When did you return to Sunday mass after having a baby?

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Serap

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I haven’t been to mass for 6 weeks now. I feel terrible about it, but my baby has just not settled into a routine yet and he has a tendency to cry a lot. I’m afraid to take him to mass still.

When did you return to Sunday mass?

It’s just me, my daughter and son that would attend mass, so I don’t have any help. If my husband went to church, we could all go together, but he’s not a church going person (cradle Catholic).
 
Serap said:
I haven’t been to mass for 6 weeks now. I feel terrible about it, but my baby has just not settled into a routine yet and he has a tendency to cry a lot. I’m afraid to take him to mass still.

When did you return to Sunday mass?

It’s just me, my daughter and son that would attend mass, so I don’t have any help. If my husband went to church, we could all go together, but he’s not a church going person (cradle Catholic).
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Does your parish have a “cry room”? If not, is there a parish near you that does? Those were a lifesaver when I was taking my sister’s LO’s to mass. We’d just start out in there, didn’t even wait for them to start crying or acting up. It helps contain them too. 😛 Do you have any relatives or friends who could take your daughter to Mass on Sundays, until you are able? Could you have a Eucharistic Minister bring communion to your home?

These are just some of the things I’d do if I were in your situation. :o
 
We went the week after she was born, and have been going ever since. But we make sure that is my wife and I, because it would be hard alone with the baby. We are lucky as my in-laws attend Mass with us usually, so we try and go to the same Mass as they like to sit with our 6 month old, and help out as well. Good Luck and God Bless.
 
I went to Sunday mass when Jonathan was 4 days old. 🤷 I was really excited to go to church with my baby. :rolleyes: He was actually really good at church and continues to be really good at church at 8 1/2 months (excepting his third mass when he needed to nurse, and I wasn’t very proficient yet.)
 
It varied with each baby, but maybe one or two weeks.

Are you nursing? I had a hard time the first few weeks because the timing had to be “perfect” in order to get out the door. If you can nurse while your husband gets the older kids ready for Mass, and then you hand off the baby to him and leave, that might work. I remember that is how we had to handle it. Actually for a long time, my husband would take all the older kids to a different Mass and then I would go to Mass myself or take just the baby so he could actually make it through the hour at home… but that is not an option since your husband isn’t going to go…
 
I was recovering from a cesarean the first time (surgery on a Thursday), so I didn’t get to Mass that weekend, but went the following weekend.

My second baby was born vaginally (but with a complication) on a Friday, so I didn’t get to Mass that weekend, but went the following weekend.

Both babies were born in January, at the height of cold/flu season, so maybe I wasn’t the smartest mommy. 😊
 
If I’d been Catholic back in the time when I was having babies… I’d have had them baptized within the first week. I’d have kept them home with me away from Mass for at least 6 weeks, more if needed, and requested Communion be brought to me at home.
 
I just wanted to add to please don’t ever be afraid to take your child to mass. God and your priest and parish family WANT you there. Fussy, crying, screaming baby and all. 😃

I would try to attend the most family friendly parish and mass possible. We have a 10:30 mass that I avoid like the plague (cause we are infertile) because there are crying babies and fidgety toddlers everywhere. But a mass like that would be PERFECT for you, you’d fit right in and they wouldn’t know it was “your” baby fussing. 😃

Again, cry rooms/areas are a young family’s best friend. 😃
 
I went back to mass the first Sunday after I had them. My husband and I would go to different masses until the babies were old enough to go out. Given two of them were born in the winter we didn’t want to take them out in the cold and expose them to colds. Our kids were baptized within a month after they were born and we took then to mass weekly once they were about 3 months old and the weather was warmer. We took our eldest daughter camping during a trip to California at 4 months so we figured she was ready for Mass before then.
 
In my parish, it’s pregnant one Sunday, in the pew with the baby the next 😃 Absolutely love it. I have noticed the first time moms tend to take a couple weeks, but other than that…it is amazing, a real treat for the rest of us too 👍
 
My 3 kids were born on a Monday, Tuesday, and a Thursday (Holy Thursday to be exact)… and we always got to Mass by the next Sunday (EASTER in that one case!)… all baptized around 3-4 weeks old…

At first I just bring them in the infant carseat carrier and bring a pacifier… normally they just sleep right through Mass!.. Infancy is the EASIEST time to bring them along… it’s when they get bigger and start squirming that it’s more challenging…

You can do it!! 👍
 
Serap said:
I haven’t been to mass for 6 weeks now. I feel terrible about it, but my baby has just not settled into a routine yet and he has a tendency to cry a lot. I’m afraid to take him to mass still.

When did you return to Sunday mass?

It’s just me, my daughter and son that would attend mass, so I don’t have any help. If my husband went to church, we could all go together, but he’s not a church going person (cradle Catholic).
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Had preemies in April. I attended first time on Mothers Day, w/o my babies. Waited 2 months to take them for fear of them getting sick, Doctor’s orders.

Had a c section on the 6th of Sept. WTC bombed Sept 11th. In Church Sept 16th. I guess 10 days. Couldn’t NOT be there. Had a great baby room at that Church. Just depends on how much you want to be there.
 
SpaceNeedle said:
In my parish, it’s pregnant one Sunday, in the pew with the baby the next 😃 Absolutely love it. I have noticed the first time moms tend to take a couple weeks, but other than that…it is amazing, a real treat for the rest of us too 👍
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👍👍👍
Love, Love, Love Being Catholic!!!
😃
 
While it is great that some moms are able to go directly from birthing room to the front pew at Mass, we should be careful not to make any mom feel she is “less than holy” if she is not able to do the same.

The Catechism assures us, it is valid to miss mass to care for an infant. Mom should not feel forced to stay home NOR forced to go to Mass. She should seek the advice of her priest if she is confused or bothered by either prospect.
 
that_name said:
While it is great that some moms are able to go directly from birthing room to the front pew at Mass, we should be careful not to make any mom feel she is “less than holy” if she is not able to do the same.

The Catechism assures us, it is valid to miss mass to care for an infant. Mom should not feel forced to stay home NOR forced to go to Mass. She should seek the advice of her priest if she is confused or bothered by either prospect.
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Very true… don’t give yourself a hard time - EVER!
 
that_name said:
While it is great that some moms are able to go directly from birthing room to the front pew at Mass, we should be careful not to make any mom feel she is “less than holy” if she is not able to do the same.

The Catechism assures us, it is valid to miss mass to care for an infant. Mom should not feel forced to stay home NOR forced to go to Mass. She should seek the advice of her priest if she is confused or bothered by either prospect.
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Agreed! 🙂

We are only trying to help you find ways that you might be able to get to mass, at least from time to time. If you can’t, you can’t. But if you can’t, I really hope that you will seek some alternatives for yourself. Communion at home is a beautiful experience and can really help you through this happy, but difficult time. Also priests make house visits if you ever need confession. As for your daughter, a relative or friend might be able to get her to mass, or someone at your parish. If not, make a special effort to say special prayers with her on Sundays. That will help her realize that Sunday is a special day, and also with the transition when baby is ready to start attending mass too. 👍
 
I take the first Sunday after delivery off. I did push it really hard once, early on-- attended Mass for the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8th after delivering Dec. 5th-- and it wasn’t the brightest idea. My husband practically needed a forklift to get me from the pew back to the car at the end of Mass. :o

Since the house is dead quiet when everyone else is out at Mass except me and Baby, my husband has sometimes gone out for several hours with all rest of the kids-- first Mass, then a leisurely breakfast with the grandparents, and come home to still find me and Babe in exactly the same comatose position on the bed. 🙂 Which to me suggests that the additional rest is something I really do need at that point.

Every mom and every baby is different-- you need to gauge it accordingly. A lot of times I find it helpful to run the same “sick calculation” I would run when I’m not sure if I have a legitimate excuse to stay home from Mass. If, in a given situation, I would be able to run an hour to hour-and-a-half errand out with the baby (grocery shopping, school meetings, whatever) then that means I can and should get to Mass. If the very thought of such an errand has me saying “No way, I don’t feel anywhere near that well” then that hints pretty well in the other direction. And if baby’s behavior is really the limiting factor, check and see if you can’t locate a church nearby with a cry room, even if it’s not your regular parish…

Margaret
 
The following week. I think it was 10 days post c-section with my last.
 
that_name said:
While it is great that some moms are able to go directly from birthing room to the front pew at Mass, we should be careful not to make any mom feel she is “less than holy” if she is not able to do the same.

The Catechism assures us, it is valid to miss mass to care for an infant. Mom should not feel forced to stay home NOR forced to go to Mass. She should seek the advice of her priest if she is confused or bothered by either prospect.
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I especially would keep them home this cold and flu season for a few weeks
 
The Sunday after they were born usually, LOL! My husband doesn’t go to church either, so if I didn’t feel comfortable with all the kids, I would leave some of them at home. But, the baby always went with me because I had the boobs! 😃 Until he/she got old enough that I felt comfortable leaving him with hubby for a couple of hours.
 
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