Kevin AA

They don't think that babies should be on airplanes at all. Or in restaurants. Basically anywhere but at home. Thankfully most parents are not close-minded like that. Keeping your children at home and never interacting with the outside world is what the Duggars do, and now that half of them are grown up, the evidence is clear -- they all suffer from emotional immaturity.

In other words, keeping your kids isolated from society will PREVENT them from growing up, resulting in "child-like" adults who cannot function independently. Sad.

george 3

We always traveled with pacifiers when our children were young. Our children do the same with their youngsters as well. It's more comfortable for them, less stressful for everyone else.

beachfan

It's never a baby that aggregates me, it's the seat kicking 5 year old with indifferent parents. Or throwing a tantrum and the parents don't even try.

rickg523

In fact, I always wonder whether people that think like that and feel the need to share their viewpoint to anyone within earshot were raised that way themselves. And maybe that's why they're such immature PITAs with atrophied social skills.

MADPhil

I found I could hear people talking to me better if I was wearing NC headphones with no audio. I also quickly found that people talking to me didn't appreciate this

diver858

SLOOOWWW down, Dr. Laura.

Government requires a license, often training to drive, own a firearm (in most states), get married - same should be to have kids. Parents should exercise good judgement, properly prepare when taking kids out in to public.

Kids typically cry for a reason; on airplanes, it is because of ear pain. It is irresponsible for a parent to take a kid up 40k feet, sitting in a cramped space for more than 1 hour without consulting with their doctor, making the necessary preparations.

We raised 2 kids, waited until they were a few years old before dragging them on to airplanes. They would often sit by themselves in coach, we would sit in first; kids considered it a privilege to sit by themselves, had plenty of things to keep them busy during the flight, FAs knew where we were in the event of an issue - NEVER HAPPENED.
When going out to a sit-down restaurant with waiter service, where patience would be required, we would play a word search game as a family, to keep the kids busy until the food arrived, to assure they would not bother anyone else enjoying their meal. Other patrons would often stop by the table to complement our kid's behavior, and in some cases, thank us for being considerate.

There are PLENTY of opportunities to socialize kids at casual and fast food restaurants. If I am paying hundreds of dollars for an enjoyable meal with friends, loved ones or a business discussion, it is not unreasonable to expect some level of decorum - which includes screaming kids.
Same goes for premium cabins on an airplane. Families with barf-prone, stinky diapered young ones should be seated in the VERY back of the bus.

Save your "you were a kid once" speeches - access to airplanes and restaurants are a privilege, not a right, where one should not infringe on the services your neighbor has paid for.

bmrisko

As the parent of a 3 month old who already has a passport and GE, encountering passengers like this is my worst nightmare. To date, a lot of his travels are for necessity, not pleasure, so a lot of times I don't have a choice of whether or not he goes on a plane. Trust me, I don't want my son to cry either (mainly b/c it means they are in pain), but you better believe I am doing everything in my power to comfort (and quiet them for the benefit of everyone around us) either by feeding, rocking, paci, burping, etc. You complaining about the crying is most definitely not helping the situation and is probably just stressing me out a lot more...

As for saying babies should be in the back of the bus, get over yourself diver858...a lot of airlines have bassinets in F for a reason. If you don't like it, then fly private.

bosman

True story: many years ago flying CO (I think) in F a baby starts crying and an elderly lady shouts "someone chloroform that child!". Later in the flight her husband is snoring like a buzz saw; didn't hear her demand that he be chloroformed.

JonNYC

These threads always devolve into twaddle like this.

FWAAA

If the kids were seated in main cabin by themselves prior to attaining the age at which the unaccompanied minor fee no longer applied, then the rules were broken. AA's UM age has moved around over the past decade, but at no point was it "a few years old."

txpenny

Good word JonNYC. I'm going to use it in a sentence tomorrow.

carlosdca

There are people who like a peaceful and quiet flight. Some crying babies are really loud and the noise may annoy some people.
The cry of a frustrated or in pain baby has certain pitch, frequency and emotion that can be very disturbing to lots of people, or make them feel bad about the baby or parents, etc. It is definitely not soothing waterfalls noise.So I actually never understood how people can believe that one should not be bothered at all by a crying baby.


Now, jumping to being "mad" and causing a scene is a different story.

Personally, I think l that a crying baby on a plane should not come as a surprise, regardless of where I am sitting. So I have to be understanding and hope that the parents and baby find some peace during the flight while I try to tune it out or put on headphones or earplugs as suggested.

I would also expect that the parents have taken precautions and are prepared to manage the situation as best as they can (which some FTers have said they do). And not just turn around and say "don't like it? Flight private!!!!".

Kevin AA

Consulting with a doctor? Give me a break.

very irresponsible and greedy of you to leave your children back in coach while you clink your glasses of wine up front

back of the bus, reminds me of a story from Montgomery, Alabama

No, actually, access to public transportation (which is what scheduled flights are) and access to restaurants open to the public is a right, not a privilege.

You need to join a private club for your eating out and a private plane for your travel.

nrr

There was a proposal to permit CELLPHONE use in-air (it hasn't been scuttled yet), but should CP use from 100+ pax all talking at once be permitted, we might wish for a crying baby.

Dave Noble

Flights which I go on that allow mobile phones to be used are not a problem due to the expensive roaming charges for calls made onboard

No reason for it to be scuttled, there are already airlines that permit them inflight