Please shower me with advice: 2yo at wedding ceremony

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February 09, 2012, 11:22:31 PM

babies, babies everywhere!!! no news today.

8545 Posts in 1170 Topics by 17633 Members
Latest Member: knodiaunloari

My brother is getting married a week from tomorrow (friday the 22) and I'm starting to get really, really nervous. K is ring bearer, and I'm sure he'll do a fine job with that, it's what happens after he walks up the aisle that's keeping me up at night.

OK, here's the situation:

K's nap usually starts 2-4pm, but he won't sleep if a) he can't nurse or b) there's a lot going on.

We are expected to arrive at church for pictures at 2:45, the service starts at 4 and is 45 minutes long.

K is not a very experienced church-goer, he's been maybe 6 times, and of those I've had to remove him 2ce.

He's 2! in my book, he shouldn't be expected to sit quietly for 45 minutes, so I've never developed the techniques to induce such behaviour. Unfortunately it's not my wedding, so they're not going by "my book."

He still nurses quite a bit and since we're going to be sitting together and he'll be getting tired and cranky he's bound to shout "BOOBIE!!!" if I dont' find a way around it. He's never taken a bottle, but I'm considering talking to him about it and bringing one, since whipping out the boob in church-- while not impossible with the dress--would be frowned upon big time.

As a side question, do you all think I should bring his bblp into church, I mean, it's not ideal, but has to be better than getting up to find the bathroom in the middle of the ceremony. We'll be in the front row.

Any advice is much appriciated, the wedding is a week away now.

Are you in the wedding, too, or just K? If only he is then I would just be prepared to take him to the back of the church if needed. If you are in the wedding as well, is there someone else that K can go and sit with that wouldn't be so noticeable if he needed to get up and leave? That's a tough one.

Wow, a 45 minute ceremony. is that normal. No I wouldn't expect him to be quiet for that length of time Try to get K to go to the toilet before hand and as kind of nasty as it may sound, maybe try to make sure he doesn't drink too much before hand. If K gets fussy I would just stand at the back of the church with him. Oh and maybe a bottle would work as a novelty thing.

Whether he can or can't sit for 45min at this age totally depends on his personality. Jessie gets frustrated/whiny/fussy easily if she's bored even now at 4.5yrs, but Emily is better for sitting for longer times than her even at 2.5yrs...it's a personality thing. If he gets antsy easily, you'll just have to know that you'll need to miss part of the ceremony. I'm not sure what to do about sitting in the front row other than maybe seeing if there's a way you could sit at the end of the aisle. If he gets too fussy, it would most definitely be less of a disruption for you to get up and take him outside the ceremony than for you to stay there (especially if the ceremony hall has a side aisle that can use to exit).

I would not take a potty chair w/ you in the building, if that's what you're asking. I would just make sure he went potty in the bathroom potty before the ceremony started and right after. He should be able to hold it for 45min. As far as nursing...I would plan to nurse him right before and right after the ceremony. Will he drink out of a sippy cup? Maybe put some pumped milk in there. I know it's not the same as nursing to sleep, but that might help until it's over with. Or nurse if you have to take him out of the ceremony. Personally, I would not introduce a bottle at this age...a sippy cup is better for them orthodontically...especially if you use one that has a straw in it.

Thanks so much gals. I feel much better now about taking him out during the ceremony. I'm not in the wedding party, so I'll just make sure we sit toward the end of the row on the side aisle (hoping there is one) and take him outside if it comes to that, which I'm expecting it will. Unless Mike Rowe or Adam Savage is performing the ceremony, there's little chance he'll sit through it. Wink

Taking him outside just solves all the problems, doesn't it? Whew!

Yeah, taking the potty into church isn't a very good idea, I don't knwo what I was thinking. hit self over head

How did the wedding go?

You may be sorry you asked, I'm pretty sore about it.

I did everything I could to have k happy and enthusiastic, despite the awkward no-nap timing, his resistance to the tux, the overwhelming chaos and the unusual rules.

We (my parents, myself and k) were told to be at church at 2:45 for pictures. This was emphasised repeatedly. The ceremony was to start at 4 and the groom's side pictures were to be done in pleanty of time. We arrived at about 2:35, just to be safe. NOONE else arrived, not even the photographer, until at after 3. Well after 3. Whatever the motive for giving us an earlier time, I'd call it just plaid rude, not to mention terrible planning. k was dragging me around the block, him in his tux and dress shoes, me i my ridiculous heals and hair in the wind for at least half and hour before we even saw my brother. Not such a great start, but k weathered it well enough, even if our clothes didn't. The photographer was the absolute best I've ever seen for dealing with little kids, k adored him.

It came time to start getting ready for the ceremony and we went to the back of the church. I mentioned carrying the rings and k balked. I talked him into it. I told him I would stay with him until he went and then run around the side and meet him at the front. he was fine. the bride arrived, we were waiting together. my mother said to me "it's time to go" I told her "I'm staying with k until he walks" she said, "they're waiting for you hon" I said ok, told kody it was time to go and walked to the front of the church... 10 minutes later, my dad waved me to the back. kody was crying for boobie. I threw an apologetic glance to the bride, who generously gave me a reassuring thumbs-up, took k to the car, and nursed him and played witih him until we heard the bells and went around to see the new couple come out of the church.

The reception was pretty ok. he didn't go through the door with the wedding party, it was almost the church thing all over again, they said he could go and then opened the door but it was someone else's turn and he got pissed when the flower girl grabbed his arm to hold him back. by that time he was so tired anyway. we had a room in the hotel where the reception was, so that made it easier, we went up and watched Dirty Jobs and rested for a while during cocktails.

well that sucks. its annoying how a lot of people expect kids to just do as told. grrr. never mind the thoughts going through a kids head. hit self over head

I don't think anyhting that happened with Kody sounds at all unusual. We are lucky in that most of our family and friends are all having kids right now so every event we go to has ten kids whining and looking for their mommies or needing to leave the room for some reason or other.

I'm just pissed because I told him I'd be there until he walked and I wasn't. I shouldn't have listed to my mother. He reacted about how I expected he would to everything that went on. Whether it's what other people expected, well, I can't help that.