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We are adopting internationally and expect our child to be between 2-5 yo at homecoming. Has anyone baptised a child at this age? Is the process/ceremony any different? Are there things that can be incorporated into an older child's baptism that wouldn't work well for an infant baptism?
There is a family heirloom baptism pillow that I had wanted to use for our child, but now that we're adopting an older child, I'm trying to rethink the whole thing. We'll still dress the child in all white, but especially for a preschooler, I wonder if there's something we can do to explain to him/her what's going on, or to somehow make the occasion more meaningful for them (if that's possible at that age! Well, at least as far as noting things in their life book and commemorating with photos).
Any fun ideas?
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We are just getting started having our 3.5 year old baptized. The process seems to be essentially the same as for an infant. We had to have an interview at the church and take 3 2 hour classes (starting those next week). You could probably ask for info from your church now just so you know what to expect. There is a different process for children that are older than 1st grade.
Obviously, she will have much more knowledge than an infant and we plan to ask in our classes how to educate her/explain it to her. Our church actually has a pool they can walk into. You can choose to be totally immersed or have the water poured over her forehead. We plan to go watch the baptisms one Sunday before so that she is familiar with the process.
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We brought home a 3 year old and 5 month old from Russia and had them baptized together in a private service. We came home November 21st and had them baptized on May 21st so 6 months later. I attended the baptism prep classes before we brought our children home. I figured it would be easier that way and it was fun since we were in that anticipation stage. We attachment parented and wanted to give our 3 year old a little time to get adjusted and settled in before the big event, so waiting a short while worked well for us. He got overstimulated very quickly.
Our 3 year old wore a little suit and vest and did not do the big water dunk, just a pour over the head. Our baby wore a white flower girl style dress, and was almost a year by then so we decided to do the same with her and did not do the whole body dunk. They do this with infants at our parish.
I would talk to your pastor about doing a private service to keep it smaller and have it move a little more quickly than a crowded Sunday mass.
Its wonderful that our kids go to school at that same parish and our son made his first communion there last year with the same priest who baptized him.
I did scrapbooks for the kids with a big section on their baptism and kept both their outfits. I dont see why you couldnt work in whatever heirlooms or customs you would have with an infant.