<P> Scholars disagree on the date when infant baptism was first practiced . Some believe that 1st - century Christians did not practice it, noting the lack of any explicit evidence of paedobaptism . Others, noting the lack of any explicit evidence of exclusion of paedobaptism, believe that they did, understanding biblical references to individuals "and (her) household" being baptised (Acts 16: 15, Acts 16: 31--33, 1 Corinthians 1: 16) as well as "the promise to you and your children" (Acts 2: 39) as including small children and infants . </P> <P> The earliest extra-biblical directions for baptism, which occur in the Didache (c. 100), are taken to be about baptism of adults, since they require fasting by the person to be baptised . However, inscriptions dating back to the 2nd century which refer to young children as "children of God" may indicate that Christians customarily baptised infants too . The earliest reference to infant baptism was by Irenaeus (c. 130--202) in his work Against Heresies . Due to its reference to Eleutherus as the current bishop of Rome, the work is usually dated c. 180 . Irenaeus speaks of children and infants being "born again to God ." This reference has been described as "obscure ." Three passages by Origen (185--c. 254) mention infant baptism as traditional and customary . While Tertullian writing c. 198--203 advises the postponement of baptism of little children and the unmarried, he mentions that it was customary to baptise infants, with sponsors speaking on their behalf . The Apostolic Tradition, sometimes attributed to Hippolytus of Rome (died 235), describes how to perform the ceremony of baptism; it states that children were baptised first, and if any of them could not answer for themselves, their parents or someone else from their family was to answer for them . </P> <P> From at least the 3rd century onward Christians baptised infants as standard practice, although some preferred to postpone baptism until late in life, so as to ensure forgiveness for all their preceding sins . </P> <P> Based on their understanding of New Testament passages such as Colossians 2: 11--12, paedobaptists believe that infant baptism is the New Testament counterpart to circumcision . In the Old Testament, all male converts to Judaism, male infants born to Jewish parents, and male servants were circumcised as ceremony of initiation into the Jewish community . Paedobaptists believe that baptism has replaced Old Testament circumcision and is the religious ceremony of initiation into the Christian community . </P>

When did the catholic church start baptizing babies