A Sympathetic Baby Boy

Yesterday, the kids and I went to a local indoor play center, Amaya Papaya. Baby girl found herself making friends with the owner’s daughter, who is the same age as her. Baby boy did what a typical 1-year-old toddler does – he went from center to center playing a little of this and a little of that without really interacting with other kids.

A couple of times he came running towards me with the beginnings of a crying face, though there was nothing wrong as far as I could tell. After the second time he did this, I realized he was doing so because he was hearing other babies crying. “Crap,” I thought, “The crying is contagious now.” But, then a few minutes later, as we were sitting down to eat a snack, something interesting happened.

A little baby girl, probably around 9 or 10 months old, was sitting on the floor and began to cry. Baby boy looked her way, then looked at me pointing to her. “She’s ok,” I told him. But, he continued pointing her way and started to go towards her beginning to cry as well. This time, though, he went up to her and patted the little girl’s back. My baby boy was trying to comfort her!

I realized the crying he was doing due to other babies crying wasn’t because the crying was contagious. He was crying out of sympathy! Another mom sitting nearby us with her 15-month-old boy said her little brother used to do the same when they were younger. He would cry whenever she cried.

I’ve noticed that the last few times my baby girl has been upset, her little brother looked at her and then started making up his face to cry as well. I just never put it all together until I saw him in action with another baby. My little baby boy is sympathetic! Sweet, isn’t it?!

Did your younger children do something similar with their older siblings?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Disney Baby. I’ll be joining the Disney Baby blogging team next month, and look forward to sharing these kinds of stories with you over there! Stay tuned for more details!

Photo: memekode/Flickr