PICK UP YOUR DANG BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bliss]

Sorry to yell, I just have to vent about this woman at the store today - we were there for about 40 minutes and from the minute we walked in, I could hear a tiny baby crying. And crying. And crying. Finally I was in the same part of the store as this family, and the baby was in her "bucket" in the shopping cart, PURPLE AS A BEET from crying for 40 minutes, and the three women she was with (mom, mom-aged lady and grandma aged lady) were all TOTALLY IGNORING HER!!! WHY DID YOU HAVE A BABY IF YOU WEREN'T GOING TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT??? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE CRYING IN A PLASTIC BUCKET FOR 40 MINUTES WHILE THE PEOPLE YOU LOVED IGNORED YOU???? Finally, "mom" checked her watch and got out a bottle, saying "Ok, now it's time to eat."

I know I'm hungry only at three-hour intervals, so it makes sense that a baby whose stomach holds like three ounces would be too. And I also know that I only want attention when I'm hungry or have to go to the bathroom. (Would someone please make me a "note the sarcasm" smiley?) I know I'm being harsh. I just can't stand the idea of leaving a baby to cry like that. I don't see who thinks that's good for them.

[Lantern Light Mama]

It must have been very hard to be subjected to seeing that baby and hearing it cry like that.

[bliss]

oh, it just killed me. This close to going and picking her up myself. (cut to me getting charged with kidnapping or something. . .)

I've actually gotten to the point where I would go up to a mom with a screaming baby and offer to hold the baby for her. I would have said something like, "You seem very busy, would you like me to comfort your baby for a moment? I know how hard it can be to shop with a little one."

[katiekind]

I'm hyperventilating just reading your post, Bliss. How very, very, very, very uncomfortable for you (and that poor little baby.)

[MarynMunchkins]

I've said something in cases like that. Usually it's "Hey, I'm nursing and listening to your baby cry is causing let down. Would you mine holding them, because walking around with wet spots on my shirt isn't any fun." :P

That sound makes me sick to my stomach. i'm so sorry for you and for the baby. My girls go nuts when they hear a baby crying like that. "Mommy, do something! A baby is CRYING!!!!"

True story: when my very collicky middle dd was about 8 weeks old i was at the local bag your own grocery store getting tons of suplies for Y2K. She started wailing as I was unloading the cart. Normally, i would sling her but it is imposible to bag groceries with a sling on. I was starting to get panicky because there was no good solution in sight. A voice behind me said, "You hold the baby, I'll do the groceries." and I turned to see the smiling face of this super nice guy from church. He bagged all my groceries, walked me to the car and loaded up the van for me. What a kindness!!!!!

Magan

I'm surprised someone from the store didn't say something to her. Around here usually at least one worker hunts down the crying baby to make sure the baby is okay and engages with the person letting their child cry. Once my dd was crying (we were at the very back of a big store making our way to the front) a worker stopped to check on us.

I have found that if you walk up to the mother and look her straight in the face and simple state the ovious...Your baby is crying....and then stand there staring at her, then she gets uncomfortable thinking you are a wacko and usually picks up her baby. Sometimes they just walk off but trust me, if you stay within sight, they pick up the baby within minutes.

My friend was being really anoid by this meanie mom in Famous Barr one day and did this, the mother didn't respond so she pulled out a note pad and asked the mothers name with a pen in hand. I have no idea why the women was so threatened by the pen and pad but she quickly picked up the baby and ran off

[greenemama]

that's awful.

mary, you crack me up! i love that response.

[Lantern Light Mama]

I have held a few cyring babies that werent mine too or offered mom help. In this case though, she had plenty of help so there was no excuse.

I've done that. I was at a grocery store and heard this baby crying . . .and it went on and on. Well, I hunted it down, and there was this lady shopping, and the baby crying in the bucket. So, I went up to her, and started to coo and fuss over the baby, and asked, "Oooo! May I hold him?" and she let me. Well, he quieted right down, and I smelled something and said, "Oh, oh. What's all that fuss about a stinky diaper, huh?" (um, to the baby ), and she took him right into the bathroom and changed him. Sometimes people just do not know (I felt very sorry for this lady. . .she looked haggard and tired and just lost). . .and sometimes they know, and just will do what they will.

Originally Posted by bliss

Finally, "mom" checked her watch and got out a bottle, saying "Ok, now it's time to eat."

I ran into that about a month ago at an Arbonne party I was doing. A mom came with her 5 week old baby, and put him off for 40 minutes while he cried because "it's not time to eat." I even asked her why she wouldn't feed him after he had been crying for 10 minutes, and she said it was because the schedule was conveniant for her. She at least picked him up out of his bucket at that point. How conveniant is it to walk around jiggling a crying baby for 20 minutes (the rest of the time baby was either in a bucket or someone else was holding him), especially when you've only got one full arm??? (She was an amputee--not sure what happened to her arm, but it was cut off about half way between the shoulder and elbow.)

Then she gave him a bottle...well, she let other ladies at the party give him a bottle. One of the ladies who held the bottle was cooing at him "only the best for you! Steak and potato dinner!" It was all I could do not to make a remark about how I would gladly feed him "only the best" since his crying had been making it let down for the past 40 minutes! The only thing that saved me from having wet spots is that my nursling is 22 months old, so I don't let down quite so much as I would with a younger baby.

Jenn

[CelticJourney]

Isn't it interesting what a primal response we have to that sound, I mean I'm physically reacting to what you have written, not even a sound, but Ezzo and Pearl can convince some well-meaning moms to ignore that reaction.