To Risk Upsetting Other Travellers

[JustPurple]

I am going back to work at the end of October and am looking to squeeze in a last minute holiday before I go back. We will be flying long haul and have an 8 month old baby.

We usually fly premium economy when we travel with TUI because I'm not great with large groups of people. WIBU to take an infant into premium economy? I feel like people would be cross if she made any noise when they've paid out for an upgrade, presumably for a calmer and more enjoyable experience. The baby doesn't usually cry for any length of time but she's never flown before.

Yep! The man next time to my OH kept taking up loads of room with his legs & using both arm rests it was really pissing him off 🤣 @zzzzz At least children don't know any better!

@AynRandTheObjectivist thank you!! I really appreciate that... was concerned I was going to be jumped on for allowing my daughter to antagonise this woman!! (You know how MN can be!) usually only one nutter though, & a bunch of normal mums who GET IT!

I fly business a lot, and there are usually some children or babies in the cabin. I just assume that there will be babies and I use noise cancelling head phones and ear plugs for sleeping. Snoring men make more noise!

Anyone with any experience of kids will get it. Didn't one of the earlier posters who was against kids in business class because important business people need to sleep to be important and businessy say that she was pregnant? I really, really hope it's true. Imagine thinking that business class with a baby is a hardship, and then having one yourself...

@AynRandTheObjectivist 🤣🤣 oh no because they don't have normal children don't you know? Theyre born with manners, patience & understanding of business people's need to rest. 🤥😁

Well they might not be born that way but Important Business People In Suits will definitely be perfect parents who get it all right every time. It's what they learn in Important Business People School. Isn't it?

At the very least, you would expect them to understand the rudiments of how money works, and therefore not struggle to grasp why the fee of a woman with a baby means exactly the same as the fees of Important Business People in Suits.

Beautifulblue

I’m not going to tell you how to parent. I took exception to the statement that ‘there’s not much you can do’.

Well yes, actually there is. Walk up the aisle with the child, sit the child sideways, bring distractions, get the child it’s own seat, plan your flight times better, plan the child’s nap time better, engage with the child, plug the child into a tablet computer if you must..... here are a handful of suggestions off the top of my head, thus proving your stance that there’s ‘nothing you could’ve done’ to be complete nonsense.

plan your flight times better

What?

plan the child’s nap time better

What?

plug the child into a tablet computer if you must.

No, don't. I tried this once. Apparently that wasn't a USB port.

You’re both pretty smart but not smart enough to realise that your precious bundle of joy is a massive fucking nuisance to others when you can’t be bothered to parent.

I'm really trying to keep my cool but you are being really goady @AllesAusLiebe. If you read my previous reply you can see i tried my best & obviously had toys & even used a 'tablet computer' (lol) if I must in the nicest possible way just buggar off, judgey mc judgeson.

You should book yourself into premium economy and put your baby in economy. Go back every few hours to throw some peanuts at them, and maybe feed them a G&T

No, we realise. But once we figured out how children work (we're smart, after all), we just don't give a shit how people like you feel about it.

@AllesAusLiebe wtf are you taking about?! Can't be bothered to parent? 🤣 You're the mum I actively avoid at baby groups because you're just a whiny, know it all, pain in the arse.

Oh dear, lots of annoyed travelers here!
My take is if you pay for seats in business, economy, first or premium, they are your seats and you have every right to be in them.
Yes, a crying baby can be irritating but the thing that really winds people up is kids pissing about, kicking seats etc with parents ignoring it. Also don’t give a kid an iPad without fucking headphones!
Enjoy your flight!

@AllesAusLiebe I think you, are not so smart.

waiting for the list of degrees gained, university's attended & the use of the worlds professionally successful

PFB had clocked up 25,000 miles by the time he was 2 (I still have his Junior Jet Club certificate ) Babies are easy to cope with on a plane if you are prepared and you have the right to travel in any class you pay for.
I always had him latched on during take off and landing and once weaned had lollipops to ensure that he didn't suffer ear problems. Take toys, preferably new ones (I used to take a new puppet which I used to tell or read stories) allow them to watch the kids channels, have food and drink they are familiar with, make sure they are dressed for comfort and enjoy the flight.

Oh dear, lots of annoyed travelers here!

To be fair, not that many. Most posters are reasonably intelligent people who understand the basics of how both money and children work. Just a handful who are struggling with it.

Plan your flight times better to make sure that your child will definitely not inconvenience anyone in your shared public space. That one's gold.

Beautifulblue no, you pushed me to respond to your WWYD, which I did. If you’re out of your depth then you only have yourself to blame. Then you resort to name-calling and being childish and I ask myself why you have difficulty maintaining control....

Your first post made no reference at all to what you’d tried to do in order to contain the situation. Forgive my inability to mind read.

Something I genuinely don't understand about people who are so keen to tell mothers how much they don't care about their kids...do you think we were born parents? Do you not think that we, too, were without children once and do actually know what it's like to be in the presence of kids without having any ourselves?

I had a child, ffs, not a lobotomy.

Although you CAN plan flight times. So JFK-LHR and vice versa we regularly do the night flight and the kids sleep through. The problem is that you either land at JFK absurdly late and then the kids are hysterical while going through immigration or you land super early at Heathrow and it’s a long day ahead of you with jet lagged kids. But the flight itself is fine because they both sleep and have done through multiple transatlantic flights since they were v young.

Premium economy is not really a separate section to economy so even if you were economy those in PE would still potentially be disturbed by your baby so go for it. FC would be different (still fine) but I don't think you should worry about premium economy.

Hysterical immigration is burned on my mind. In Latin America over tired DC are taken to the front of the queue sadly not in USA.

You should definitely fly premium. You deserve a holiday as much as the next person in the cabin. Premium isn’t separated from economy so if a child makes noise, they will very well hear it anyways. I have flown in the first with DD was she was 9 weeks and it was all fine. Just keep the dummy and bottle/feed handy for take offs and landings and if you can fly at night, they will just sleep through it. Enjoy your holiday

I'm never quite sure why parents want to take babies on aircraft but hey ho.

What really annoys me is when parents make no effort to control any noise, kids running about etc. The plane is so confined that any noise like crying, shrieking, screeching (and yes, babies & kids do screech) goes right through you. Please, please at least try to keep the noise to a minimum.

I'm never quite sure why parents want to take babies on aircraft but hey ho.

Two reasons:

1. It's so much fun, we want to squeeze it in as many times as possible while they're still tiny.

2. We love, and I mean absolutely love, pissing off other people. Seriously, nothing gives us greater pleasure than when our child is crying in public and everyone is giving us death stares without telling us how to make it stop at once. It gives us a wonderful warm feeling inside.

What really annoys me is when parents make no effort to control any noise, kids running about etc.

No, what really annoys you is children in your vicinity making any noise whatsoever, no matter what the parents are doing. I hear this bullshit line all the time. "It only annoys me when parents don't do anything..." It's utter horseshit. Parents get death stared and cats bummed no matter what they do. This stupid line is trotted out so that onlookers can pretend they're not actually just being utter arseholes.

Children exist, deal with it. Yes, they are a choice to have, but given that society would actually be fucked if they stopped being born at all, plus the fact that they've got as much right to be in a non age restricted place as anyone else, you are just going to have to learn to deal.

And if the biggest problem in your life is noise in your business class flight, please allow me to play my microscopic violin...

Wouldn’t occur to me to not take my kids in business class. We fly twice a year from Sydney to London and they’re way better in business than economy as they have much more space, better food and can actually sleep. I can imagine they would be more of a pain in economy squabbling over seat arms and the iPad.

We’ve taken them since the oldest was 8 months old and I’ve never had so much as a glare or unfriendly stare to be honest.