Carol, you're a very wise woman! I will do this if necessary!!!

It boggles the mind that parents have the uncanny knack to "tune-out" what their little demons are doing right under their noses!

Time to TAKE ACTION!!!

Thanks for the excellent idea!

Happy Travels!

I am the mom of a 3 yr old that is very concious of his behavior. On a flight to Florida he drove the people in front on him nuts. He did kick the seat and put the tray table up and down. My husband and I corrected him dozens of times - I also had treats, books, crayons and toys for him to play with. But he is a typical three year old who was very excited to be on the plane. If any passenger laid a hand on him I would go nuts. In most cases the parents are trying to do something but the child is just being a child. At that point it becomes your problem either ignore it or be miserable

Gosh KathleenK!

It becomes MY problem if you are too rude, inconsiderate and such an ineffective and pathetic parent that you are unable to discipline your own child?

What a hoot!!!

One of the parents who has these little "devil children" actually has the gall to suggest that we should just "DEAL" with abuse for hours on end because she is a poor parent who can't control her own child. How supercilious you are!

Let's just hope your "little darling" is NEVER seated behind me, because I will do whatever it takes to insure I don't have to put up with the behavior you have just described.

KathleenK, if you can't control your own child in public places, perhaps you should be driving.

Food fight! Man your battlestations!

At that point it becomes your problem either ignore it or be miserable (QUOTE)

If those are my only two choices, I lose either way, if I ignore it "miserable" is inevitable.

DO NOT BE OBLIVIOUS TO YOUR CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOUR!!! (Or expect action from the rest of us).

We are certainly not.

I've got a transaltlantic flight (11+ hrs) and am coming prepared to deal with you child behind me if you do not. Actually, no, I will deal with YOU!

I just knew that someone would start insulting myself and my child. The point that I was trying to make is look at it from the parents point of view. If we are correcting them and trying to divert their attention how do you suggest that we control them???? Start beating them in the bathroom? Give them a tranquilizer? Diana - how do you suggest I should have disciplined him? I was on a flight last week in which there was one child screaming & crying before we took off. I felt sorry for the parent and the child since they were trying to console to no avail. Perhaps if people had more compassion towards one another it would make situations like this a little less stressful. By the way - I would like to know if these people who seem to know so much about children have any of their own? If so - I suppose your children NEVER acted up in public.

What's wrong with using chloroform? ((a)) ((b))

KathleenK,

You said we should just deal with your child's misbehavior. That's just not acceptable. (It's also YOUR job.)

I have a lot of compassion for someone whose child is crying because he/she is afraid and in an unfamiliar situation, seated next to strangers, or is having pain in the ears due to the altitude changes.

I do not have the same feelings for a BRAT that has not been taught that there is behavior that is not to be tolerated. Kicking someone's seat back or putting their tray up and down a zillion times is that type of behavior.

You should not have had to tranquilize your child or make a trip to the restroom to reinforce that this was not acceptable to do if you had bothered to teach your child manners before you got on the plane.

You solve the problem by trying all kinds of creative solutions.

If a little kid keeps putting the tray table up and down, stuff a coat or blanket in the magazine pocket and wind it around the supports so that the table won't close any more.

If they are kicking the seat ahead of them, it's probably because their legs hang down and they swing freely. Put your carryon under their legs so they have a place to rest.

Make a big deal out of the need to behave properly on the plane. "We don't want to bother that nice man who is reading. We have to use our library voices," etc., etc.

Parents also need to use all of their planning skills to ensure that kids don't get overtired. No one is at their best without sleep.

KathleenK, of course our children misbehave in public. My solution was to take them outside until things improved. This is not an option on a plane, which is why there is a higher standard of behavior required for both kids and parents.

On a recent flight with my 3yo, she kicked the seat in front of her once, I took off her shoes. The next time she kicked the seat it HURT her toes,bad. She never did it again. Problem solved and I didn't even need to read a book to figure it out.

My two boys traveled from the time they were infants. For 17 years, my husbands job was in the Aleutian Islands, which made three flights just to get to civilization.
Luckily, my kids were sleepers, but I was prepared with books and toys to give their hands and minds something to do. Both became avid readers during grade school- that solved many a long flight. One could be found engrossed in an aviation encyclopedia, the other loved to draw, on a big thick book, very detailed and sometimes wouldn't stop even to eat. I became aware of others who perhaps weren't as prepared. (I had a bag with extras). I was empathetic to those with tired and crying kids, as every parent has been there at some point, in a plane, grocery store, etc. I remember a young college aged guy giving each of the boys a rice crispy treat just to be nice, kindly flight attendants talking to the kids about their travels, and receiving compliments on the boys manners(we had frequent upgrades because we flew so much).
I honestly have many more memories though, of obnoxious adults, the ones who sat in the airport bar too long, acted rude to flight attendants, talked loud enough so the whole plane could hear, etc. So I guess I feel like there's room for improvement-- no matter what the age. J.

On a flight back from Costa Rica my then 18 month old daughter kept pressing her feet on the seat in front of her because the lady in front had reclined it so it touched her feet which were higher because of the carseat. The lady kept turning around and complaining, and we tried everything, even holding my daughter's feet (but you can't do that too much because then the kids start screaming and then what are you going to do). You can't reason with an 18-month old. I know it was no fun for the lady, but she refused my husband's offer to switch seats with her (so his seat would be kicked) and there really wasn't anything more we could do. In a similar situation on another flight, the gentleman in front simply turned around, saw how young our daughter was, and lessened his recline so her feet didn't touch. Problem solved. A little compassion and common sense does go along way.

I recieved this article today from a friend who stated it should be shared with everyone we know...go to http://womenswallstreet.com/WWS/article landing.aspx.titlied=1&articlied=711. This is our worst nightmare in the air. a MUST reading.