Abstract This contribution starts with a standardized poll among protestant parents of non-baptized children in the southern German city of Stuttgart. Its results convey the opinions of parents on the appropriate time and meaning of baptism. The deliberate decision of their child is a decisive factor for parents. Important obstacles are lacking opportunities, the feeling of alienation from the church, the difficulty to find godparents, as well as denominationally heterogeneous constellations within the family. Finally the essay makes suggestions for follow-up with these findings in a theoretical and practical-theological perspective.