SCREAMING Kids On Flights!
 

My Inlaws just got back last night on a flight from Dallas to Seattle. A Lady had a toddler in a carseat behind my inlaws. The toddler cried and screamed the entire flight while the mom took a nap. Every once in a while she would wake up and tell the kid to close his eyes. <BR>What does another passenger do in this situation? It was awful for the people around this child and the child. <BR>I would have woke up the mom or caregiver and said something. He sat in that seat for 4 hours without any attention, food or water.<BR>Please give honest answers and not some snotty remarks.<BR>

Push the flight attendant button and ask them to either move you to another seat or to fix the problem.

Trying being on a flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong with about fifty screaming 1 year olds and younger. Four hours is nothing.

That bothers me more for the misery the child is feeling than for the misery the passengers are feeling.<BR><BR>For them, my favorite solution for all kinds of similar problems (party-makers in hotels, loud airconditioners, etc.):<BR><BR>earplugs

Turn around and ask the parents if they are going to do anything about it.

I would have asked the mom to try to calm the kid or play with him. It doesn't take much to distact them. She was rude anyway you look at it. I don't know what the FA's could have done but i would have atleast asked them if they could try something. That had to be a miserable flight for the kid and anyone sitting around him.

I have both good ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones. Makes my travel a lot easier.<BR>

I had a toddler behind me who started screaming on takeoff and showed no signs of stopping. Someone called the FA and she said it was probably that the child's ears hadn't equalized. The FA asked the (very young) mother if she had any Afrin or other decongestant, but she didn't. As luck would have it I had just bought a bottle (I never travel without it!) and it still had the safety seal on it. I offered it to the mother and she and the FA put a couple of drops in the child's nose. Viola, the kid stopped screaming within 10 minutes! I can't count the number of thank-you's I got from neighbors!

I never flew anywhere when my boys were young without a bottle of dimeatap. It was recommended by our pediatrician and regular doctor. It made the difference between ear aches or a pleasant flight. I gave it to every mother on the flight who was willing to try it. I got many of thank you's. It was a matter of the kids ears being sensative to the cabin pressure changes that caused them pain then giving them drugs to keep them doped up.

I honestly have never tried this myself, but I wonder if it would help to travel with a big box of salt water (or other kind) of really chewy taffy. If this kid was old enough to have teeth, you could offer them a bunch of pieces of taffy to keep the kid's mouth occupied (and chewing could help with the ear thing as well). If the rude sleeping mother has a problem with it them perhaps she should wake up and fulfill her responsibilities. Another tip, bring a bunch of those little Trident pieces of gum. Turn around and ask the kid how many pieces he thinks he can chew and keep chewing for the entire flight. Tell the little terror that you will give him a dollar when the plane lands if he can put as many pieces as possible into his mouth (without choking of course) and chew that gum throughout the entire flight. Since this is all theory, someone can try it and let us all know if it works.

Bob,<BR><BR>Nice try on the gum idea, but with this brat (mother made him that way), he would probably chew with his mouth open and then pop/snap his gum. This could be justification for quiet strangulation of mom.<BR><BR>Don't Think So

For a drug free approach, try giving little ones a pacifier or bottle - also equalizes the presure. If that doesn't work, bring on the Benadryl.

Cure for the problem kids (behind you) of the typical &quot;my kid is perfect&quot; parent is to ask the parent to control their kid (don't say brat). If that fails, recline your seat to the fullest and keep it there when they get served a meal.

At the end of my last flight from Amsterdam to San Francisco (11 hours) with the ever present screaming children I asked to flight attendant when they would start scheduling an adult only flight once a week. Sorry, I have absolutely no sympathy for the children or the parents. Children who are not old enough to behave on an airlplane have no business on an airplane. If parents have to wait until their kids grow up before taking a European tour, tough. I'VE HAD IT WITH KIDS ON AIRPLANES!!!!!!!!!!!

On my last flight, there were some very loud inebriated men who made the entire flight a raucous overnight party. At the end of the flight, I asked the flight attendant when they would start scheduling non-alcohol flights. I have no time for people who convert the entire flight into their own private entertainment center. I'VE HAD IT WITH LOUD OR DRUNK PEOPLE ON AIRPLANES!!!!!!

BJ..Maybe they can schedule an as@#$le only flight and you can fly right in seat 1A. What nerve,ask for an adult only flight. Do you want that with adult only films?

I wish the airlines (even Southwest) would reserve the seats for those with kids, and board them LAST. Let them stay in the terminal &amp; burn up energy (maybe even encourage a little last minute running) until the last minute. Instead, they're the first boarded, and sit in their seats belted (yes-I know you'd like to belt them too &lt;G&gt;) getting all antsy before the craft has even left the gate. I've been on flights where we sat at the gate, door open, for over 1/2 hour. This suggestion won't fix all problems of kids, but I think it would help a lot.

r-travels...Boo-hoo. had to sit for 1/2 hour with kids. I do board last with my kids ,I agree with you. But there could be worse things in life,agreed?

r-travels...we board early with our children...BUT when the plane lands we also sit and wait and get off last...letting everyone else go since they are so much more important and always in a hurry...wouldn't want to get in their way.<BR><BR>

BJ: I'm right there with you on the adult flight! I am fed up with it, too. Drive to grandma's or wait on the European trip. Children are a choice, there is no shortage of them and the rest of us shouldn't have to pay for the luxury that others take to have them.

&quot;x - [email protected]&quot; (such imaginative name!) I'm not complaining about the kids. I must be lucky - only once have I ever had a problem, with a &quot;kicker&quot;, and it was a kid about 8. I made my suggestion only because I think it IS unfair, very unfair, to keep the kids cooped up that long in an airline seat when they could continue to be enjoying (?) time in the gate area, NOT tied to a seat, a whole lot more, therefore not getting as fussy during the flight.

There are times when having to bring children with you on the plane is not optional. You're moving. There's a family emergency. There are no other modes of transportation that wouldn't take 20 times the amount of time, cooping the kids up, that the flight would. <BR><BR>Only the people here who have never been less than 25 yrs. old, who never had parents, who never got fidgety sitting for a long bit of time, who never had a pain in their ears, eyes, or sinuses, who never left their home, who have been unfailingly courteous to everyone they've ever traveled with have the right to question whether children should be allowed on planes.

My name is right up there with r-travels. Did you come up with that all by yourself? Good to know your thinking about the children.After all,you have only been inconvenienced once.

&quot;x x@x&quot; - I'm a programmer analyst, with experience in several industries, as well as other careers (engineering, nuclear power, power-distribution, hotel) so I'm always looking at inefficient ways things are done and how to improve them. Often my suggestions a well received, sometimes not! Maybe I'm too easy going, but when I travel, I just try not to get bothered by things I have no control over - I don't want to have a stroke! Kids are ok, it's the 5-8pm flights w/ loud business people who've tipped a few brewskies that bother me the most.<BR>

20 years ago this would not have been an issue, as parents used to teach their kids limits, and the rights and wrongs of behavior. Now, it's all touchy-feely be my kid's friend instead of disciplinarian crap and that has given us a generation of ill-behaved hellions. Yes I am a parent, but I'm one that believes that my child's rights end where yours begin.

Amen,Jo. You are so right with parents of the baby boom generation. Wouldn't you agree most parents and DSS look at Discipline as CHILD ABUSE. Even worse,They shut them up with sweets which makes them more wound up anyway,on a plane. Too funny.

All of this really is easy...basically it comes down to manners. Yes, there are times when children need to be on a plane. Yes, it is the parents responsibility to make sure their children behave. Yes, adults need to behave too. <BR><BR>I just do not understand why people on here feel the need to bash everyone. So sad.

I agree, damned if you do and vice versa.

i fortunately have a child that I have never had any problems traveling with. She is now 7 that began traveling when she was 10 months. I was always so afraid of her crying in the beginning because I have been on the other side. After talking to my dr, i gave her motrin before the flight, kept her up (played with her during waiting time), and during take off and landing, gave her a bottle. Helped her ears and she fell asleep right away. She is now a frequent flyer and her ears still bother her some but candy/gum helped.<BR>now she sleeps usually right after take off and landing and ocassionally instead of her bothering the other passengers, most of them are consumed by her charm.

now, what I dont understand is misbehaving children, kicking your seats. i thought i was going to turn around and scold him. After I asked the child to stop, and got no reply, i gave up (flight from LAX to NYC) the mother was in and out of sleep. after the flight, she had the audacity to tell me that I should have told her child to stop, when I did. I think after that flight, I understood why people paid for first class. children are not allowed unless their seat is paid at FULL fare. (Airline policy)

Because there will never be a 'perfect' flight with 'perfect' passengers with a 'perfect' cabin setting, I choose to make the best of ANY situation ( loud children, delays, etc ) by having the 'perfect' alcoholic beverage to take my mind off of those annoying things that I cannot fix. Having an alcoholic beverage or two helps me to escape the harsh realities of loud annoying people by making me fall asleep! Or, I might take my portable CD player and listen to some favorite classical or jazz pieces .<BR><BR>Moral of the story: You always get what you pay for!!!<BR><BR>If my plane ticket from Los Angeles to New York is only $200.00 roundtrip and the flight is delayed, has screaming kids, tasteless food, rude flight attendants, then so be it!! At least I arrive at my destination safely and got the value for my dollar!!! GET OVER YOURSELVES!<BR><BR>P.S. - I cannot stand kids either, so I choose to ignore them. There are far worse problems in this world. Most people cannot even afford an Economy Class ticket even on the most cheapest of the airlines.