Babies on Planes - Why Are People Jerks?

carguy123 wrote: But the bottom line is that the people around them aren't paying mega bucks to be abused by others. Something like this can completely ruin a vacation. Ever seen the migraine this can cause. The Migraine that can go on for days!!!

I'm sorry, but have you been on a commercial flight in the past 16 years? The airport and the flight in and of itself are abuse. It sure ain't no massage. And if you get a migraine from a crying baby, yeah, you should be carrying noise cancelling headphones.

And if you consider a crying baby abuse, then you're a big manbaby.

Flying sucks. Crying babies are often part of it. Deal with it, or don't fly if you have such a big problem with it.

There are worse environments. Any college campus since November. D.C. Since November. Luckily we have bottomless mimosa brunches for our 'chilluns'. It doesn't make them quieter. Quite the opposite. But it does make them more self absorbed and easy to ignore.

If youre a baby and your ears hurt you cry on a plane.

If youre a grown up and some part of the world around you disturbs your quiet flight you cry on the internet.

If youre a parent and a person gets judgy you cry on the internet too.

It is only acceptable to tell two out of those three groups to quit being a baby and stop your damn crying.

I have three kids that I've flown with on many occasions. All infants and toddlers are different. One kid might be an angel, one kid might be a terror. Neither is directly applicable to how good or bad the parents are. And no one on that plane wants the kid to be good more than the parent. I had best luck when we flew the red eye. I hated it, but the kids just slept. I think it's the parent's responsibly for doing whatever is reasonable to keep their baby content and quiet- snacks, entertainment, comfort. But when that just doesn't work, I think the parent should be cut some slack. Maybe even offer to help. Dirty looks or snide comments just stress and agitate the parent, and that transfers to the baby. You are making it worse. Conversely, a smile or encouragagement can calm things down. A parent may have tried everything, when a peek-a-boo from a stranger distracts the baby, and resets them. I've seen flight attendants that were awesome at calming babies. Airplanes are very unique situations. They are public places that afford few of the options that are available just about anywhere else. As such, I think we need to be more considerate to each other.

My goodness, what a lot of whining from people who could just carry earplugs.

mtn wrote:

carguy123 wrote: But the bottom line is that the people around them aren't paying mega bucks to be abused by others. Something like this can completely ruin a vacation. Ever seen the migraine this can cause. The Migraine that can go on for days!!!

I'm sorry, but have you been on a commercial flight in the past 16 years? The airport and the flight in and of itself are abuse. It sure ain't no massage. And if you get a migraine from a crying baby, yeah, you should be carrying noise cancelling headphones.

...I fly commercial quite a bit. I've used three different noise cancelling headphones/headsets (Sony MDR-1RNC, Bose Aviation X, Bose A20, best on the market). A pissed-off baby will shriek through all of them. Maybe if you're blasting music, but then other people can hear you (which is rude), and good luck sleeping.

Something tells me you haven't been trapped in a pressurized aluminium tube, 3/4th the way over the Pacific, having dealt with a crying baby for 8 hours, with no end in sight. It's a nightmare for everyone: parents, passengers, cabin crew. I'm not saying it's acceptable to be rude to the parents, but it's rude of the parents to bring that kid onboard. OK, maybe they've got a life event and had no choice. But man, if you bring a baby on a plane for a vacation, you're an shiny happy person.

mtn wrote: Flying sucks. Crying babies are often part of it. Deal with it, or don't fly if you have such a big problem with it.

Flying doesn't have to suck. It wouldn't if people would just think about how they affect everyone else on the plane. I said earlier: if everyone just knows their role i.e: if you know you're going to slam 3 Jacks and an Ambien don't be in the aisle seat, wear deodorant, smile and say hello but don't get unwelcomely chatty...

Instead, you're breeding a mentality that 100 people should have to bring earplugs or headsets to accommodate a few problems. Do we also suggest the solution to someone who forgot to shower be his aislemates bring Vick's to rub under their noses?

Streetwiseguy wrote: My goodness, what a lot of whining from people who could just carry earplugs.

Valid point. That's what the cops tell you to do when you call in a noise complaint in the neighborhood.

There were a few crying babies on our flight back from Orlando after Thanksgiving. It didn't bother me at all and I didn't have any headphones or earplugs. My nine year old on the other hand absolutely couldn't handle it. He was having a fit about it, covering his ears and asking why there had to be babies on our flight.

He's going to be an old grouchy fart like you guys I can tell.

I think we, as a society, have started to confuse the difference between actual harm and inconvenience.

I was on a flight to my parents for Christmas that had two missed approaches into Lebanon Municipal Airport during a storm. During the attempts, pressure in the little two-prop regional plane jumped around quite a bit.

A young girl started shrieking like she was being killed, probably because she couldn't equalize the pressure in her ear. I guess this because she'd been sniffling and coughing the whole flight. Anyhow, the shrieking was worse than any baby, and I've heard babies that made me leave an area before their cry was so disturbing.

I am talking long, agonized, despairing shrieks of pain, with pauses only long enough to draw in a fresh breath to scream again. Over and over.

It was the worst flight I ever had. I'll never forget it, but the girl was unable to leave the plane under her own power.

I, however, was fine. Other than a story to tell and a lingering sense of empathy and sadness for that girl when I think about it, I got over it and moved on, because I suffered no actual harm.

I once walked from Toronto to Edinburgh, carrying a crabby two year old who had developed an ear infection the previous evening. Eight hours of down one aisle to the back galley, a couple of minutes talking with the attendants, fussing restarts, back to the front galley, another quick visit. Repeat ad nauseum.

My ex put in a good, solid 15 minutes of child care that flight.

I fly quite a bit for work. When younger I moved quite a bit and had to fly with a baby, no choice considering where I was coming from and going to. Preferred driving with kids but took longer and had different issues. My kids are grown now and have kids of their own now. Going through similar to what I did when they were babies. Now being a grandparent, I feel for parents traveling with kids and often get amused at the kids and the parents trying to cope. Will admit with my hearing loss from helicopters, kids screaming cuts right through and causes ringing in my ears. But I tolerate it because I can see the parents are doing the best they can and they paid good money for their seats just like I did. I get more irritated at the people too cheap to check their luggage and bringing all their suitcases on the plane than a kid dealing the only way they know how and the struggling parents.

Brett_Murphy wrote: I think we, as a society, have started to confuse the difference between actual harm and inconvenience.

Completely. That's why people are totally ok with "enhanced interrogation techniques." Loud noises and sleep deprivation in a confined space probably isn't anywhere in Interrogation for Dummies.

I can refer you to a delightful school in the Pacific Northwest if you'd like to experience the fine line between actual harm and inconvenience. Hope you like Kipling. For 36 hours.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

02Pilot wrote: Perhaps, but not by much (assuming you're defining "weirdo" as "minority"). US Census Bureau indicates that, as of 2014, 47.6% of US women between 15-44 have never had children.

Nice statistic. If the age range were 22-44, I would give it some credence. I'd like to think most females choose to forgo reproduction until they have graduated from high school, at least.

You and I went to very different high schools then...

Babies are quite likely the thing I hate most in the world. I actually hate pretty much everyone under 20, but anyone under 4 is off the chart of hatred.

And yes, I cringe the moment I see anyone under 4 get on an airplane.

But like everyone wrote, I make my choice of the $200 economy seat, and not a charter jet. So I just deal with it. Mostly, though, I don't get on airplanes much. It's also fortunate that I live in Las Vegas, which is not a place that a lot of people with infants choose to visit, thankfully.

Now... let's talk about morons who bring infants to casinos.

Another thread bound for the lock.

carguy123 wrote: Here's the problem I have with most of the comments, they all put all the burden on all the 100 other passengers in the plane. So your answer is that just in case all of us who don't have kids should have to carry around noise cancelling ear phones? Something like this can completely ruin a vacation. Ever seen the migraine this can cause. The Migraine that can go on for days!!! BTDT and I, and my kids, as well as most responsible parents (of which there seem to be fewer and fewer all the time) make sure we aren't a burden to the people around us. It's just good manners and common sense. You don't get a pass just because it's a baby or kid. It's your job as a parent to . . .

To answer your first question, yes, then you should carry around noise cancelling ear phones. If it's going to ruin your vacation because you may get a migraine from noise, here's a simple answer...don't go on vacation. Or don't go somewhere you have to fly.

So again, I'm going to ask you the same question I have asked repeatedly, and nobody has given a good answer. You're on an airplane with your baby. Said baby starts crying uncontrollably. You try every trick in the book, doesn't work. What specifically are you supposed to do at that point, so as not to disturb the rest of the passengers? You're a parent. Tell me what you're going to do in that situation. And please don't tell me "That would NEVER happen to me, because I'm such a good parent", because no matter how good of a parent we are, babies still cry.

Everyone - I regret starting this thread. I first posted because a guy in his 40s basically called a woman fat, stupid and ugly because she was holding up the boarding line struggling to get her bag into the overhead and simultaneously hold a 6 month old. I was upset. But I didn't realize the strong feelings this topic would unintentionally provoke.

Irrespective of how we feel about crying babies/badly behaved kids on planes, can we all just agree that the guy who prompted my original post is an a$$, and close the thread?

If it's going to ruin your vacation because you may get a migraine from noise, here's a simple answer...don't go on vacation. Or don't go somewhere you have to fly.

So everyone else is supposed to not go on vacation or anyplace else and carry around expensive noise cancelling headphones they don't want because we might be subjected to bad parenting? What a selfish world you live in. Millennial much?

The airlines should solve this problem by offering flights that ban undesirable travel companions. I would pay a premium to only have petite passengers with excellent hygiene, no actual azzhole to fart through, who do not snore or have pointy elbows, and have very interesting lives to discuss if they can speak at all. They all would stay seated until the berkeleying door opens so folks in the back could make tight connections. And they would never smash their seats forward and backward while I'm trying to eat my bag of 6 peanuts and 4oz complimentary Canadian Club seltzer. Babies could be admitted but they would have to be kept in a small hermetically sealed container for the duration.

Wow...four pages and still not locked....

Someone had to...

Just checking in. Yep, berkeley this thread.

carguy123 wrote:

If it's going to ruin your vacation because you may get a migraine from noise, here's a simple answer...don't go on vacation. Or don't go somewhere you have to fly.

So everyone else is supposed to not go on vacation or anyplace else and carry around expensive noise cancelling headphones they don't want because we might be subjected to bad parenting? What a selfish world you live in. Millennial much?

Again...answer my question. In case you had a hard time focusing on it the first time....

You're the parent on the plane. Your baby is crying out of control (I know it would never happen to you because you're perfect, but humor me). You try every trick in your arsenal, no dice, baby is still crying. What are you gonna do? Or are you suggesting that EVERY TIME a baby cries it's bad parenting??

Or do you suggest that parent can't travel because their baby might disturb YOU?

Selfish much?

Appleseed wrote: Just checking in. Yep, berkeley this thread.

It's a slow Saturday AM. Might as well contribute to the decline of humanity.

Funny addendum to this thread. Finally got home from FL at 7 am this morning after one of those delays from hell where everything possible goes wrong. As I was killing time reading GRM, this thread was evident. I was making a note of the number of parents traveling with small kids: Quite a few. Kids were all troopers.

I know that this was just one instance that proves nothing, but I would rather travel with kids suffering from decompression issues rather than frustrated self important people who are reading the riot act to equally frustrated travel industry employees.