimes I go in the bathroom as well… (there are nice speakers in there so I don’t miss the Mass.)
Just my preference for privacy…