I have always wondered this but never wanted to directly ask a parent as it could come off rude.
It makes sense to me though, like when people cover each other’s mouth’s in movies to muffle whatever sound they’re making.
Edit: I would just like to say that I would never try this, I was just curious!
In: Biology
It doesn’t work. Or, at least, not as much as you might think. It doesn’t stop them from *trying* to make noise. As others have said, whatever is causing them to cry doesn’t go away just because you covered their mouth. So they keep making noise. And your hand isn’t particularly good at muffling sound if the person you’re covering is *trying* to make noise.
And you piss them off…so they cry more, louder, and longer.
And, usually, they don’t have enough control to regulate between nose-breathing and mouth-breathing and they’re snotty (because they’re crying) so if you actually seal over their mouth you’ll suffocate them.
And even if you can sort of muffle it with your hand without suffocating them, they will try to squirm away (because you’re blocking their mouth)…so the only way to keep your hand in position is hold them really tight. Which makes them more mad, louder, and makes them fight back harder, so you have to hold them tighter, so they get madder, so…you get the idea.
Source: have four kids. Have tried this on airplanes. Zero stars, do not recommend.
By *far* the fastest way to resolve the problem is remove them from the situation (movie theater) or figure out why they’re crying and fix that (airplanes, movie theaters after you’re out in the hall).
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