Baptisms are often a few weeks after the birth and yes with a sponsor. With RC births, especially if the child were born on a ship or were just a couple of months old coming to the U.S. or Canada and the parents were quarantined on arrival or died before arrival at port, the child would be baptised IMMEDIATELY, in case they had not be baptised on board. It was believed that should the child die from a virus or other illness soon after arrival, the child would not enter heaven if it were not baptised!
