Five-month-old Cordelia gurgles and coos, shakes her baby rattle, and fusses until she falls asleep - all while "The Passion of the Christ" bleeds quietly on the screen above.

Cordelia is one of many infants in today's Cry Baby Matinee - designed specifically for parents and children. While anyone is welcome, patrons without children are told the parameters before entering: The lights will be up, the sound down, and you may see a bit of breastfeeding in addition to the feature film.

The idea, started two years ago at the Angelika Film Center in downtown Houston, is to give parents a way to relax and enjoy a film without the anxiety of disturbing others.

But what appears to be a family-friendly move on its surface may also be a reaction to the growing voices of those who don't want squirming, screaming children interrupting their nights out.

Indeed, the childless demographic is growing. With baby boomers nearing retirement and fewer women having kids than ever before, the idea that parents should be allowed to take their children everywhere is being tested in subtle ways. For service-oriented businesses like movie theaters and restaurants, that means wrestling with an ever-broadening array of wishes.

"Back in the 1950s, television programs were geared toward one demographic. Advertising was geared toward one demographic. Now we've gotten to the point in this country where family forums and marriage arrangements are so diverse that businesses have to provide a range of choices," says Stephanie Coontz, a professor of family studies and cochair of the Council on Contemporary Families.

Mommy matinees and restaurant day care, which segregate children voluntarily, are two ideas. But for some, the notion of having places to go that ban kids entirely sounds like nirvana.

"It's not that we have anything against children; many of our members, including my husband and me, are aunts or uncles and happy to be such," says Sue Irvin, a member of the Houston chapter of No Kidding!, an international social organization for the childless. "There are times when we like having them around, but there are times when it would be nice go to restaurants and other public places and know there's not going to be a 3-year-old screaming in your ear."

Ms. Irvin is one of a growing number of women who choose to remain childless. In fact, in the past 20 years, the US has seen a 200 percent increase in childless women - the fastest-growing demographic to emerge in decades, according to "The Childless Revolution" by Madelyn Cain.

The reasons are varied, says Ms. Cain: Women are now solidly in the work force, they are less financially dependent on men, they are marrying later in life and out of love, and they are marrying men who are older who may already have children.

Today, 42 percent of US women between 15 and 44 are childless. "With a society that is becoming more child free, some adjustments need to be made," says Cain. "The childless have no voice.... They're worried that if they speak up, they'll be viewed as child hating and self-centered."

That's about to change. The older generation of childless women, raised to believe they should be housewives and mothers, still suffer from a sense of guilt and will remain quiet, says Cain. But the newer generation refuses to let society tell them who they should be and will be a strong voice in the coming years.

So expect a greater push toward child-free afternoons at museums or child-free nights at restaurants. Already, some restaurants are wrestling with the issue.

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