As a mom who's brought her baby to questionable venues from bars to New Year's Eve parties, I'm not one to judge where mothers bring their kids. That's why I was dismayed to hear that a breastfeeding mom with a 4-month-old baby strapped to her chest says she was kicked out of a Brad Paisleyconcert in San Diego last Thursday, with police arguing that she was endangering her child.
The mom, who'd identified herself as Megan Christopherson, 30, filmed her altercation with the cops on her phone (some footage below). First, she claims a security guard approached her and asked her to stop breastfeeding.
Then, later on, while she was down in the concert pit, guards approached her again and asked her to move out of the pit, since they feared her 4-month-old girl, Gracie, could be crushed in the surging crowd or have her eardrums damaged by the noise.
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Christopherson argued that her baby was fine -- in fact, fast asleep, which suggests the noise in the pit wasn't bothering her. When given the option of moving to a seat farther away from the concert stage or getting a refund and leaving, the mom trounced out.
Should moms take their babies to concerts? Can we be trusted to make that decision for our kids and know when the music's too loud, the circumstances too dangerous? In my mind the answer is yes, within reason.
For instance, if it were a mosh pit for Megadeth where people were eating live rats, I'd, of course, pass. Or if my baby started crying from the noise or commotion, I'd leave then too. But these are decisions any mom of sound mind would make.
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Besides, babysitters are expensive, and no mom should have to sit at home until her kids are grown. That's just a recipe for a miserable motherhood, which won't do her children any good. One of my friends is a professional musician, and she's been taking her daughters to concerts since she was born. "I was much more horrified by the noise levels at a Yo Gabba Gabba concert," she points out. "It was way louder and more dangerous than any adult punk rock concert I'd been to in my life."
In other words: give moms a break and let them have some fun!
Would you take your baby to a rock concert? Why or why not?
Image © Ted Horowitz/Corbis