Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Camera 7 Cinemas in the Pruneyard Shopping Center is offering "Diaper Days," a morning of exclusive screenings, tailored to the needs of nursing mothers.

"The idea was to get new mothers out of the house and do something, while still feeling like they could bring their babies with them," said Nancy MacWilliamson, who pitched her idea to the movie house earlier this year.

Her inspiration came last September when a Willow Glen mother's group she belongs to, Las Madres, organized a movie outing for some of its members. Nearly 15 mothers and their babies arrived for a regular showtime and soon realized that baby talk, lullabies and random crying did not go over smoothly with the usual crowd of moviegoers.

"We got a lot of stares from people, and I just said, 'You know, this doesn't really feel comfortable,' " she said.

So she approached the Oaks Theater in Cupertino and talked the management into exclusive screenings for mothers and their babies. When the theater shut down in February, MacWilliamson brought the Diaper Days idea to Campbell, and the event has grown to accommodate more than 100 new parents.

"Nancy has just done a wonderful service to new mothers in our area by coordinating and setting this up," says Willow Glen mother Jennifer Packard, who has been bringing her two sons, 17 months and 6 weeks old, to Diaper Days since the beginning. "It's so nice to finally have somewhere to go and see a movie with my children."

Now that Packard and her husband are seeing movies on the big screen again, she says DVD rentals are a thing of the past.

"I never went to the movies after I had children--until Diaper Days," Packard said.

The same is true for Colleen Simpson and Lydia Douglass, who said they hardly even left the house for movies before they heard about Diaper Days through a mother's list.

"I haven't been to the movies in a year," said Simpson, rocking her 4-month-old baby in a stroller. "I've been to Blockbuster and that's about it."

Besides offering a comfortable forum for new parents, Camera 7 Cinemas changes the temperature, lighting and sound volume in each theater to create comfortable conditions for infants.

A lower volume is one of the features Caroline Alemany would have appreciated when her daughter was young. Her daughter was ultrasensitive to sound, she said, and she wasn't able to take her to the movies until she was 6 years old.

"She used to have to cover her ears because the volume in the theater was too loud for her," says Alemany, who lives in Willow Glen and belongs to Las Madres.

With Diaper Days, Alemany says she can now safely bring her newborn to the movies without worrying about sound and light adjustments.

Diaper Days regular Keith McCabe said the comfortable environment and accommodating conditions are what keep him coming back for more.

"So far they've been very effective," said McCabe, bouncing his 1-year-old son. "They keep the lights bright enough so you can see your kids, and they turn the music down on the movie."

But McCabe admitted that Diaper Days is not the best place to watch an action-packed thriller. Because of the lower sound level and the louder background noise, the event is more suitable for less intense films.

"I don't think I'd want to see The Matrix on Diaper Days," McCabe said. "I'd rather see something that's not too complex because you don't expect complete peace and quiet during the movie."

At each Diaper Days, the movie house shows two films, and Willow Glen resident Joanne Castanon says she trusts the theater's management to choose the appropriate films.

"They always select movies that aren't too violent and that are OK for little kids to watch if they happen to glance at the screen," she says.

Even with intense movies out of the question, San Jose resident Sharna Wilkerson said she prefers Diaper Days to regular theater showings.

"My husband and I once took our daughter to a regular showing, and it was really kind of nerve-wracking," Wilkerson said. "It's nice to know that if your baby is crying, someone else's is, too."

Wilkerson, who said similar events are held for new mothers in her hometown in Australia, added that she feels more comfortable breast-feeding among other mothers.

And parents may not be the only ones feeling more comfortable at Diaper Days. Agna Brayshaw, who just moved to the area from New York, said her baby used to tag along with her on errands all day. At least on Diaper Days, Brayshaw said, her 1-year-old son can enjoy a nice movie with his mother.

To accommodate the group, Diaper Day movies begin at 10 a.m. during the summer instead of the original 11 a.m. start time. And since Diaper Days are open to the general public--parents and nonparents alike--MacWilliamson said showings are held earlier so parents get a more exclusive feeling.

"Other people can come, but basically they're going to have a theater full of moms and babies," she said. "We kind of like being able to say, 'It's just moms and babies in here' so we're all in the same boat."

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer Some Show: Cathy Moore brings her 4-month-old baby, Sadie, to Camera 7 Cinemas Diaper Days. The theater opens its doors the first and the third Wednesday of the month to accommodate parents with young children. It's become a popular event with new parents and an opportunity for them to see a movie.

"Sometimes 10 is just too early," she said, "especially when you have an infant and you were just up at 4 in the morning for a feeding."

And because some restaurants at the Pruneyard Shopping Center don't serve lunch until 11 a.m., Packard says her trips to the movies would be more enjoyable if the restaurants served before the movies began.

"It would be nice if the restaurants were open when we got there, so we wouldn't have to leave the movies to get lunch," Packard says. "And you can't really leave your kids alone in the theater while you go get something to eat."

But the majority of Diaper Days patrons say the event has been truly beneficial and a low-cost treat. Tickets are comparable to matinee prices at $5.75 for adults and free for kids under three.

Though ticket prices were about a dollar less at the Oaks Theater, Packard says, "It's more convenient for me now that Diaper Days is at the Pruneyard, because it's a lot closer to Willow Glen." She adds that both facilities were extremely accommodating to mothers from the beginning.

MacWilliamson hopes to persuade nearby restaurants and shops to provide special discounts for Diaper Days customers in the future.

To learn more about Diaper Days, email DiaperDay@aol.com or contact Camera 7 Cinemas at 408.559.6900.