Is it wrong to just Christen one of your children?

[tigwig]

My daughter was christened when she was a baby and my 2nd child is now 17mths old. We have never 'got round' to getting him done and to be honest it means nothing to us in the religious aspect as neither of us are in the slightly bit religious. We only had our first done as OH's mum pushed the matter and it was the 'done thing' to do lol. Part of me feels bad though for not doing it again but is there any point? OH's mum died 4yrs ago BTW so there is no one who is particularly bothered about it now in the family.

[woofgang]

I think you should do what feels right for you in the circumstances. When both children are older then they can decide what they want to do about religion. To be honest, my view is that if you and your partner are not religious, then its not really being respectful of other peoples' beliefs to have the child christened for no reason.

[Old_Geezer]

Hardly wrong, unless you are deeply into the religious belief that requires it But rather strange. I think I'd rather treat all my children (if I had any) the same and either christen none, or all.

17 months is hardly leaving it too late, and if it calms the in-laws I'd suggest you did so for the quiet life at least; unless you have major objections, and you don't seem to have those. Just a case of being bothered.

As for point, well IMO there is little, although you do get god parents for them, promising to look after your offspring if anything happens to you.

[Old_Geezer]

Ah scrub the in-law bit. I read, then forget while writing the post :-).
Just do what you feel then.

[bednobs]

your children are two different people so it's not wrong to treat them differently.

[MrIncredible]

I'm the youngest of four and was I was the only one who wasn't christened (I don't think my mum could have handled another family gathering!) and it has never really bothered me!
We have not had our two children christened because I am an athiest and also because my mil keeps on about it, I know this annoys her and this gives me some satisfaction ;0) (she also hates cats...we now have two cats :0) (she doesnt visit as much as she use to but that's another story)).
The only thing is that my children do not have any god parents (neither do I!)
but i dont think there particularly bothered about this!
imo I wouldn't bother getting your other child christened unless you want an excuse for a gathering/party.

[cecil39]

it all seems pointless to me, although i was christened i did not even know who my god parents were untill they died, and my mum did not really like them anyway so i don't think they would have done any looking after,, i think it was done just for show at the time, i never had my kids done so that they could choose their own beleifs when they were old enough, they have'nt bothered yet and they are in their forties .

[Catapa]

There are no Christian babies, there are only babies or children of Christian parents (Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, ...) . If it doesn't mean anything to you, you should NOT christen your child. It may well happen that when the child becomes a teenager it will get more interested in religion for that same reason and demand getting chistened. It is perfectly fine to baptise adolescents and adults, St. John the Baptist did that all the time....

[feona]

Nothing is wrong or right. Just follow your heart and do what you want but personally I feel that being raised in a christian family, a child should be baptized.

[RATTER15]

Absolutely no point in it surely, just skip the nonsense bit get the presents and go straight to the pub, that's usually what its all about.

[RATTER15]

Also rather hypocritical!

[Marijn]

If your first child got presents and a party for the christening and had loads of photographs taken, then it would be really nice to do the same for the second child so that they don't feel neglected. They won't be aware now, but later on they'll probably ask why they didn't have presents, a party and photos. It doesn't have to be a christening though, it can be a Naming Day of your own making. My parents made baby books for my two elder sisters which were full of baby photos and all their little milestones, but they didn't make a baby book for me and I felt upset about that.

[RATTER15]

http://user.itl.net/~.../christeningchild.htm

I think this link is more about baptising sheep to be honest.

[tigwig]

It just sounds like a load of tosh ratter! We had the service at church with close family only then just went for a meal, so no big party or presents. Obviously we took a photo (only 1 lol) but I cant see my son getting jealous about that!
We have got a baby book for both at least, hee hee.

[joko]

its a waste of time an money...if when shes older she would like it then she can...you can be christened at any age, so no rush...