steaksandwich

As a father of twins, I fully agree with understanding and compassion for parents on flights.
HOWEVER changing diapers in the seat shows zero understanding and compassion for your fellow travelers, so please get off your self-righteous horse as the person changing the diaper is the only one being rude.

Eclipsepearl

Very vague. How were they "forced"??

Yes, we have to keep telling them. No, we were not to wrestle them to the ground or use any other form of physical force.

So five years after the passenger bumped his head while up with the seat belt sign was on, when the case comes to court, the Flight Attendant can say "I informed him X number of times..." (airline lawyers love to delay and delay in hopes that the passenger will give up the fight...)

If you absolutely have to go to the restroom to change your baby with the seat belt sign on, the crew will keep telling you to return to your seat. Don't get angry or negotiate. Just say that you will, yes, you heard them, the usual fob-off's. Anything that happens though, will be your responsibility. The crew have no authority to give you permission but they won't charge into the restroom to drag you back either.

If the plane is taxiing, and someone gets up, the aircraft has to stop. We had a 5 year old who absolutely had to pee and the whole 747, plus all the aircraft behind us, had to stop while she did.

I used to kind of wish there were say, two "grades" of seat belt signs. Like one for light turbulence vs. about to land...

For the record, I never heard of or had problems with adult diapers. Probably for a variety of reasons including the fact that an adult is more sensitive and those accompanying them will be aware of it. The mother of a special-needs 8 year old asked me ahead of time how she could dispose of the oversized diaper.

rjque

A topic for another thread, but the fact that the seat belt sign means what it says only some of the time, and not others, renders it meaningless. I wish pilots wouldn't use it except during times when people actually need to be seated, such as take off and landing, and during any turbulence when flight attendants are asked to stay seated.

heraclitus

Agreed 100%. It's on so much that it's almost pointless. It's annoying to wait and wait and wait for the light to go off so you can go change your baby's poopy diaper but in the meantime other pax + FAs just get up and start moving around the cabin.

fastflyer

I experienced something possibly relevant to this thread the other day. Flying on a 3-hour midcon, a passenger from the last row of coach walked forward and back through the single-aisle aircraft for the entire first two hours. I believe the only reason she didn't do so for the third hour is turbulence and the seatbelt sign.

The relevant piece -- she had a baby strapped to her back with an obviously soiled (smelly) diaper.

She bumped into aisle passengers; she continually pushed into rows to allow other passengers around her; she irritated the FAs trying to navigate the carts. And the smell!

I have heard of cropdusting, but never via a baby bjorn.

Big4Flyer

She was carrying a baby with a soiled diaper for 2 hours? The poor kid, not to mention the people she was walking by. I can understand trying to bounce with a baby to keep them asleep, which would almost certainly not irritate passengers as much, but I don't understand why she would be pacing the aisle.

levilevi

Going to go O/T a bit - because i'm actually curious about this - I've done this on any flight longer than 2 hours I've been on with my now 19 month old. Strap her in with carrier and pace up and down when she's getting antsy/ready to fall asleep but can't.

I've found this to be the best alternative to have her be cranky in the seat and whiny at best/crying at worst disturbing others.

I fugred pacing up and down the aisles quietly would be preferred... usually try to hang back in galley/lav area and always always defer to flight attendants getting their jobs done.

Didn't realize this would be annoying to other? Maybe here and there an arm clips someone's shoulder while they are sitting, but that happens regardless?

Big4Flyer

Sorry, I've corrected my wording, I don't know what I was thinking. I meant to say that I wouldn't think bouncing them would bother other passengers. We do the same thing with our young ones, and occasionally go the the galley if FA's are ok with it and the baby is particularly fussy.

theddo

I don't particularly enjoy children yelling onboard, as my posts will show, but I think it's more than fair to walk up and down the aisle with your child to try and get them to fall asleep.

skylady

It's much more preferable to change the diaper in the lav

andeb

- I am a mother of a very hyperactive 15 month old, who doesnt rest, this includes diaper changes. Usually it is a 2 person job. So in a tiny airplane lav, the space is too tiny for 1 parent to change her diaper (atleast in our case). But we have still always used the airplane changing table in the lav, if available, even if it means my daughter is yelling at the top of her lungs. She hates the hard surface of the provided so-called chanhing table. So if I see someone changing their child in the seat, as long as they place a sheet over it before changing their childs diaper I am fine with it. It takes a parent to sympathize with this situation.

txpenny

Sorry, I'm a father of two and at grandfather of a new born. I don't buy the "it takes two" argument Been there - done that. Further, it's your issue, do not make it mine. Lastly, putting a sheet over the baby would not have fixed the terrible odor that filled our cabin.

Eclipsepearl

Your child is plenty big enough to do the diaper change standing up. It works with any baby who can stand with support. Mine were big and basically, it was when they outgrew lying down on the changing table.

Mine were very active and there's no way they'd lie down and be cooperative. A twin mom taught me that. She could keep an eye on the other child too.

Having them in the "frisk" position anchored their arms and legs. I practiced at home first. It uses more wipes. Children object less to this than forcing them to lie down in a strange place. No.1 diapers were especially easy to be changed this way.

The bathrooms are small so don't feel obligated to close the door if you simply can't. Trust me, no one will disturb you if they see that the lav is occupied, especially with a child. Try to avoid the accordion doors if you can.

Using a sheet in the seat is not a solution. It's still smelly and unhygienic. You want a sink nearby for "complicated" diapers.

Be aware that people are filming stuff like this too. Don't chance it.

GUWonder

Is there any general sense of disagreement about that? I suspect that most of the in-flight diaper changes take place in the lavs, while most of the remaining changes (ie those done in the open cabin) are a product of ignorance or of some good reasoning applicable to the circumstances.

And given how airlines seem to be shrinking in-flight bathroom spaces and even worsening the passenger seat:bathroom ratio, the flying public should expect more open cabin changes unless and until the airlines make more rules.

levilevi

Due to IRROPS been stuck with baby on 4 hour long MD88s with no changing table - our 15/18/19 month old (on the 3 occasions) has been changed by me on the closed seat of the lav... sure she wasn't happy (as I wasn't)... but thems the breaks.