To think children should be banned from long-haul flights in economy?

I've never had a flight ruined by a child. To be fair, I don't often fly long haul.

It's always adults that are the problem!

When we fly the four of us (2 adults and 2 DDs) my DDs are always impeccably behaved, although they're both teenagers now. DH likes to sit with both of them - DD1 has the window, DD2 in the middle and DH on the aisle, meaning he gets more leg room as DD2 is short. I'm always on the aisle seat across from them. Great, you might think. Hero DH has to deal with the kids but no! I always end up sitting next to an adult who is up and down like a bride's fucking nightie the whole flight, meaning I keep having to get up! They need something out of their bag, they need the toilet etc.

The last time I flew I ended up with the whole row of seats to myself! Yes, jackpot! No such bloody luck! There was a group of lads on a lads holiday who wanted to swap seats with a couple in front of me so the couple both came and sat next to me. 😡 I swear the lad had a drug problem, he was off to the loo every two minutes! Ffs.

I've been flying long haul for 40 years and have never come across any kids having tantrums or babies who scream and cry the whole way.
My own kids all behaved too, they slept of played/read books, and now with the introduction of TV's the youngest was very easily entertained had a happy flyer.

Don't talk nonsense op

Adults are just as bad, if not worse. There was recently a thread about seat reclining and some utter arsehole mumsnetters claimed that if the person in front of them reclined then they would repeatedly hit the chair.

Sorry yabu! People have to travel with kids. It's very stressful for parents. A plane isn't a hotel it's a form of transport. Your holiday at the end of it is for relaxing.

Yes, people should parent their kids. But I think most do. I very much doubt many let their kids 'kick the seat' for 6h.

I'm not opposed to people being able to pay to sit away from kids but not always possible.

Drunk adults on flights have ruined far more trips for me than babies.

I've never had anything too bad with children on long-haul flights, any issues tend to be from drunk/entitled/inconsiderate adults.

Yes babies and toddlers screaming, but I can zone it out as I know it's not really something that can be helped, I assume it's when their ears hurt.

You can't "behave well" at 6 months. If the baby is not hungry, uncomfortable, in pain or in need of a diaper change the baby will "behave well".

In my experience it is the parents at fault when kids go crazy on flights, and I have seen plenty of examples of that where the parents put on headphones and allow them to do as they please. But this is outweighed by all the times the kids have been good as gold and their parents have kept them occupied and looked after them
properly during the flight - no problem at all. I’d pay more for a child free area to avoid the first type, but I don’t think the majority of families should have to be corralled into a family area due to the behaviour of the few.

One problem I thought of straightaway with that. If you have parents of quiet children or those easily overwhelmed stuck in a family zone full of shouting loud kids or crying babies...it's not just adults who like quiet! Mu autistic 10 year old wouldn't cope with that at all.

DT’s have flown in business class from a few months old - never caused any problems whereas those who start drinking in the airport and continue with more drinks in the flight, should be banned!

I’m not sure what flights you’re getting on but in the countless flights I’ve taken, long and short haul, I have never experienced any of these things. People watching porn without headphones actually had me laughing

I wonder what would be next..anyone with tics, tourettes, stims...what about old people who snore when they fall asleep? Teenagers...they can be noisy. It's a public place. Babies and children are people in a public place. Child free flights could be a thing for people willing to pay extra but why should parents pay extra for long haul flights? That's totally unfair.

i think it s very intolerant. My kids are big now, but they were always well behaved.
baby crying at take off and landing is because of the pressure in their ears so they need to suck something, bottles, breastfeeding or similar.

what about drunk adults? Do you think they should be enclosed in a separate area too?

as the reclining is concerned yes it is a right especially on a long haul flight, not during meal time though, and if everyone was reclining it wouldnt be an issue

If you travel on public transport then you run the risk of having people travelling with you, not behaving as you want them.

I can't ban people from the bus, annoying as it may be or travelling by train on a 3 or 4 hour journey - people are allowed to buy tickets and travel, whatever their age. Thats the public part, its available to public.

Get a private jet, if you have the funds - it's popular in some circles rather than flying first class.

Alternatively get ear plugs

Surely if children were going to be banned from anywhere, especially on the basis that people had paid a lot for their tickets, they would be banned from first and business class so forced to fly economy! They can’t kick other seats there but the noise would be just as excruciating.

Flew long haul business class last weekend.
A baby cried all through the night.
If you want to travel, these things happen. The poor child couldn’t help it and their parents did their best. They were knackered too!

I've had business class flights ruined by screaming babies too so that's not always the answer. Family zones are a great idea. I assume a lot of people flying long haul with babies or children don't have a lot of choice. Short haul was hard enough, in my experience!

I have a problem with the parents not doing anything and thinking it's cute and their children are the centre of the universe, not the children themselves

It’s public transport - that should not exclude babies or toddlers - they have just as right to be there as adults. Quiet zones would be reasonable however.

I’ve flown hundreds of times, many long haul flights, and have never had a flight badly affected by a child. Adults, yes but never a child.
I choose our seats carefully away from the bassinet area but have never had any issues.
My now adult DCs have also flown a lot from birth, often alone with just me, and they were actually very easy to manage on a long haul flight as they eat, sleep, watch TV, repeat….get noise cancelling headphones and take some Nytol if you want to block it out.

Oh yes have also had flights (usually short haul) ruined by drunken awful people, even at 7am! Surely though, if “quiet zones” were available these people wouldn’t book them?

I don’t think any airlines bar kids from business do they?

A child-free area would be great for anything over a 4 hour flight, but probably unworkable for the airlines.

AIBU to say it’s inconsiderate to bring babies or toddlers on 10+ hour flights?

If my family lived a 10+ hour flight away and I wanted to take my kids to visit them, I'm hardly not going to do it because it's 'inconsiderate'.