Can You Bring Children to a Funeral?

Children at funerals is a controversial subject. Some people believe that it’s appropriate for children of any age to attend the funeral regardless of their relationship to the deceased. As many people as possible are welcome to grieve.   

Others find the idea of children at funerals to be wildly inappropriate. Here are a couple of things you can think about if you need to make a decision.   

Who are the children? If they’re intimately related to the deceased, it’s customary in most belief systems to allow them to attend. For example, if the deceased was the parent or the sibling of the child, it would be unusual for the child not to attend to the service.   

The customs are a lot murkier if the child’s relationship is less immediate. Cousins, second-cousins, neighbors, etc. all may have an interest in attending the funeral service. But if the child is too young to behave themselves, you should ask yourself if you really want to take them. You don’t want your children to become a distraction.   

A 12-year-old child should be able to easily handle the service. A 3-year-old, however, is a different story. It’s a lot to ask of a toddler. The event is long, somber, and hard to pay attention to. More importantly, a toddler won’t remember what happened.   

If your children aren’t old enough to look after themselves, you’ll have to think about childcare during the funeral. You can’t just leave the kids on their own. Larger families will find this easier to deal with.   

Someone who has to manage all of the logistics of the funeral may not want to deal with childcare on top of everything else.   

It certainly doesn’t make sense to force an unwilling child to go to a funeral. A young person is far more likely to act up if they don’t want to be there in the first place. Your child throwing a temper tantrum during the memorial could distract people from their grief.  

The exception is when the child is old enough to behave. In that case, their grief may be telling them that it would be easier to skip the funeral than face their emotions. It’s actually better if they attend in the long run. Otherwise, they might feel guilty when they grow up.   

There are no hard and fast rules that you need to adhere to. But you should at least put special thought into the question of whether or not to bring kids to the funeral.   

When your loved one dies, you need the services of Hellertown, PA funeral homes. Falk Funeral Homes & Crematory, located at 1418 Main St, Hellertown, PA, 18055, can help you with your journey. Give us a call at (610) 838-9191. You can navigate this difficult journey with our team.