WickedStepMother

I just read this out to Mr WSM. He said that after he was born (he was a 12lb 14oz baby) the midwife told his poor mother to put a teaspoon of scotch in his last feed of the day to give her a peaceful night.

crazyanglaisy

Wow! I wish I had had parents like you.

allturnleft

Is this the modern day equivalent of born with a golden spoon in your mouth...

Worcester

Bit OT but what happens if a parent flies with twins or both parents fly with triplets under 2? I assume that's not possible for safety?

sammyg901

Not sure about BA but I once had a delightful 18 month year old boy on my lap on a Easyjet AMS-LGW where the mum had bought him a seat and planned to have her newborn on her lap, not realising under two's couldn't be in a seat regardless for take off and landing. I overheard her at check in very upset and offered - no real bother for me and was repaid in Pringles and a Twix

BeanTownBoy

Rubbed on the gums for teething purposes, of course!

Restil

There are two types of travelling children. Those that behave, remain reasonably quiet, and not bother other people, with parents who ensure that condition is maintained.... and those who don't, aren't, do, and won't. I've had the (dis)pleasure to experience both extremes. Sitting firmly wedged into a last row economy seat that was an inch narrower than it should have been, sitting across the aisle from a baby that literally SCREAMED the entire 2 hour flight... after a 4 1/2 hour delay, was the reason that I completely swore off air travel for several years. I remember trying, hard as I could, to come up with something nice to say to the mother. I'm sure she was embarrassed by the situation and I was trying to think of something to reassure her. Some funny quip to help lighten the mood... maybe something the baby might pick up on and calm down a bit. But I couldn't do it. I quite literally couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound scarcastic and just make the situation worse. So I bit my tongue the whole way home. It ruined, for me, what had been a rather enjoyable weeklong family trip.

Thankfully, I've never had to experience anything quite like that since. I haven't flown in economy since, thanks to discovery of the miles & points hobby, and the few instances that I've encountered children in first class or in lounges, they seem remarkably well behaved... probably a result of a higher class of parental influence.

Was the lounge host being unprofessional? I can't really ascertain tone through a forum post, so it's hard to say if it was rude or simply informative. You got a kid. Some kids make noise. I have no way of knowing if your kid is one of those or not, so I'm going to inform you of the unwritten expectations and let you decide what is best for yourself.

Dambus

Post of the week!

Could you help me with another important and complex issue? I just need to know if you have reached voting age to settle a bet. Thanks.

In answer to the OP - yes the lounge agent was both off script and off message. Flying with young kids on BA, including lounge visits, has been almost universally positive in my experience.

IAN-UK

Always hard to tell, but I'm rather hoping this is a burlesque....

nlkm9

sadly, while most children do behave, its the parents that sometimes need a good spanking lol--I was on one flight where this toddler shrieked so loud we were all covering our ears--the only thing that stopped the shrieking was picking her up and the parents pretty much ignored us and the glares and made ZERO effort to comfort her--if they have made even a little effort (beyond the one time they picked her up and she shut up) I would have been way more understanding, what a miserable experience!!

onlynik

And I couldn't disagree more with you. I think a lot of the BA helpfulness is based on your status than anything else.

Daughter's first flight at 3 months LHR - SIN in F, with my wife (as I was working with in SIN) a very loud passenger complained about a baby in F. Cabin crew did nothing to help my wife for the entire flight.

Another flight, coming back from JFK, no changing facilities in the CCR or J lounge, was told by the staff just to change the my daughter on the table beside other guests. We declined as it wasn't fair on other people.

On a delayed flight from LHR - ABZ where we'd been on the plane waiting for more than an hour, our 18 month old had a tantrum, throwing off her seatbelt, as she kept arching her back and slipping out of the infant belt. Sitting in 1D and 1E, the purser saw us and came over and told us to restrain our child or he'd need to inform the captain that the cabin was no longer secure.

All other carriers seem to give some sort of gifts to kids, I've never received anything from BA regardless of cabin travelled. JAL we received a plane and cutlery set, AY we received a colouring book. LH received a colouring book and a packet of sweets.

Thankfully I've spend all my Avios now, so no more BA flights for me

bisonrav

I think it's just a variable experience, largely depends on the cabin crew involved. I have a fairly well travelled toddler due to my wife being Malaysian and her family being over there, and we've had excellent help at the airports in almost all cases I can think of. We've mostly been in in economy - travelling baby class is pretty much the ultimate status in terms of priority boarding. Onboard it depends on the crew. BA have been pretty good, particularly if you have a female FA of a certain age who isn't being rushed off her feet. It's a lovely bonus when that happens, but it isn't their job to run a crèche.


One incident on Malaysian where when he was full air raid siren mode mid flight as I was walking up and down the cabin with him, and a slightly dishevelled FA emerged from the crew quarters and asked sleepily if I wouldn't mind walking him down to the other end of the plane so they could sleep. I think that's fair enough to be honest. But there are limits to what you can do with an overtired baby on a plane, and it's really not to do with parenting per se. Most parents will attempt to limit collateral damage, but you have a difficult combination of disruption to routine, excitement, difference, noise and fatigue to deal with.


After all, we've all been babies once, with the exception of a few travellers born at the age of 37 with gold guest list status and a silver spoon containing a sense of entitlement in their mouth. I'd rather be next to a screeching toddler to be honest than a DYKWIA in full red faced strop because their preferred meal option is unavailable, or a full on head-back mouth-open snorer, or in behind a full recline [Mod: redacted]


I can certainly think of many times as many adult based incidences of disruption or discomfort in flights I've been on solo than I can of screaming children. With children I've usually found nearby passengers fairly patient and often very helpful, for example playing peekaboo through the seat gap (I wouldn't recommend doing this, this is often the gateway drug to being bashed over the head with a toy plane for the rest of the 12 hours).

mradey

That's not my experience at all. I've flown with my son from age 3 - 6 in F long haul plenty off times and the staff have without exception been all over him. Including the captain on a couple of occasions giving him a seat in the cockpit.

I agree no special treatment in (any of) the lounges but nothing hostile.

Adey

msm2000uk

I've encountered more noise from adult passengers than those travelling with infants and young children. And, for what it's worth, someone who has had a few drinks, is far harder to talk to than a parent whose child is finding the flight difficult.

As a soon-to-be Dad, I'm actively looking forward to traveling with my little one and showing him/her the world. Woe betide anyone who takes offense from it - for we were all young once upon a time.

Will I end up in the DYKWIA thread? Probably, but it'll be worth it for the response I proffer to first person who comes up to me, or even gives an evil stare to my beautiful newborn.

M

TimmyD

Our daughter did about a dozen flights, mostly on BA and mostly in premium cabins in her first year. Couldn’t fault any of the BA staff we came across and most were outstanding. We had especially great cabin crew on the 747 UD and on SH from LGW.That said, probably the best experiences we had were on CX.

I think most people are instinctively nice and understand that, as long as the parent is doing all they can to try to keep the baby calm, they want to help and be accommodating. One or two flares as people came up the stairs at the start of a 10 hour flight but equally compliments from the same people as they got off having barely noticed her.