# I don't get why people think babies and toddlers are funny. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115 "2013-03-05T20:50:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/61 "2013-03-06T21:03:12Z")
Oh, no! : hides under bed : ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/62 "2013-03-06T21:35:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Actually, I did know that. I was just amused that not only was there a Nazi comparison, but it was backed up too. > > I know a lot of people can get pretty virulent on the childfree message boards. It’s pretty depressing. Being childfree, I wanted to find some like-minded people to chat with, but instead, they ironically spend all their time talking about…children. Well, my post was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek in response to **kk fusion** ’s rediculous post. Clearly **suranyi** never called anyone a Nazi or made any comparison to Nazis (not every racist or anti-Semite is a Nazi, duh). **Suranyi** gave a specific example of message boards where people discuss how much they hate children. How is that not different from message boards where people post about how they hate other races, etc.? I agree with Suranyi there is something interesting/disturbing going on with anyone who is so passionate in their hate of something that they take the effort to join a group about it. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/63 "2013-03-06T21:44:14Z")
Ok, if there is one thing I like it’s reading asshole message boards. Will someone, _anyone_ PM me the best search terms to find these places (good), links to the boards (better), or links to specific, nutty threads (best!)? Please?! ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/64 "2013-03-06T22:06:34Z")
My husband posts the funny things my kids do or say on facebook. Has since they arrived. To me, it was just glurge but I enjoyed reading them and he is even going to put together a book for the kids when they move out. Well, there was a couple of crazy months where he didn’t get a chance to post anything. Then, the oddest thing happened. Our most child-hating friend complained that there were no updates. You never know who is going to want to hear your kid stories. If you don’t like kid stories, ignore them. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/65 "2013-03-06T23:04:18Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Ok, if there is one thing I like it’s reading asshole message boards. Will someone, _anyone_ PM me the best search terms to find these places (good), links to the boards (better), or links to specific, nutty threads (best!)? Please?! ask and ye shall recieve ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/66 "2013-03-07T00:10:38Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > ask and ye shall recieve I do appreciate it, and I clicked through, but the mods generally frown on posting links in the thread to other boards, lest it start a board war. Not that I would, because I just want to read and chuckle. But for future reference… 🙂 Also, those people are totally nuts. I love it! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/67 "2013-03-07T00:43:44Z")
Yeah, that’s crazy angry about children and parents, to the point where I suspect something else is going on. I know plenty of people who aren’t wild about caring for kids and have no intention of every having one, but they don’t _hate_ children or parents either. My personal nitpick/annoyance (as a parent) about most of the child haters I’ve known is that they gush on and on about their freakin’ pets as if they were anything other than a pet. To my untrained eye, there seems to be a lot of surrogate child treatment going on with these folks, and it’s supremely hypocritical to be so hateful and condescending about people and their children, when they’re doing something even more idiotic. At least having children is a natural, normal activity, but treating your pets like they’re you’re children is just weird. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/68 "2013-03-07T00:44:05Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I do appreciate it, and I clicked through, but the mods generally frown on posting links in the thread to other boards, lest it start a board war. Not that I would, because I just want to read and chuckle. But for future reference… 🙂 > > Also, those people are totally nuts. I love it! Thanks! oh crap…pretend that was an IM ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/69 "2013-03-07T01:00:46Z")
I totally totally understand not wanting to have kids, and I support that decision 100%. Kids are a pain in the butt even if you really really want them; if you don’t think it’s for you, it probably isn’t. And it’s not like there’s a shortage of humans in the world. People who don’t want kids are a-ok with me. I also understand not liking kids or babies much. They can be loud and weird, and they are often sticky and they are kinda boring. I get it. What I _don’t_ get, and never will, is **hating** kids/babies. It’s fucked up. It’s become fashionable to behave this way, but it’s sociopathic and incredibly immature. The great part of those boards, though, is the unbelievable amount of time and energy these people spend on hating kids. It really is all consuming for many of them. They discuss, at length, the pure agony of being near someone in a grocery checkout line who is talking to their child. They get angry, really extremely ANGRY, at kids who wave and say “hi” to them in public. It’s like they think everyone is having kids _at_ them. For people who accuse all parents of being narcissistic, they are astonishingly self-absorbed. I showed some of the threads to my SO and he said, “Don’t these people have anything better to do?” I said, “I guess not, they don’t have kids.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/70 "2013-03-07T01:03:45Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I totally totally understand not wanting to have kids, and I support that decision 100%. Kids are a pain in the butt even if you really really want them; if you don’t think it’s for you, it probably isn’t. And it’s not like there’s a shortage of humans in the world. People who don’t want kids are a-ok with me. I also understand not liking kids or babies much. They can be loud and weird, and they are often sticky and they are kinda boring. I get it. > > What I _don’t_ get, and never will, is **hating** kids/babies. It’s fucked up. It’s become fashionable to behave this way, but it’s sociopathic and incredibly immature. > > The great part of those boards, though, is the unbelievable amount of time and energy these people spend on hating kids. It really is all consuming for many of them. They discuss, at length, the pure agony of being near someone in a grocery checkout line who is talking to their child. They get angry, really extremely ANGRY, at kids who wave and say “hi” to them in public. It’s like they think everyone is having kids _at_ them. For people who accuse all parents of being narcissistic, they are astonishingly self-absorbed. > > I showed some of the threads to my SO and he said, “Don’t these people have anything better to do?” I said, “I guess not, they don’t have kids.” 😛 Could not agree more. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/71 "2013-03-07T01:25:17Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > … the mods generally frown on posting links in the thread to other boards, lest it start a board war… That is correct. Please don’t provide links to other message boards in order to mock or snark at the denizens of those boards. Thanks, **twickster** , for the SDMB ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/72 "2013-03-07T06:18:42Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I find [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjXi6X-moxE) clip to be amusing. > > Do you? > > (Just trying to get a fix on exactly what you’re saying you don’t find funny.) Well I don’t think it’s funny, but it certainly makes me laugh a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/73 "2013-03-07T06:34:01Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I did. 🙂 I don’t have any kids and have no intention to and as of last year, am no longer able to. > > Can I still criticize? Of course you can! And you stated you’re not a “carrier.” 😛 I hope you take that the way it’s meant, with laughter. I’ve been reading your posts for a while now and you seem to be a “solid” person; caring AND “nonrepentent” for your beliefs. You seem to feel comfortable in your own skin; I wish we all felt that way, all the time. The OP reminded me of a time when my first husband and I babysat for an aquaintance. Before the couple went out we were repeatedly instructed not to pick their baby up. (Old enough to sit up on the quilt but not old enough to crawl.) They felt that made children dependent on others. Really, they kind of acted like their son was a pet that needed to be trained. So whenever he looked at us we waggled a toy in front of him or made funny faces. What was scary was that the attempt at some kind of interaction seemed to barely register. They came back right after dinner. I can’t imagine what the baby’s life was like. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/74 "2013-03-07T06:49:29Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > The OP reminded me of a time when my first husband and I babysat for an aquaintance. Before the couple went out we were repeatedly instructed not to pick their baby up. (Old enough to sit up on the quilt but not old enough to crawl.) They felt that made children dependent on others. You should read [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Mommy-Knows-Worst-Highlights-Parenting/dp/1400082285/ref=cm_rdp_product) which is a compilation of parenting advice from decades ago, it has a lot of things cautioning parents not to hold their baby, etc. It’s horrifying! And yet funny. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/75 "2013-03-07T10:56:28Z")
> [@Jennyrosity](#): > > You know what I really don’t get? You may not have children. You may not want children. But what can be said with absolute certainty is that at some point, you WERE a child. So perhaps, out of respect for the child you once were, you might cut them some slack? It can be pretty much guaranteed that you weren’t constantly adorable and hilarious and well-behaved either. I won’t name names but there have been similar threads in the Pit. All the child haters seem to think they were spawned fully formed and were perfect mini-adults when they were born. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/76 "2013-03-07T12:49:44Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I won’t name names but there have been similar threads in the Pit. All the child haters seem to think they were spawned fully formed and were perfect mini-adults when they were born. Let me then…curly, and the handshaking-rapist chick. Yer’ welcome. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/77 "2013-03-07T15:03:37Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Of course you can! And you stated you’re not a “carrier.” 😛 > > I hope you take that the way it’s meant, with laughter. I’ve been reading your posts for a while now and you seem to be a “solid” person; caring AND “nonrepentent” for your beliefs. You seem to feel comfortable in your own skin; I wish we all felt that way, all the time. Awww, thanks! I am comfortable in my own skin, now, but let me tell you, it took a looooooong time! And yes, I took it in the way it was meant. How sad for the poor baby that can’t get picked up and hugged. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/78 "2013-03-08T22:51:01Z")
I have to say, I’ve always found baby laughter and smiling somewhat unsettling, and I think I finally figured out why: the uncanny valley effect. Hear me out; baby laughter is devoid of humor. It is a physical response, like being tickled. When infants laugh or smile, it’s like a robot approximating human emotion without understanding it. I find it (moderately) creepy. That being said, I do like babies, but I can easily understand people who find them repellant. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115/79 "2013-03-09T14:11:03Z")
People who’ve been blind from birth have the same issue: while laughter/smiling is instinctive, there’s a lot of subtlety to the two gestures which people learn as they see others do it. And the sounds of laughter? Apparently those are learned, too; I’ve seen deaf people laugh so hard one of them fell from the seat (thankfully Barcelona’s subway seats aren’t very high), tears streaming down the face of another one, several having serious problems breathing… and as silent as a Buster Keaton movie except for one of them, which I already knew could hear somewhat. I find the learning process of smiling and laughing fascinating, but then, I’ve been fascinated both by people’s faces and by how much of communication is gestures since my age was in single figures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-why-people-think-babies-and-toddlers-are-funny/652115.md?page=3)