Christening dilemma...

[brigmaman]

WWYD? Dd will be born sometime very soon. We plan to Christen her and to have my sister stand up as her Godmother. However, my sister is leaving for a semester abroad on Jan. 6th and not returning until the end of April. So I can either have the Baptism really soon in which case dd will only be a few weeks old or wait until she's 6 months old. In our family it is usually done within the first few months- but not so early or late as this. Or...I could have my other sister stand in for my younger sister. What do you think of that? It might be easier for everyone not to have the Baptism so close to the Christmas holiday.
I've asked my sister who will be Lulu's Godmother and she said it's fine either way. She's very easy going. I'm just afraid I'll regret it later.

I don't know if we're good examples, but for me it was important that all the people be there. For us, that meant delaying Dante's baptism until he was 13 months old--walked himself right up to the alter. Lucky for us he didn't cry, because those would have echoed from the rafters of the church!

6 months doesn't sound so old anymore, does it? Good luck--you're almost there!

Paula
Mama to Dante, 8/02

Trish:

I'd christen her right before your sister leaves (Jan 2nd is a Sunday) or wait until she comes home.

My nephew was born at 30 weeks and my sister decided to have him christened immediately with the NICU nurse standing in for me. He did not die (as they feared) and in fact, is a normal, healthy 9yr old today. However, I am still sad I didn't get to actually stand up for him. Though I am his godmother in name, it always feels a little hollow to me because I didn't actually take the vows. Maybe this is just me, but it's such an honor -- I'm sure your sister would want to be there in person share the experience with you, your daughter and your family.


Michele
Mommy to Gavin, 12/4/03

[Fafles]

I agree with Paula. For me it was important for everyone to be there. That is why we ARE delaying Camilla's baptism until December when she will be 1 and we will be able to reunite the entire family.

Personally, I don't think 6 months is "too old" for a baptism at all!

Good luck. :-)
Ana

I would try to have everyone there too. I just think in the long run your sister would want to remember the occasion & be able to look back at photos of her & baby!

IMO 6 months is a great age for a christening - I'm biased because that is near the age my DS was baptized. He was alert, smiley & looking around at all the action!

[dowlinal]

We christened dd at 7 months because we wanted to have everyone there and it worked out well. Normally in my family we do it around 3-4 months so I was also concerned about waiting but in the end it was really nice. The only "problem" was that dd was crawling at that point so wearing the long gown at her party was just not an option. My mother ended up buying her a beautiful white party dress that we changed her into at the party.

Depending on where you live and whether or not you have a party afterwards the end of April may also be much more accomodating weatherwise.

[Elilly]

We waited until DD was 6 months for this very reason. But now, DS will be christened at 2 1/2 months. I would have liked to have done it sooner with DD but it really was no big deal to wait. There were several other older babies at her baptism as well.

[alkagift]

Trish,
My son was 6 months for his Christening and we did it over Thanksgiving holidays for the express purpose of making sure everyone was able to come. I thought DS was very alert and had a great time. My husband's family is Catholic and traditionally they Christened the children in the familly a bit earlier as well but no one minded and it was very nice.

BTW, I was christened at Christmas, I was about five months old, and it was (according to all the pictures I've seen) lovely and my mother said that the family made it part of the holiday's celebrations.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, 5/03

[Dcclerk]

I'd definitely wait until your sister was back home. But this is coming from a woman whose DS is going to be baptized at 19 mos, so clearly it should be taken with a grain of salt ;)

[mamaturk]

Trish, I know we have already talked about this.. But I think your sister will feel upset not being there to actually stand up for Lulu even if she says it's ok. Reilly was only 8 weeks old when we had her Christening, it was really important for us to have it done early. Don't get me wrong.. I was afraid of so many people being around her also but since she was still so young she slept the whole time so it was easy to keep her in mine or my husbands arms.