“Taylor Swift Baby” goes viral at concert. Are children allowed – and should you bring them?

When is it allowed to bring a baby to a concert? not OK? Obviously, if the baby is on the floor.

At least that’s the general perception on social media after a photo went viral this weekend showing a baby lying flat on its back on the floor of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert Friday night at La Défense Arena in Paris.

The controversial picture, allegedly taken by another visitor to the show, @jacnights13and then shared by a number of Swiftie fan accounts – shows a baby wearing a glowing bracelet in the audience (no seats) while a person, presumably a parent, watches over the child. The account has since been made private.

Similar images have appeared onlineincluding an image posted by @irondaya on X that appears to show the baby on the floor, dozing while fans swarm around. “The lack of common sense amazes me,” the post read, in part.

While the baby appeared to be wearing noise-cancelling headphones, the image of an infant lying on the floor – with an adult’s feet stomping dangerously close around him – elicited mostly alarmed reactions, says fanfluencer Olivia Levin, who shared the image on her popular Instagram account Swifties for Eternity.

“After what I saw, most people were horrified,” said Levin, 24, of Nashville, Tennessee. She decided to delete her post because the baby’s face was not blurred.

“Sure, a few people have said to me in my comments and DMs, ‘You’re not a mom or a parent and you can’t understand what we do for our kids. This is my only opportunity to see a Taylor Swift concert.’ Others have said that they parent differently in Europe, which was interesting,” she says. “But most have completely disagreed. This brings up an important discussion about how young is too young to be at a show.”

At the countless Taylor Swift concerts she has attended, Levin says, she has seen young girls and even toddlers, but “never a baby.”

Typical of the horrified reaction was a comment on X by @whatamind13 next to a photo of a packed stadium: “To paint the full picture, this is general admission at the Paris show tonight… and the baby is somewhere on the floor AT THIS SHOW! … terrible upbringing.”

Rules for children at shows can vary from promoter to promoter, venue to venue and country to country. Generally speaking, the rules are really guidelines and the only restrictions may relate to the age at which a child must show up with a ticket rather than being admitted free.

The La Défense Arena website states that the venue “advises against bringing children under four years old, even accompanied, particularly due to the noise level.” It also notes that strollers are prohibited, which would explain why this Swiftie had no choice but to put his baby on the floor.

A spokesperson for the venue told the New York Post’s Page Six that the fan in question had been offered a seat: “An alternative seating arrangement was suggested for spectators with a small child on the floor, but was declined by the ticket holders.”

A quick Google search shows that many parents are looking for advice on how best to take their baby to a concert. Others are wondering if it’s even a good idea.

A blog post on e-commerce site Tushbaby asks, “Can you take babies to concerts?” and recommends wearing earplugs for toddlers and, if possible, taking them to concerts that are “appropriate for their age and temperament.” In addition to providing food and drinks, parents should be prepared to leave the concert if the experience proves overwhelming for their baby, the post says.

A few years ago, the website Scary Mommy, which connects mothers on a variety of parenting topics, featured a post by a San Antonio woman whose babysitter canceled at the last minute, prompting Katarina Garcia and her partner to buy headphones and take their five-month-old son to an all-day outdoor rock concert.

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Positive aspects of her experience include: Babies often get in free at shows, music “is great for a child’s development,” and your “baby will be more adaptable.”

“While taking a toddler to a loud concert can be anxiety-inducing, it can also be a lot of fun and a great way to create memories,” Garcia wrote. “I’m grateful I did it because who knows if my son will ever experience Fleetwood Mac as an adult.”

The American Academy of Audiology warns that children risk hearing loss if they are exposed to loud noises for long periods of time. Concerts are classified as a hearing killer right after gunshots and jackhammers. According to their guidelines, exposure for more than 30 minutes at a time is not recommended.

But is it enough to simply buy a pair of noise-canceling headphones to take the baby to the show? Not so fast, advises Linda Dahl, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“These earmuffs can reduce the noise by maybe 30 decibels, but at concerts the noise level can be over 100 decibels,” she says. “I’m not a fan” of earmuffs as a solution.

Dahl points out that babies have particularly sensitive and immature ears, and many of them often hear loud noises more loudly than adults. In addition, any tests that indicate hearing problems in babies are inconclusive because babies can’t tell you whether they’re hearing something or not, she says.

If babies must be exposed to loud noises, in addition to earmuffs, they should limit exposure to 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off, she advises.

Getting a Taylor Swift fan to leave the show every 20 minutes is probably a tall order, whether they’re loving parents or not.

Dahl says: “You might think: ‘Do I or my baby have to go to the concert?’”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Taylor Swift Baby’ at Paris concert sparks debate about children at shows