Reply To: bringing babies and small children to megillah reading

to popa, women have the same chiyuv as men and crying babies and talking children disturb women as much as men. I get upset when I see young children at women’s laining, the purpose of the second laining is that the children can stay at home presumably with the father and the women can hear the megillah. If fact it is easier if children go to the first laining because there they stop longer for haman and the children have an outlet, by the women’s laining they ususally go past haman with very little fanfare.