Bringing kids to concerts - Experience + 10C tickets

taking an 18 month (or anything younger than about 7 or 8 in my opinion) to a concert is just selfish parenting. sorry there is no reason for it. at that point you are saying your child is either an inconvenience for you or you are using said child as a prop. either way not good.

As a parent of a 5 year old and an 18 month old.....dont bring an 18 month old. If you put noise cancelling headphones on that kid, they are eventually going to rip those off.

I am ok with bringing older kids. Teens, absolutely. 5-12? It really depends on the kid.

The biggest thing to consider is how the kid will effect the show for the people around you. Will the kid talk the entire show? Will they cry? Will they sit on the floor, and will the people near them worry about stepping on them? Will someone be smoking something near them? How many bathroom breaks?

I look at it like this...if the kid is in diapers....then its an absolute HARD NO. A kid that young really doesnt belong at a show like that. (See my Alpine Valley comments below)

if the kid is old enough to enjoy the music, and handle 3 hours with headphones on....then maybe.

As for Alpine....if you decided to sit WAY WAY WAY back up on the lawn, and stay away from most people....I could probably handle someone bringing a baby back there. Music is softer on the ears, you are closer to the bathrooms,etc. But this would mean you are going to miss a ton of songs due to diaper changes, etc. Not to mention....bedtimes. there is no way my 2-3 year old would stay up past 9pm and that is pushing it.

buck502000 said:

I think your child should be old enough to answer the question,"do you want to go to the show?"

If i ask my 5 year old, "Do you want to go to this?", she will almost 100% of the time say yes, because she has no idea what that all entails. I get your point tho...they should be able to speak, in my opinion. They need to be able to verbalize if something is bothering them, so that you can quickly act on it. "im hungry!" Ok, we go get food and dont bother other people.

an 18 month old might just start crying....it could be they are hungry, need a diaper change, hate the smell of smoke, or dont like the dark/music/people, etc.

why is she crying? she's wearing noise cancelling headphones. she should be okay.

rival. said:

why is she crying? she's wearing noise cancelling headphones. she should be okay.

She heard "Just Breathe" again

TalonTedd said:

RP112579 said:

Way too young. Simple as that.

How about a ten year old boy with his old man, standing at the back of the pit. So he could see the show and all the fun everyone will be having. Oh and ear plugs in.

I want to have this experience with my oldest and lets face it, its a rock band; could all come to an end any moment.

He's a fan....mostly by default of course. But he knows how much these shows mean to me and he wants to be part of it. Man if I could get a member to forward an unused GA I would take my six year old too. He loves to air guitar and sing the songs....my little mini me.

I have an 11 year old (only child) we took him to see Goyte, he had so much fun but was really tired, so we left 2 songs before the end, he was 8 at the time. Then 2 years ago we flew interstate to see EV and took our son, he had a great time. Since then he's seen Foo Fighters and Rise Against, and keeps asking when are we seeing another band. All concerts we have been to, we have been seated and he's worn ear plugs.
I think it depends on individual kids and if they love the music. Sounds like both of your kids love the music, I recommend seats, so they can at least see. I'm a short person and hate going to a concert and only seeing others heads! Just be aware taking young ones (6-8 years) may mean you as a parent miss out parts of the show if your child needs bathroom or is too tired and wants to go home, otherwise you'll end up with tears.
Good luck getting tickets and have an awesome night.

I saw Alabama 3 times between 2 and 5,
Reba Mcantire at 7,
Forigner/Bad Company at 9....
The 1st concerts that were my choice, AC/DC at 11, Ballbreaker tour, I knew every word, people were getting high, did not bother me, no ear plugs,
Ted Nugent/Bad Co at 12, was great,
13 - Metallica Reload tour, started with "so Fucking what", ended with "Battery", was the 1st show my parents let my friends go with us.
14- I went to my 1st show without my parents, just friends - Pantera 101 proof tour

All in between those years were lots of 70s bands, rock and country that I can`t remember....All I know I saw Forigner 4 times and never want to see a saxaphone solo on a catwalk again in my life.

Saying all that....I would not do it if I were you, might waste your $ and have a bad time.... I would start them out on something tame

cellophane_star said:

Thanks for the sincere replies. It was definitely a long shot for us to actually bring her to the show given her age (which I acknowledge is too young to withstand a late night, 3 hour show but she's a good baby so I guess there was a glimmer of hope that she would enjoy herself? Yeah, unlikely).

There'll be another tour for us... maybe if some Western Canada dates are announced and then babysitter option could happen.

They asked, got honest answers from many people, and replied with this. Yet pages later people just keep piling on. Did you all read the whole thread? Looks to me like it was put to bed.

Vedd Hedd said:

As a parent of a 5 year old and an 18 month old.....dont bring an 18 month old. If you put noise cancelling headphones on that kid, they are eventually going to rip those off.

You cannot and shouldn't try to speak for all kids on the point on ripping headphones off. Our oldest never did, ever. Our younger yeah, sometimes, which is another reason we didn't do shows as young with the youngest. But our oldest and kids of other friends we have absolutely range from those who hate headphones and rip them off immediately, to those who totally don't mind and leave them on, never rip them off.

The key is finding out which kind your kid is. But no one should believe anyone who generalizes about all kids, because that's a sure sign that it's wrong.

JH6056 said:

Vedd Hedd said:

As a parent of a 5 year old and an 18 month old.....dont bring an 18 month old. If you put noise cancelling headphones on that kid, they are eventually going to rip those off.

You cannot and shouldn't try to speak for all kids on the point on ripping headphones off. Our oldest never did, ever. Our younger yeah, sometimes, which is another reason we didn't do shows as young with the youngest. But our oldest and kids of other friends we have absolutely range from those who hate headphones and rip them off immediately, to those who totally don't mind and leave them on, never rip them off.

The key is finding out which kind your kid is. But no one should believe anyone who generalizes about all kids, because that's a sure sign that it's wrong.

Im really not trying to speak for all kids or all parents. Merely giving my personal experience, which is what was asked for. 18 month old kids "generally" are unpredictable, which is what i was going for. Case in point, someone thinking, "Oh its totally fine, I'll just give them noise cancelling headphones!", that may or may not work out well. Even if the kid tolerates them at home...will they do that for 3+hours under strange conditions, with 20,000 people, etc.

Obviously, each parent knows their own kid better than a stranger on a message board. These are just things to consider...you know...when bringing your toddler to a rock concert.