Tips for a Baby Girl's Baptism

When our baby girl was four and a half months old we chose to have her baptized in the Catholic church. The Christening of a child is a very important event in the Catholic faith as it purifies the child's soul and removes the original sin that is believed to exist within the child at birth. The baptismal ceremony is a proud moment for parents and other family members. Unfortunately it is not always a joyous moment for a baby who is unaware of the how special the experience is.

About a week before the ceremony I bought my daughter a beautiful baptismal dress. It was long and had a collar with sequins and faux pearls. When I saw the dress I imagined how beautiful my daughter would look in it and how angelic she would be on her big day. I bought thick tights as it was still chilly outside, special socks with crosses on them, and little shoes with crosses as well. I could not wait to see my little girl dressed so beautifully.

The morning of our daughter's baptism we woke early and finished preparations for the day. We were having thirty people over to our house for a family reception after the Christening and had some last minute details that had to be taken care of. Our daughter fell asleep about an hour and a half before we had to be at the church and we decided to let her sleep as long as possible and believed doing so help insure she was in a good mood when she was at the church. We dressed our toddler, dressed ourselves and finally woke our baby girl up so she could get dressed.

At first our baby daughter did not mind being all dressed up in her gown and stockings. We were able to take some beautiful pictures of her before we left the house. When we arrived at the church we headed to the "quiet room", a room where parents with small children could go to see and hear the Mass without their children disturbing the other members of the church. Upon entering the room we noticed it was a bit warm so we took our daughter's jacket off. She was calm for the first half of Mass. The second half of the Mass things went downhill quickly.

Our daughter who is usually very calm, always has a smile, and does not cry a lot began to scream at the top of her lungs. I walked her, bounced her, tried playing with her, and offered her a bottle. None of these things could quiet her. We could see other members of church turning around and looking at us through the supposedly sound proof glass windows. After Mass we had family members who had been sitting at the front of the church tell us they could hear our baby quite clearly.

My husband's mother came into the room and was able to temporarily calm our daughter, but even Grandma's special touch was not enough to stop the crying for long. After Mass was finished we took our daughter to the front of the church where we joined family members. Another child was scheduled to be baptized at that time as well. As soon as the priest started speaking our baby girl started crying harder and louder than before. The other child was to be baptized before her and it was difficult to hear what the priest was saying to her parents. I tried everything I could think of to calm my baby and nothing worked. Finally I decided as a last resort to try undressing her a bit. I took off her shoes, her socks, and her stockings. As soon as I did this she immediately settled down. She did not cry for the rest of the ceremony. She did not even cry when the priest baptized her with water and anointed her head with oil. My poor baby girl had been screaming all that time because she wanted her little legs to be free.

If I could offer tips to parents getting ready to baptize a baby girl they would be based on what I would have done differently. First, I would not have bought a dress with a big collar, especially not one with sequins. My baby girl was uncomfortable when the collar kept brushing up against her face, something that happened when she moved her arms up. The dress she wore was beautiful but ultimately not very comfortable.

Second, I would not have put tights on my baby girl. She is not a baby that likes to feel restricted and she was too little to verbalize the fact that her tights were driving her crazy. I would have put the socks and shoes on her, but also put pants on her when she was outside. I would have taken the pants off when we entered the warm church so that she could have been cool and less restricted.

Third, I probably would have dressed her when I noticed her first fall asleep even if it meant waking her for a bit. Then I would have let her go back to sleep so that I did not have to wake her before she was rested enough.

When it comes to keeping a baby happy during a baptism comfort is the key. Baby girls can look pretty in simple dresses as well as more elaborate ones and a smiley baby is a lot cuter than one that is screaming her head off.