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

It does surprise me when people expect for the plane to be quiet enough to sleep in during the day without headphones, it is as another poster pointed out public transport after all.

sunflowred I would still be angry with that man too.

Usually it doesn't bother me much as small DCs and babies don't normally make a noise the whole time and I'd rather hear children than some idiot playing a game on their phone with the sound on for hours and hours...

We had a hideous flight from Sydney to Singapore a few years ago where we were in premium economy (so a small area) and a little girl of about 2 was screaming and crying that she wanted her daddy for almost the whole flight. She then threw up lavishly all over herself and her mum on the descent. I really, really could have done without it especially as it was a night flight but my God, I felt so sorry for the mum. She looked grey by the time we landed and more than one of us gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as we exited. The flight attendant told us Daddy was up in first class

minesaBottle
Oh. My. God.

That poor woman should have left the bastard!

I'm normally asleep before take off regardless of the amount of noise/babies crying. I am taking DS 3 on a plane to Germany in 2 weeks so if anyone has any really handy hints to make it easier for me and him I would be really grateful. It's just me and him going so will be dealing with him, child seat, 2 small suitcases........I'm already dreading it!

I had a child repeatedly kick my seat on a flight and when I asked her father to do something about it he said that she couldn't help it due to the length of her legs. My legs were that length once but I was not allowed to kick seats.

I don't think anyone should have to put up with having their seat kicked (especially with lower back pain right where she was kicking and sensory issues associated with my Aspergers) and that if her father condoned it he should have had her behind him. My DH who is less sensitive kindly offered to swap seats.

Oh and don't forget those passengers who are hyper sensitive to noise or suffer from anxiety (bad enough on an aircraft without a screaming child).

I'm a nervous flyer but I find the sound of children distracts me as I can't hear the aircraft noises

Um, I´m one of those child liking people!

I have actually moved to sit with a young mum and baby of about 12months on a very very very long flight. A women was having a right go at the mum who was clearly at the total end of her teather. So I asked the chief steward if it would help if I sat with mum and baby and the women could have my seat? They we ever so grateful (women was complaining like mad).

I switched over and said hi do you want some help? Poor Mum nearly collapsed in tears. I spent the next 8 hours with baby on of off of my lap, playing with anything I could find that was suitable in my handbag including my laptop. Let mum eat and drink and go to the loo in peace, Mum even managed to get some sleep and baby and I were most happy.

So the plane is comming into heathrow and The stewards announce that everyone has to remain seated as there was a passenger that needs to be an urgent medical transfer.

Mum is packing her bag up and baby is on my lap, I turn to mum and say sorry but I think you might be stuck for a little while longer. Grumpy women was complaining like mad that she was being delayed and was then even more grumpy when the man in the seat next to her gets up and walks down the cabin to me (as he has been doing every 30mins through the flight), She starts loudly shouting that its not fair , he´s moving about she keeps on shouting right up to and through the point of my wheel chair being bought down the aisle and my male NURSE hooking up various bits of equipment. The stewards took great pleasure in annoucing that Mum and Baby would be getting off with me! Plane errupts into clapping when the grumpy women is jerred into silence by the lovely big bloke behind her

Mum, baby (now 14) and I remain great friends and they are flying to OZ next week to visit family.

It doesn´t take much to be nice to people! I personally think we should have arsehole free flights

This reminds me of a flight back from Cyprus that we took with DD when she was 15 months. She just could not stand sitting still and was a bit little to be distracted with books etc.

We were sitting in the window and middle seat with a lady travelling alone in the aisle seat. We offered to swap with her as we knew we would be up with DD a couple of times and she said no she preferred the aisle seat. Fair enough. About an hour into the flight the distractions stopped working, DD kicked off and DH asked her politely to let us out so he could walk up and down with DD for a bit.

She refused saying "no, I am not moving, there is no need for anyone to leave their seat on a 3.5 hour flight" and wouldn't move. She also told DD to "shut the fuck up you revolting brat". We tried to reason with her to let us out, DH said he would take DD away for a it, but she wouldn't move. She called the attendant and told her to drug DD (who was really going for it now as I was crying and DH was close to losing his temper) and claimed that DH had slapped her. Luckily the attendant was on our side, made her move and told her if she refused to move again, she would be arrested when we landed. She spent the rest of the flight swearing about DD under her breath and calling me a bad mother while DH walked up and down the aisle. Horrible, horrible flight.

We are flying on Sunday and DD is easy now at 3 as she is happy with a book or film, but am dreading it with DS who is just seven months and crawling and won't sit on anyone's lap for 10 seconds straight.

I am an intolerant flier and unless people are loud parenting and showing off which, in my experience, is more likely than screaming, I appreciate that I am a plane snob. I simply fly less frequently and never, ever into the Uk but only go first or business. My problem, my choice not because I think that frazzled parents should be tutted at but because in all honestly, other people's kids are not people i want to sit next to/be asked to help with poos/wees/hear them counting etc on a plane. I like to lie back and blot everyone out with a glass of something

I was talking to some friends the other day and they were saying it really winds them up when the cabin crew put their 2 and 4 year olds tv screens on because they don't want their children to think that a 23 hour flight means television. ditto the kids meals, they take lentils (exaggeration) in a tub. Whether their children are well behaved or monstrous on a plane, I still pity them.

I travel with my teen DD's, i would rather have crying children around me than young males discussing their sex lives and putting down women whenever they can, which seems to becoming the norm on every type of public transport.

Dd was someone who when she learned to talk didnt then stop. When she was two we had a long transatlantic flight. She did not stop talking once. I was going grey. Lady behind us tapped me on te shoulder at the end and complimented me on her behaviour. I looked at her and gibbered, but she didn't stop talking .
She did the same on the return night flight.

Then we had the delayed flight from hell. Dd was soo tired as it was so late when we got on board. Lovely stewardess tried to move the lady next to me so dd could stretch out instead of having to lie across me. Lady refused :( stewardess plied me unbidden with wine through the night.

Its the adults that behave badly. I have had a man push me back from my buggy and step over it bashing Ds over the head with his bag to get to the front of the shuttle bus.
On another night flight the couple in front pissed out of their heads singing, swearing being obnoxiuos to all the attendents.

We regularly do longhaul flights with our 2 kids, and have done since they were both tiny babies. It was a nightmare when they used to cry but me feeding them usually quietened them down. I find on the big planes you can hardly hear the babies crying anyway as the engines are so loud!

I actually find the other adults more annoying, getting drunk, snoring, talking loudly the whole time (for 13 hours!!), turning their lights on and off, pushing the back of the seat etc etc

Maybe it is becasue I choose destinations that aren't that small child friendly or destinations that don't appeal to stag parties/hen dos/groups of twenty somethings, but I have never encountered drunk and loutish behaviour on a flight and only once had a screaming toddler near me, and that was something that couldn't be avoided.

Mines a bottle, what a bastard! Im an anxious flier too so any distraction is welcome. I have found that the kids that latch on to stranger on a plane are the same poor buggers that do it round the pool at the resort too whilst mum and dad studiously ignore them. Helping out with a baby is a lovely thing to do though ineedofrain, I hope that woman was suitably ashamed. Lambzig I think your experience wins the prize for most horrendous, how did you keep your temper??

We hadn't had a good trip and I am afraid I just cried rather than shouting. Probably for the best.

DD is 23 months, flown with her 3x. First flight she was 4 months (slept all way through), 2nd she was 10 months (big family hol. MIL & BIL on hand!!) and 3rd flight she was 14 months (only to Ireland, not really long enough to cause trouble).

Going to Spain in August & she'll be 2 years + 2 month. Eek!! Just hoping she doesn't have one of her (many) tantrums.

Know hijacking the thread but any advice to keep a 2 year old entertained for 2 1/2 hours whose favourite activity is running, jumping & dancing around like a maniac? (Contemplating the Peppa Pig on loop like what wash ruined unthread but I think I may kill myself).

Lambzig my horrible passenger pales into insignificance compared to yours, thank goodness the crew were on your side! x

lambzig! How horrible!

inneedof that's a wonderful story - you sound lovely :)

lambzig

What an outrageously unpleasant woman she was!

I do worry about some people,that is clearly not normal behaviour.

I always really feel for parents whose babies/toddlers cry on flights, they're always so apologetic and embarrassed about it. It isn't ideal for anybody but realistically speaking,nothing can be done about it,so there is absolutely not point getting your arse in your hands about a crying child.

Unlike people who kick the backs of seats. I hate those people.