Kids and airplanes just don't mix, in my opinion. I don't like being in a closed area with a crying baby, whining kids, or a child kicking the back of my seat. The worst part is that some parents don't do anything about their child's behavior.

I have kids and when they were young I rarely took them on a plane but the few times that I had to I made sure that they were well behaved.

I made sure they had toys and coloring books and crayons and other things to keep them occupied. I also made sure to take flights that weren't at peak hours to make sure that the plane would not be too full.

Many parents get annoyed at other passengers who complain about their children's behavior and I understand the passengers. But I also understand the parents.

If our child behaves poorly it is up to us to try to calm them down even if it means taking them into the bathroom to talk to them calmly and help them understand what they should do.

I know babies are hard to control and are probably uncomfortable in the plane but it is still up to us to figure out before flying when the best time it would be for the baby to fly.

No one is perfect and no child is perfect but I think what gets other passengers riled up is when they don't see the parents doing anything to stop the child's poor behavior.

You are right ,skatss , any parent flying with a kid should take into consideration all those issues . I would ad that ,if possible ,a mother should not travel alone with more than one kid ,it would be extremely difficult to discipline all of them by a single person on a public transportation.

I guess having children on an airplane can be a little more complicated because potentially there could be an issue with the flight attendants too, if the children were getting in the way of the meal cart of something like that.

I personally have had pretty good luck while travelling on planes with children, I guess.

Being prepared goes a long way to having a settled child on a plane and every parent should of course be considerate of that when they're planning how to entertain the kids en route.

Actually I feel sorry for the parents when the kids are howling because if it's bugging you, you can be sure the majority of them know it and are embarrassed by it. They're not going to start bawling and yelling at the kids on a packed airplane.

I once moved my airline seat when I was traveling alone to sit with a young woman that was struggling with a baby that wouldn't settle and a four year old that didn't want to sit still. I could tell by looking at her she was ready to burst into tears and she'd heard all the huffs and tuts from the passengers in front of her too as had I from across the aisle. My heart just went out to her. There was space so I offered to sit in one of the empty seats beside them and hold the baby to let her get her own dinner which sat untouched in front of her. That's what we did.

Turned out the girl was a teacher heading home for a funeral and her husband couldn't get time off, so she had to make the trip plus take the kids too, all at short notice. She'd only just moved to the place not two weeks before because of her husband's job and didn't know a soul.

This was an international flight and I ended up moving seats entirely to sit with her for the remainder of the flight. The baby fell asleep in my arms and the wee one was happy to see a new face giving him attention and soon settled as well. The flight was much smoother for everyone from then on.

It's not always that they choose to travel alone or unprepared. Sometimes circumstances just force that upon them.

I decided not to take my children on a plane until they were at least 4 years old. I think it is unfair to them and the other passengers. I get very sore ears when I fly and would not like to put them through that just so that I can go on holiday.

We never had the occasion, when our kids were very young, to take a flight anywhere. I understand when adults have to take their kids on a flight. I know that the adults must feel bad when a baby or toddler cries, but it really is inflicting your kid on everyone in the cabin, so preparation is key to preventing crying.
One other hint for traveling parents with diaper-age kids: Ask to sit in the back, if possible, and in the case of a dirty diaper, bring plastic sacks and double-bag them! No unwrapped diapers in the restroom trash, please!!!

I travelled with my 22 mo old recently and I made sure I took his snacks, water toys books etc, on the plane. I also had to sing him songs....you just gotta do what you have to do.

Originally Posted by mollyL

We never had the occasion, when our kids were very young, to take a flight anywhere. I understand when adults have to take their kids on a flight. I know that the adults must feel bad when a baby or toddler cries, but it really is inflicting your kid on everyone in the cabin, so preparation is key to preventing crying. One other hint for traveling parents with diaper-age kids: Ask to sit in the back, if possible, and in the case of a dirty diaper, bring plastic sacks and double-bag them! No unwrapped diapers in the restroom trash, please!!!

You're absolutely right, mollyL! And doing that with a diaper is disgusting, especially with it being such a confined space. I have the feeling though that the kind of person that does that on a flight is the same one that would do that in McDonalds as well. Some people are just inconsiderate no matter where they are.

More than once I took my son into public baby changing rooms only to find dirty diapers not even put in the bin but left lying on the changing mat. I dread to think what kind of homes those babies live in.

My children have never yet experienced an airplane flight (my oldest is 5 years old), and I can only imagine my one-year-old crying the whole time, and I am just glad we've never had to travel yet.
My 5-year-old will probably behave the whole time and enjoy the whole trip, but I doubt my son would. He's still very young and loves to crawl around and move.