ByrdluvsAWACO

Are you saying that I should learn to tolerate bad behaviour?

Lehava

I would venture to generalize though that most of us were brought up different than many children today. We KNEW BETTER than to misbehave or bother others. We knew there would be serious reprecussions and were afraid of them. Too many children today (my neice and nephew are the perfect example) know their parents are not going to do anythign but threaten (adding more noise to the situation) and so they can do as they wish. And even worse than this are the parents who dont even threaten, they feel their children should be able to do anything they want anywhere they want and call it a "learning experience". The world is their's to control and manipulate and that shouldnt be limited.

My view on not only who should be in first, but even on a plane is not about age, it is about level of control and behavior (child or adult). Until you can control your actions, respect others and behave like you are in public not your living room at home, you should definitely not be in first and probably not even on the plane.

erik123

No, just to lighten up.

Lehava

I still say some airline is going to make a LOT of money when they start offering targetted "family friendly" and "adult only" flights, similar to what the cruise industry has done. They could have flights wehre the FA's make balloon animals and serve animal crackers and kids can be kids and other flights which are adult only and have a more business flavor to them. Even if only one of each type was offered a day (and the rest the normal "take your risk" flights) it would give people choice. I know I would pay a little bit more for an "adult only" flight.

oldpenny16

I shared a center row in economy with a family with a 4 year old son. I dreaded the experience, but it turned out to be a very nice situation. The parents were kind and considerate as was their son.

The parents had a small backpack filled with children's toys, books and snacks, the boy was content with airline food. They were delightful travel companions. I told the parents that. They deserved a compliment. It can be done.

magazineprincess

I'm not sure those days are totally gone! I flew with my two daughters (a 5 year old and a 7 week old) on a short trip recently {LIT-ROA} and breastfeeding really did the trick.

The 5yo is a veteran flyer, so she did great, but on the very last landing of the trip my 7wo started crying. All it took was a moment of nursing and she was back to her normal happy self.

All in all we had a pleasant trip both coming and going, and I truly don't believe either of my girls bothered any of the other passengers. The crying I spoke of earlier only lasted maybe three minutes... She was a happy camper after she nursed.

I agree, what a band-aid!

Diannap

I can safely say that the worry and stress I go through, hoping and praying that my son will be an angel on the plane, is much worse than any pax might possibly have to deal with.

That said, I fly up front. It makes a big difference. Its too hard to have a carseat, 11 month old, diaper bags, etc. in coach. And as much as I worry about possibly disturbing other pax, the bottom line is that I bought that ticket just like anyone else. I will do my best to keep my son happy (and he just flew 18 hours on four flights with less than 2 minutes of crying total ^ ), and I'll feel terrible if by some chance he has a bad day, but I need that extra space and service for my sanity and enjoyment.

Not to mention, I definitely run into more obnoxious adults than children these days. Like the FC flyer who raises his glass and shakes the ice at the FA until she comes and gets him a new drink...

jhayes_1780

Agreed, this should not be tolerated. You should bring it to the attention of the FA or the parents.

I do agree to a point... I would have COMPLETELY agreed with this before we had a baby... say I just busted my tail at a conference at MCO and finally get a chance to rest on the way home, only to be in the middle of the two kids who can stop "yelling" about thier disney expierence.

At the older then 4 year mark, the parents (or FA's) need to take an active role helping the children retain the decorum of the cabin they are seated.

Now, as a newer parent who really didn't like blowing U/G certs to sit next to a baby....

Mrs 1780 and I decided to take baby 1780 out west when he was 4 months old (LAS, LAX, DEN) he was PERFECT on the ORD-LAS portion (didn't sleep, just happy and playful for the flight. He was so good I decided to U/G on the way home (DEN-ORD)... on that flight we could do NOTHING right and we actively tried everything: feeding, changing, holding, toys, juice, new outfit, sleep, pacifier, different seat, shade, no shade, FA's entertainment, mom, dad, another FA, etc. (no one wanted him to quiet down more then me). So was I a bad flyer for U/G'ing baby in the first place? or should I have traded with someone in coach?

Uniter

Yikes! So what you're saying is, "Back in my day, we didn't just threaten kids to be good ... we beat them! With sticks! And they liked it!" Singapore Airlines allows beatings, I think ...

But beating children aside, I think it now comes down to a very simple thing ... kids are kids. If you don't like kids, well, tough noogies. You're annoyed by something my child does ... well, we paid for two seats (or at least 10% of a second seat) and you paid for one. That's just how it is. I think that most of the time, it's not my child disturbing other passengers, it's other passengers feeling disturbed by a child being there.

planemechanic

Both of my kids have flown all levels of service both domestically and internationally. It's always funny watching the expressions you get as you buckle TWO car seats into first class for the little ones. My kids just ove the lie flat beds and probably act better than if they were sitting upright in coach. We have had many compliments/comments from the FA's as to how well behaved they were and how they expected a problem but were pleasantly surprised not to have one.

coleson

[QUOTE=ByrdluvsAWACO]

Maybe so, but parents with children should be made to sign an acknowledgement that if their spawn act up to the point where it detracts from the premium atmosphere of the cabin, they can be made to move to the Y cabin. They have a right to purchase premium tickets, but they have no right to disturb the experience of other pax.

I think this should be the policy of all airlines.

QUOTE]

i don't understand this comment? Paying more money to sit in first class gives you certain benefits to be sure, but it does not allow you to control your environment. There is no place (other than your own home or vehicle) where you can control the environment. Children are people too and if they pay the premium price they have as much right to be there as anyone else. Adults have bad days and so do children. Often they act out in the same way, but most often children have not yet developed the skills to cope with their "frustrations" the way mature adults do. It's not fair to hold it against them.

jhayes_1780

Don't hotels already use this policy? I have seen hotel management kick people out because of how they let thier children behave. (problem is you cannot kick anyone off a plane at 35,000 ft.)

ThePope

Maybe you should spend a couple of hundred on a pair of noise cancelling headphones, an ipod and some tunes of your choice.

The actions of infants and toddlers sometimes can't be controlled. Pacifiers, breast feeding, toys, food, books, games, even (legal) drugs sometimes work, sometimes don't. Why should the parent (who also certainly isn't enjoying the flight either, and also has paid the thousands) be forced to suffer even more? Maybe the parent is also needing to be in C/F for the same reasons as you (needs to work straight away on arrival etc), and is bringing the family not for a holiday, but as expats moving to a new city? Should there be separate rules for why they are flying?

Believe me, I wish that babies had off or mute switches, but I haven't found it yet.

Older children, yes, they should be well behaved, not annoying others etc, but expecting the same of infants is obviously the thoughts of someone who doesn't have kids yet.

gungadin

Hmmm,
I guess, reading all the posts, I am seeing parents falling into two catagories. First come the ( exemplary) parents who do their very best to make sure that their children behave in public places. They prepare, they train their children by taking them to restaurants first, them in other public places, they provide amusments and are prepared for emergencies,. Then, I see postings by parents who say-I have paid for my seats ( or gotten them with FF) and if my kids bother you, I don't care.
I wonder which kids will grow up with better social standards. Which kids will be more kind. Which kids will be more responsible Which parents will say--I don't know why my kids grew up this way.

bagold

Before I had a baby, I used to hate parents that would bring their baby onboard to long haul F. I kept thinking why couldn't they just go in C or Y?

Now, after having our baby daughter, I take it all back! First thing I learnt is that it is sometimes hard to control a baby crying. Most of the time we succeed in keeping her from crying by feeding, carrying her around or putting her to sleep just before she gets too tired. However, sometimes there isn't much we can do after trying everything.

For us, we took our baby at 6 weeks from HKG-SIN-HKG in SQ C. She behaved very well. When she started to cry I would take her back to the galley and rock her back to sleep.

At 3 months, we took her on CX F HKG-LAX and then AA F LAX-DFW-RDU. HKG-LAX she was great. She was able to sleep well in the bassinet. We feed her when she was hungry and she didn't make a fuss when she was awake. However, we had a really tough time on LAX-DFW-RDU. They don't have a bassinet and she wasn't used to sleeping while we carry her. She cried a lot and I was thankful for the F bulkhead seats. I was able to get up and rock her to sleep in the tiny galley. FA was great about it. We then flew RDU-CLE which was a tough trip even though it was short. Flight was delayed, she was very tired and my arms were about to fall off carrying her in a certain position so she could sleep comfortably. For CLE-ORD, we decided to drive the 6 hours instead of flying and risk more delays and if the flight was cancelled we would be in trouble since it is the last flight out. She loved her car seat so we were okay, until the last 2 hours. At least in a car we didn't have to worry about other people. Our last leg on JL F, ORD-NRT-HKG was also great. With the bassinet she slept pretty well. But she still fussed a bit. So we put her in her own F seat and she slept well. Flight was empty. Just us and another guy in the whole of F 747 cabin.

For us so far, as long as she is well rested, she won't cry. So it just takes planning and reading her signs on when she is about to get tired so we can put her to sleep before it is too late!

Would we fly in Y on long haul? Answer is NO! We won't fly in Y before the baby and we won't fly now that we have a baby just because people don't like it. However, we will try our best to minimize the crying.