To wish that child free flights existed

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

I'm just sick of people complaining about children making noise on flights so I'd love it if those people could have a flight of their very own and leave us to it! I'm not talking about allowing kids to run amok but so fed up with people tutting and sighing when a baby starts crying, this always seems to result in the mother getting more stressed and more tears all round

[GrendelsMum]

I positively like crying babies on flights - it reminds me that there's someone who dislikes it as much as I do. I think 'go on, kid, let them know how it feels'.

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

18 hours of screaming, Jesus I didn't realise that was possible. Of course people have got the right to block out noise in anyway they can, I don't blame them but in my sisters case the man who put his fingers in his ears preceded this by looking over and tutting and it was a flight to Glasgow so hardly longhaul

[ladythatlunches]

We went abroad last year as my sister was getting married abroad.

I have 5 children and was dreading it.

The two older children I wasn't worried about at all and they were fine.

But the youngest 3 at the times were 20 months 10 month old twins.

I hought magazine's, stickers, toys, drawings, ,crayons and downloaded peppa pig on my phone also made sure they all had a nap before we got on plane.

The twins were excellent not a peep just sat happily playing.

But my 20 month old didn't want to sit still but other than that on the way out was fine.

Coming back was a nightmare. Flight delayed the airport was tiny and hot and no air conditioning so before we even got on the plane we had all had enough.

Babies again perfect fell asleep. My 20 month old abouta hour into fluflight started to cry when I cuddled her she felt warn and looked flush, she had a bit of a tempature. I cuddled her up and she was fine.. about a hour before landing she started whimpering and a man stood up and said "will you shut you f*ing kid up" I didn't want ro upset my dd by arguing so I gave him the most evil look but husband wasn't impressed and told him to she was a littlr girl who wasn't feeling very well. He then replied with. . You people with kids shouldn't be alousd on planes .. your the reason I hate this country. My dh told him to f off for which he was given a warning by the cabin crew and the man got moved so not to be near us.

Was awful

[SummersHere]

I feel sorry for whoever ends up next to ds and me next week. He's a good traveler, no worries there but he talks/asks questions non-stop and it's painful.
I'd rather deal with crying babies than loud drunk adults any day of the week though.

[amothersplaceisinthewrong]

I spent the whole of a return flight from Orland once being kicked from behind by some kid. I could cheerfully have thrown him into outer space. Not once did is parents do anything about him. Yet the mother complained when my DH reclined his seat (because she was too fat for an economy seat basically)

[RazzleDazzleEm]

quesadilla


There is a massive attitude problem towards children in this country.

You go to Spain, Italy etc, Morocco and the attitude is totally different. If a child cries there they all look sorry for the child, genuinely concerned that the baby isnt happy.

[RazzleDazzleEm]

I have been far more disturbed by horrid adults than DC anywhere, not just on flights.

[missgrainger]

My children are older now but I remember flying long haul with a baby on my lap - in economy - and the couple in front of us asked to be moved when they saw DS (sleeping), then (peevishly IMO) put their seats back the whole way (an 8 hour daytime flight) and didn't even put seats back up for meals. They even had to be told to put seats back up for landing. I make a point to never tut or throw exasperated looks at stressed-out parents of babies or children on flights, I've been there with little ones and a bit of understanding goes a long way; if you want a more comfortable time JUST UPGRADE !! I've encountered worse things on flights than crying kids (B.O., bad breath, sweaty armpits, overly-friendly drunken men, etc)

[Wheresthepopcornagain]

have done a lot of distance flights with my DD. she once howled as the plane was delayed for an hour on the ground and the airline staff would not let us unbuckle so I could walk around and settle her. i was completely stressed and I have had a moment when I took her into the toilet just to not face anyone when she cries. I have never had anyone make comments to me or given me bad looks. She has moments when she cries but so does every baby because of their ears and the stale environment. the majority of the time she is sleeping/well behaved. I have even had people saying she was good even when she wasn't. I was grateful for their kindness.

[Wheresthepopcornagain]

it's worth bearing in mind that some people are on edge when they fly or have taken sleeping pills. they may not be on their best behaviour.

[beginnings]

DXBMermaid the sucking thing doesn't actually help until they're about 12 months as they don't develop the little bits of their ears that really affect pressure until about then. That said, feeding them is a great way to distract them. DD and I did our first flight when she was 9 weeks, without DH, and it certainly helped! That and the plane noise sent my non napping baby straight to sleep.

At 8 months she got a bit whingey on a flight back from Dublin and the guy in front of us was just obnoxious. No need for it.

A pharmacist has suggested the small dose of Piriton trick....think I might use that in future!

[Fillyjonk75]

Flown once a year since DD1 was a baby, she is now 7. Worst time was with DD2 when she was 18 months old. She was actually pretty quiet the whole 4 hours flight, we kept her pretty occupied and she fell asleep ten minutes before landing . The worst thing was take off and landing when she had to beat seated and belted on one of our knees - you know how 18 month olds so love to be restrained in one place...

Also she was (and is) very very tall for her age so incredibly leggy when sitting on my knee. So it was like wrestling an escapologist chimp. The woman in front turned round and said "Can you stop your child kicking my seat?" Though she visibly reigned herself in when she saw how young DD2 was. "I said "I'm so sorry, I'm really trying my best not to let her kick your seat and when the seatbelt light goes off we will move her around but until then we are not allowed to."

But she still asked to be moved, and was - fair enough. But that's the only time we've had an adverse comment - pretty much ever, not just on flights!

Did a four hour flight with DD1 and DD2 recently, now 7 and 4 and it was a breeze!

[Rosa]

Last summer flying with ba couple in front asked me to stop dd from kicking ..Basically her legs were sticking out in front As she was 3 and I admit she did it once when getting into her seat and turning round...I had asked her to try not to so I swapped seats with her and he turned round every time I out something in the seat pocket or put the table down. At the end of the flight he turned round Nastily and loudly and said thanks to me it was the worst flight ever. ...the lady behind me said he should thank me instead of complaining as my children were some of the best behaved she had ever seen...they had actually been very good...then as dd2 had fallen asleep the hostess disembarked me before mr grumpy as I was carrying her. mrs lovely offered to help me as well and held dd1 s hand . He scowled at me until we went separate ways after customs....

[bigbluebus]

Reading this thread has prompted me to make a mental note to have a word with my DS before we fly next week. He is 16 and has HF ASD so can be very 'undiplomatic' and is not very tolerant of people in general let alone noisy/fidgety children nor fat or smelly people who may be sitting next to him .

I had already discussed with him today the possibility that we may not be sitting together which is fine apart from me not being able to stop him from opening his mouth in situations you have all been describing

[gordyslovesheep]

babies deal with changes in cabin pressure by crying - like we yawn or blow our ears

so i can live with a bit of crying but the seat kicking thing ohhhh that gets on my tits and I am a lone parents who travels with my 3 and has done since the youngest was 18mths old - I would NEVER allow my children to do that and I expect other parents to prevent it

[CloudsAndTrees]

Crying babies I don't mind. There's only a limited amount a parent can do about that.

Toddlers and older children that are allowed to kick seats drive me crazy though. Parents should pay for an extra seat if their small child will kick the seat in from while on their knee. It's so incredibly selfish when parents allow their children to do it. I know there are times when it's unavoidable, but I have known parents to let it go on for far too long.

On one flight I told a child off myself for seat kicking as her parents clearly couldn't care less. She was about four or five, and it worked. Proving that the parents could have done something in the first place. No doubt they called me a few choice names though!

I also can't stand other people's children wanting to chat to me on flights and show me their books and toys and tell me where they are going etc. I love children and work with them, but when I'm going on a flight, I'm not there to entertain someone else's children.

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

A polite 'Could you stop them from kicking my seat' should suffice and if a parent kicks off at that then they are in the wrong but swearing and shouting etc is just unnecessary. No one on either side of the coin should get a barrage of abuse, that said seat kicking is teeth grindly annoying

[landofsoapandglory]

bigbluebus if you tell the check in staff your DS has SN I am sure they will let you sit together. I am disabled and am always allowed to sit with one member of my family, usually DS2(16) as he is a severe asthmatic.

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

Clouds and Trees that made me roar, it's so true!

[campion]

I was alongside ( across the aisle) a 12 month old Italian baby, Paris to New York, who cried/grizzled/ fidgeted most of the way. It was a welcome distraction for me - prob not the rest of the other 250 people - as I hate flying think it's about to crash so I had a nice time playing peek-a-boo etc.

Very happy to entertain someone else's children. Also, I loved it when a serious little boy asked 'are we out of the world now, Grandma?'

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

Can you get any time off and come away with me in August Campion!

[MrsFruitcake]

I think those travelling child-free should think themselves lucky to be getting away without their DCs. And if they don't have DCs yet, then there turn will come. I did actually say that to a young lady with her boyfriend who saw my then 18 month old DS strapped into his car seat on the plane and walked as far away as she could looking for another seat, all the while making it clear she didn't want to be lumbered sitting behind a screaming child for a few hours. She wasn't amused. I had the last laugh though as he was a complete angel from start to finish.

I have had some horrendous flights with my own DCs though and they are one of the most stressful things i have ever had to do, what with constantly trying to keep a lid on my childs anxious behaviour and crying.

As an aside, I recently had the misfortune to share a flight to Barcelona with a team of about 45 junior hockey players (between the ages of 12 and 16) on the way to a tournament - now that was an eye opener and very noisy! Far worse than any child/baby kicking off let me assure you!

[Bunbaker]

"A polite 'Could you stop them from kicking my seat' should suffice"

I had to do that a few weeks ago on a flight. I just asked the parent politely and explained that we were feeling particularly grumpy as we had got up at 3 am to catch that flight. I also said that I understood that small children don't realise they are kicking the seat. The parent wasn't rude at all and simply asked his little boy to stop kicking.

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

Bet that was deafening. I think drunks are the worst because the are unpredictable and the mood between the can sour so quickly

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

That's good Bunbaker, it is sad that people have to worry about making a reasonable request like that but some people fly off the handle