To think she should have been pissed off with herself rather than us?

[Tailfeather]

Just flew back from a lovely holiday with our baby.

We booked our flights 11 months ago and paid to pre-book the bassinet seats.

When we checked in online, the seat next to us was still free.

We were sat in our seats when the lady sitting next to us arrived. She looked at our baby, hissed 'oh for fuck's sake' and rolled her eyes. She tried to see if there was elsewhere to sit. There wasn't. So she returned, tutted and hurumphed a lot and sat next to me immediately turning her back to me after telling me that my baby had better not throw anything at her.

He was actually brilliant on the flight. Never cried once, slept for most of the journey and the worst thing he did to get was smile and wave at her. So he was less of a problem than a noisy older child or a chatty adult. I have spent flights next to snorers, smelly people, space invaders, people who talk too much, get too drunk - and they were all adults.

Now, I get that many people don't want to be near the baby on the aeroplane. I'm not offended by that. But if you are SO anti-children then surely she should have pre-booked her seat as far away from the bassinets as possible? She was obviously allocated this seat at the airport. So she should have been angry with herself rather than take it out on us. Or at least wait to see if he had been a pain before tutting and shooting us death stares. It was such an awkward journey!!

How do people expect babies to get from a-z? Unless your child is badly behaved (or as a parent not dealing with bad behaviour, you are) then people should treat families with the same respect as any other passenger

What an absoloute CF! And if the first thing someone said to me was my baby better not throw anything at her then I’d of chucked something at her myself. Wtf is wrong with some people?! How rude!

She’s a dick.From what you’ve said I’d actually love to be sat next to your baby on a flight he sounds lovely

We will be taking a 10hr flight with my 19 month old this year and I’m absolutely dreading it. I would never choose to take him long haul at such a young age but my dad is terminally ill and a big family group is all going. He will be too big for a bassinet and so will have to sit on my knee the whole time, family have said not to worry and they’ll all take a turn but he’s a terrible sleeper as it is and I can already sense major paddy’s We’re definitely parents who will take ds out immediately if making noise in a restaurant etc so the fear of having nowhere to escape with him and all the judgmental looks/tuts is really stressing me out!

I was once moved to first class with my 6 months old. There's a business traveller type with suit and laptop just behind us that gave us a look b of despair as we were sitting down but said nothing. The problem was usually landing and take off as his ears hurt but if I had learnt that breastfeeding during those times usually helped. So had no issues. In the end the guy complimented on how lovely the baby was.

DrGreene - a phone/tablet pre-loaded with DS's favourite programs is your friend! For a once-off long-haul flight, screen time is not something to worry about.

I snorted at the idea that a baby might throw something at her!

I'm cabin crew, I think that 80% of people will inwardly roll their eyes and groan when they find they're sitting next to a baby. The trouble is quite a lot of parents with babies don't do themselves any favours, I can't count the number of times that I've had to tell someone not to change their baby's nappy in the cabin (often during a meal service too) or found the bassinet table completely covered in rubbish with stuff spilt on the floor. However I've also done flights where someone had been rude and aggressive just like the lady in this scenario, unprovoked, leaving the mother in tears, and the rude passenger has been told off.

As someone said, babies aren't the troublesome passengers. Nobody ever had to handcuff one or have them arrested! They usually travel surprisingly well (apart from take off and landing!). It's when they can walk and talk the fun starts. Always nip into the galley and speak to the crew - there might be a solution, and if not it means all the crew know there's an issue and are keeping an eye on it, even if we don't look like we are.

You took a baby on a plane. YABU.

I can imagine the poor woman was on pins and needles the whole time waiting for the inevitable nails-down-a-blackboard noises babies make. You won't have noticed because it sounds so cutesy-pie to you.

I vote for childfree flights as standard.

And yes, I was a baby once. And no, my parents didn't take me on planes because they realised that life was different now they had children.

DrGreene he doesnt have to sit on your knee the whole time at all, you can buy him a seat and he can sit there my DS has had his own seat since younger than that.

I was once moved to first class with my 6 months old. There's a business traveller type with suit and laptop just behind us that gave us a look b of despair

What's the point in paying for a first class ticket if you're going to end up sitting next to a baby?

Erm chicken it doesn’t have to be?! Mine isn’t much different than pre children speak for yoursel. Has something unpleasant happened to you that you have ended up a child hater who joins forums for mums (clue is in the name) and that talks mainly about issues that center around being a parent?? Kinda perverse....

We all had murder wishes when confronted to screaming babies

Nope, I've never had a flight spoiled by a baby or a toddler. I'm often amazed by how good they are. Rowdy blokes are awful, so are some passengers who are stupid/entitled about where they can put stuff or speak to the staff.

I also travel on a route where the country I'm going to is very child-friendly, so people are often particularly engaging around children. I traveled once with my dd2 aged about 3 and a young man spend most of the flight smiling and entertaining her even though I kept saying he didn't have to. The only tutting I ever hear around babies/toddlers is in the UK, a lady on the bus recently muttered 'for god's sake' when a child made a slight yelp when mum held onto them to stop them getting out of their buggy. I found her and her remarks more annoying than the child.

And no, my parents didn't take me on planes because they realised that life was different now they had children.

Maybe you should avoid them now too.

I got sat next to a girl with a young baby on a flight to San Francisco and I admit I did think oh dear. It turned out well for both of us, the baby was adorable, we chatted, Mum was tired so I had the baby whilst she slept, she could visit the loo without worrying. It was a pleasure to sit with such a lovely girl and help her out.

Sorry, didn't realise the following were topics reserved exclusively for parents:

• relationships
• bereavement
• money
• pets
• employment
• style and beauty
• weight loss

....shall I go on?

I have a ten hour flight with a 14 month old next month. I was completely dreading it before, even more so now 😩

i second munchey. We've done quite a few longhaul flights since DS was born, and once he got too big for the skycot (which was pretty early on and they're pretty limited in usefulness as you have to take the baby out of them on take off, landing and turbulence) we got him his own seat.

Early on it was more of an indulgence, but useful as we just slotted him in, in his car seat. Once he got older, its invaluable. There's no way I'd grapple with a big toddler for a 7 hour flight on my knee!

Munchys-,my dad booked us through a travel agent and it wasn't offered so I assumed it wasn't even an option!
Glowing- I'm on it! Although we only have a laptop so will have to purchase a tablet. Hopefully the night garden and peppa will be worth it!

DrGreene this might sound obvious, so apologies if so, but make sure you download everything you want to play offline whilst you're at home, turn off the wifi on whatever you're using and check it still plays.

I swerved a very close call where I didn't realize all the Fireman bloody Sam episodes hadn't downloaded until the last minute! With amazon prime, you can download a few seasons and episodes for free (but there is a limit)

@misssmilla1 oh no I need all the advice, first baby and not traveled with him much although we had been warned about downloading stuff, my db and dsil took my 2yr old nephew on a 2 hr flight last year and didnt think to do it, had an awful flight and it was only short.

Am going to enquire about getting him a seat, i know it won't be a magical seat that makes him sleep 10 hours but I think for the sake of my sanity it will be worth it. Also it's just the 3 of us flying home as we can't stay as long as the rest of the family so I imagine meals etc will be a nightmare.

Feel your pain @Ducktalesooooh

Snacks, snacks, more snacks, calpol, tablet, snacks, squishy travel pillow to wedge them in with are all your friends!

That and ditch your normal hand luggage, and get a rucksack each as carry on (invaluable if you have to have both hands free for a careering toddler...) Change of clothes for you and the kid are good - I find flying makes him go to the toilet more often.

I also recommend gate checking your push chair, and putting it in a buggy bag to try and minimize dirt and damage

Muncheysmummy many people use this forum. You can stumble on it easily when googling things. Many threads are not about children. It is an inclusive forum, by “most” parents. And some parents, don’t want to sit beside a baby on a plane