Page 5 | Toddlers on a plane

gingertigercat · 2017-03-29T14:50:10+00:00

I want to see how others would react in my situation or if my lack of sleep led to me being unreasonable. On a rather long and early flight, hence the lack of sleep, I had a toddler behind me. The father was asleep in a separate row. The mother was asleep sprawled over 2 seats and the grandmother was looking after the toddler who was mainly on her lap. The whole flight he kicked our chairs, smacked the seats, grabbed at us, stuck his head through the gaps, and clambered between his grans lap and over his mum. He was loud throughout the flight. The gran did tell him a few times to stop smacking the seats but it did nothing. I think had the mum just been asleep in her own seat there would have been much less disruption. I would have said something but I felt bad seeing as the gran wasn't the parent and I'm not very confrontational. I understand toddlers can be hard work and the parents were probably exhausted but surely it shouldn't have been at other passengers expense? What would other people do in this situation?

Salmotrutta · 29/03/2017 20:51

I'm not particularly fond of toddlers either I must say.

And I had two of my own back in the day

Can't abide seatkickers - but I like amorous snogging couples sucking each other's faces right in my eyeline even less

That's what I kept seeing every time I looked forward on our last flight.

nettyhetty · 29/03/2017 21:13

I once had a nine month old on a short haul. Before we took off she lost it when the tannoy came on. I think there must have been a high pitched noise that we couldn't hear but she could. And I mean lost it. Cabin crew stopped the safety announcement a couple of times and I was thinking dear God just get on and turn the tannoy off.

Anyway then we had to strap her in for takeoff... You can imagine how that went. Just insane screaming. I was beside myself and just mortified expecting all behind me to be furious. It was a long long 25 mins til seat belt sign went off and I instantly stood up to jig her about and calm her.

As I turned, expecting to see a plane full of judgement, all that met me was sympathy. Including several mothers offering milk, snacks, toys, older men and women playing peekaboo and offering to hold her and then a member of cabin crew who swept her from me and told me to sit down and get my breath back and all would be fine. I cried. She thankfully settled almost immediately and the rest of the flight was fine.

People aren't judgmental if the parents are clearly trying!! Since then I've offered one poor mother some milk when our flight was delayed and I've never seen anyone more grateful. I've also doled out snacks etc to others. People are kind to parents and only judge when they're not stepping up with their children!

nettyhetty · 29/03/2017 21:13

I once had a nine month old on a short haul. Before we took off she lost it when the tannoy came on. I think there must have been a high pitched noise that we couldn't hear but she could. And I mean lost it. Cabin crew stopped the safety announcement a couple of times and I was thinking dear God just get on and turn the tannoy off.

Anyway then we had to strap her in for takeoff... You can imagine how that went. Just insane screaming. I was beside myself and just mortified expecting all behind me to be furious. It was a long long 25 mins til seat belt sign went off and I instantly stood up to jig her about and calm her.

As I turned, expecting to see a plane full of judgement, all that met me was sympathy. Including several mothers offering milk, snacks, toys, older men and women playing peekaboo and offering to hold her and then a member of cabin crew who swept her from me and told me to sit down and get my breath back and all would be fine. I cried. She thankfully settled almost immediately and the rest of the flight was fine.

People aren't judgmental if the parents are clearly trying!! Since then I've offered one poor mother some milk when our flight was delayed and I've never seen anyone more grateful. I've also doled out snacks etc to others. People are kind to parents and only judge when they're not stepping up with their children!

jodie315 · 30/03/2017 13:26

I would of asked grandparent to see if they could stop the child then if not woke parents a few times then if nothing changed then spoke to cabin crew to either move them or myself x

Tessabelle74 · 30/03/2017 13:44

If the parents were trying their best to occupy the child I wouldn't mind, we've all been there but for BOTH of them to be asleep leaving poor Granny to take the grief I'd have woken one of them up!

Mummyoflittledragon · 30/03/2017 13:56

Dd was 5 when she first flew. That was tough enough. She would have fallen into the active, run around, scream if I tried to stop her category before that. She's a very active child. I would never have coped taking her beforehand (I have chronic fatigue). I was too ill to go on holiday before that at any rate. The parents, who keep their young children occupied and do their best are admirable.

Kiroro · 30/03/2017 13:59

I took a flight last week and the god dam useless mother sitting next to me let her child:

GRAB at things on my tray table whenever I had a drink or a meal
let the child constantly KICK me when it was on her lap
tried to put the child's head on my arm
let the child PULL my ear phones and my hair

The mother refused to do anything, wouldn't say no, wouldn't distract the child, nothing

Asking nicely didn't help. Getting shirty with the stupid cow mother didn't help. Telling cabin crew didn't help because the flight was full.

In the end telling the child repeatedly "no, NO, don't touch that" helped more than anything else.

Second worst flight ever.

Kiroro · 30/03/2017 14:02

Oh, if you are too cheap to pay for a seat for your

HotNatured · 30/03/2017 14:03

Toddlers + ignorant lazy parents + planes = nightmare

ArriettyClock1 · 30/03/2017 14:04

I have told children off before on planes for kicking the back of my seat..

Me too! Works like a charm.

And I have a very effective death stare for feckless parents who are ignoring their little horrors treasures.

cdtaylornats · 30/03/2017 14:04

I would rather put up with the snakes.

grannytomine · 30/03/2017 14:05

I remember going on a long journey with an almost 2 year old. Lots of grumpy faces at the start of the journey. At the end of the journey I had a stream of people coming up saying they had dreaded the journey with a young child but he had been wonderful and congratulating me. I think part of it was that I was 19 and they thought I would let him run riot.

BadTasteFlump · 30/03/2017 14:06

I always (quite smugly) believed that I controlled my DC really well on flights - until one of them (four at the time) suddenly became travel sick just after take off on a long flight and managed to do a jet force puke all over a woman next to us

To make it worse, the woman was really nice and gracious about it. I think I would have felt better if she'd been angry.

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter · 30/03/2017 14:07

Toddlers + ignorant lazy parents + planes = nightmare

You see right there ^^ is a plot for a scary movie - no need for snakes.

SoEverybodyDance · 30/03/2017 14:10

It's bloody hard to fly long haul with toddlers. I did with my little one a few days after he started walking and he spent much of the flight wandering around the airplane. The cabin crew were amazing and gave us lots of support, allowing him to climb the stairs to first, wander up and down etc. We were introducing him to his GPs who lived abroad, so the long haul flight was unavoidable.

Kids are a nuisance though... and most airlines try to accommodate everyone by putting them in the bulkhead seats so they can't kick and annoy the people in front. So I think you are justified in complaining and trying to get cabin staff to deal with it.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 30/03/2017 14:11

Toddlers are a horrible menace anyway, but a bored toddler on a plane with lazy bastards parents, that would male be want to strangle someone.

2014newme · 30/03/2017 14:13

I'd speak to the cabin crew. Was there a reason you didn't?

dangerkeepaway · 30/03/2017 14:17

My 4yo has ASD, I could easily see him being a nuisance on a flight. Making a mental note of these comments so I remember to avoid subjecting other people to the inconvenience of my child though.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 30/03/2017 14:17

Toddlers on a plane. Sounds like a sequal to snakes on a plane

Panetulipani · 30/03/2017 14:17

I don't know if they still do it, but (back in the 1980s) SwissAir used to be really good at helping out young families travelling - always providing something relatively quiet for the kids to play with - usually colouring book and crayons, or cuddly toy, sweets to suck, spare blankets, etc. and the air stewards would make a point of checking up on families.

ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe · 30/03/2017 14:20

I still have some of their little puzzles, Tulipani.

Hissy · 30/03/2017 14:27

To pp who explained how well behaved their children are. Please give tips on how you managed to bring children up with no tantrums or crying please do share this marvellous solution to every parenting problem.

Its not down to parenting purely, its no indictment on how good or not you are at it per se, the child has a lot to do with it.

My DS has travelled since 6mo all over the place and is an angel. no tears, no upset even after 10 hours in the air. I know that's down to him tho and nothing I did.

He only ever had one tantrum too, and that was because he was just about to fall asleep in the car and I turned off the motorway. that's him tho, all him, he's chilled. I genuinely didn't deserve a kid as chilled as him, but I'm happy he was :D

I abhor the position a lot of dads take, to bugger off to the seat on its own and leave mum to deal with 1/2/more kids.

I would not have put up with the kicking, i would have said something and asking the dad to change seats would have been a good idea tbh.

When someone else is being inconvenienced, its absolutely right that we challenge the parent to get it sorted.

Vermillioncomfyshoes · 30/03/2017 14:50

To pp who explained how well behaved their children are. Please give tips on how you managed to bring children up with no tantrums or crying please do share this marvellous solution to every parenting problem
Mine were both well-behaved and didn't have full blown tantrums
An occasional paddy maybe, but not this long drawn out screaming I hear around me. I don't think there is a secret. It's just innate in some (even tiny) children to respond positively to reason and parental engagement.
Maybe those of us with well behaved children just got lucky?

BillSykesDog · 30/03/2017 14:52

Is it just me or did anybody else read the title and have Samuel L Jackson's voice in their head go 'It's time to get these motherfucking toddlers off this motherfucking plane'.

BillSykesDog · 30/03/2017 14:56

Maybe those of us with well behaved children just got lucky?

I think there is some truth to this actually. My eldest is just a good kid. He's just an agreeable little boy. (Younger ones to small to tell). I have friends who parent much more actively than I do and who are more firm with discipline who have much worse struggles. It does depend a lot on the personality of the child.