Tips for Bringing Your Little One to Church 
Attending Mass with young children can be challenging. Here are some ideas for how to navigate this part
	The Noise & Wiggle Factor 
Kids can be noisy, and bringing them to church can make them even more so. The echoes and acoustics are great, after all! They get hungry, they cry, they drop the kneelers with a bang, they don’t keep their hands to themselves, and sometimes they try to run down the aisle. 
It might make us self-conscious when our kids do these things, but God doesn’t mind any of that. After all, Jesus did say, “Let the little children come to me and do not stop them” (Matthew 19:14). If others are giving you dirty looks, they probably have forgotten Jesus’ words. Pope Francis doesn’t mind either. He called the sound of children “the most beautiful choir of all,” even when they are crying! 
Jesus was the same age as your child once, and his parents had to teach him to behave properly in their synagogue services too. If you want your children to learn to behave in Mass, you’ll need to help by giving them regular practice. 
	Some Options 
Babies and small children aren’t expected to sit still for an hour at mass. It’s perfectly fine to bring along items to keep them occupied: 
•	Set aside books specifically for bringing to church, such as a children’s Bible, books about saints, etc. 
•	Quiet toys or a stuffed animal (nothing electronic or noisy, please) are fine for young children in the pews. 
Just because your child is making normal child-like noises doesn’t mean you to need whisk him or her out of the main sanctuary immediately. However, if it starts to be too distracting for too long, you have other options: 
•	Feel free to take your child to the back of the church or a “cry room” (if your church has one) to help her settle. 
•	Point out the statues, stained glass, holy water fonts, etc. 
•	Bless yourself and your child with the holy water can become a regular tradition and will help them to learn the sign of the cross.
	Your Prayer Experience 
To be honest, it may not be an especially prayerful experience for you as a parent to attend Mass with wiggly children. It will most certainly be different from what you were used to before parenthood. A key may be shifting your expectations. 
•	Even if you can’t concentrate on the homily, maybe one line of a song will be what you needed to hear to give you comfort. 
•	Or perhaps you won’t remember anything from the readings except one verse that stood out because it gave you strength to face an upcoming challenge. 
•	Maybe what you take away in a given week is a blessed minute of silence kneeling after communion. 
If you attend mass regularly, you will come to relish the sweet family time of doing something all together, in close quarters, every week without anything else vying for your attention. Mass can become a time in which you don’t have to do anything else in the world except hold, rock, soothe, sing, pray, and simply be together with your children in God’s presence. 
 Pope Francis on Breastfeeding
During a baptism ceremony at the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis surprised some by encouraging mothers to breastfeed their babies during the service if they were hungry. “Some will cry because they are uncomfortable or because they are hungry,” he said. “If they are hungry, mothers, let them eat, no worries, because here, they are the main focus.” 
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2015 The Pastoral Center