Children sitting alone on a plane???

[sk!mom]

After reading just a bit of the SW thread, I'm wondering at what age most of you would feel comfortable with your children sitting seperately on a flight?

I wanted seats together up to age 5 for sure, by six I would feel better if they sat with me but if necessary they could go it alone, and by 7 we enjoyed sitting together but if we were split up it was no problem to them or me.

For that reason, I always purchased reserved seats when they were 5 and under.

 

[disykat]

I put 7 or 8. Even then it would make me nervous I guess. The only time we had to split up, we put both boys together and dh and I each sat separately. Our oldest is allergic to peanuts so he is the one we really want to sit with. Our youngest was 8 and rather than making him sit by himself, we sat him with his brother and had them be in charge of each other.

editing to add - obviously we would prefer sitting together! I think there are some people reading this thread as if some of us CHOOSE to split our family up. On that one flight we only had two seats together and the other two were individual. Every other flight we've been on we've at least been able to split up two by two, so one parent, one child.

 

[Hannathy]

My DD start flying by herself in first grade and by that time had sat by herself on the plane many times so I had to put 5-6 but i really feel like by 4 they could sit by themselves.

IMO Any child that can go to school can take care of their own needs on a plane-they do it all day in school and on the bus, the airlines feel this way also. this excludes before someone can come on and say it, any special needs child. Even then many of them would be OK in the same row or Mom right behind etc.

 

[Chip's My Hero]

We always sit together as a family, not because we don't think the kids could handle it, but just with the four of us traveling together it makes sense to just sit together. Our 8 yr old I would be concerned about traveling alone, but she's also the size of a 5 year old and i fear the people she could meet. My 13 yr old...no problem. Of course he's also bigger than I am. LOL It's never been something we've had to ever discuss though...family all live within an hour or no where near an airport.

 

[squirrel]

I'm taking my 5.5 yr old niece and we are sitting together. I would not allow her to sit by strangers.

I think it does depend on the child. I'm not a parent but I think 8 yr olds and older would be okay sitting away from parents. It depends also if they would be with a sibling, how long the flight is, how far away the parents are.

Even at 8 or older, I don't think I would be okay if the child was really far from where I was sitting. A few rows away isn't too bad.

 

[sk!mom]

We always sit together as a family, not because we don't think the kids could handle it, but just with the four of us traveling together it makes sense to just sit together.

We usually travel with 3 or 4 of us. My DD liked to sit next to me up to age 10 and almost always did. At about 11 though, she discovered the comfort of an aisle seat. Now our family preference is 4 aisle seats. When possible I do DD13 and I across the aisle from each other both in an aisle seat. DH in front or behind us in an aisle seat and if DS is with us- He'll take the aisle across from DH. My DH and DS consider their need for an aisle seat to be great enough that they will sit wherever necessary- even far from us in order to have it.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

It's not so much on whether or not I think they will be alright, I simply prefer that we all sit together. Part of our vacation is the trip there. We like to talk about different things, play games etc. I don't want to sit next to strangers so why would I want my kids to?

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

I voted for 7 or 8 - its not like the kids will be far away!

Oddly enough - we have never been seated apart on Southwest, but have on Airtran and Delta.

Its really not a big deal -I know the kids thought they were "grown up" to sit by themselves,order something to drink, shake hands with their seatmates, etc

 

[tjmw2727]

I chose 5-6 because I was in that situation at 6 with my dd and we all did fine. FWIW it was not Souhwest that separated us but AA and no, nobody would move so my older dd who was just barely 6 at the time sat alone and did a fabulous job.

Of course I prefer to sit with my kids and I will do everything I can to make it happen but with the nature of travel these days you have to be prepared. No airline guarantees seat assignments so my kids have their own backpack with everything they need on the chance that we get separated.

Odly - I have never been separated from my kids on SWA but I have on AA (more than once) and Delta.

TJ

 

[CLR4321]

I picked 10 or older, but it would be completely based on if my son was ok with it. If he was not, then I would ask someone to move on over.

 

[eyor44]

Delta tried to put DD6 in a seat at the front of the plane while DH and I would be in the second to last row. DH sat up front and a flight attendant tried to tell me DD had to sit in the seat assigned to her. No, I don't think so. We had reserved seats together and then Delta changed our flights and our seats. After the look I gave her, she very quickly changed her mind of pushing the issue.

 

[cuppycake]

I put 10 or older, and i will admit it.

I do not want to have to rely on a stranger to care for my child in an emergency. It's that simple.

I don't like sitting near strangers, so why would I want my child to?

I'm sure that even now, if pressed, my 6 and 4 year olds could handle themselves, but I would do everything in my power to make sure they would be with at least one of us.

But then, I'm one of those mom's who doesn't allow my kids to go outside (unfenced yard) without me. So call me overprotective if you'd like. They're my kids, and yes at 6 and 4 I feel like there are plenty of things they still need to be protected from......and I don't think that they should be by themselves on a plane even though they can ride the school bus alone (I don't really get that comparison....we're talking a 2.5 hour plane ride vs a 10 min bus ride). Of course they COULD do it, but I don't think they should have to, and I certainly wouldn't be comfortable with it at all.

 

[gottagodisney]

Of course, the other thing to remember is that on a school bus they are exclusively with other children- not adults who are strangers. As other posters said, I am sure younger kids could survive a plane ride without being close to a parent, but why would you voluntarily do that if there was a choice not to? I'm with the other poster. I don't particularly enjoy sitting with some strange man/woman practically in my same seat so why expect my child to feel any differently? For that matter, the "stranger" probably doesn't want to have to deal with my kid either.

 

[disykat]

but why would you voluntarily do that if there was a choice not to?

I don't get this? I'm assuming we're talking about there not being a choice - and at what age are you willing to not make a huge stink or turn around and walk right off the plane.

Do people seriously think people book their kids purposely to sit away from them?

 

[scottish mum]

i chose sitting together. My kids are 11,8 and 5 and I cannot see myself being on a plane for hours and not sitting with them. Our journey is part of our trip and we want to enjoy it together. I always pay for seats together. If I had to sit seperately it wouldn't be until the kids were teenagers.

 

[Mkrop]

Comparing a child's ability to ride a bus vs a plane is like apples vs oranges. IMHO.

DS(almost 12) is the most independent kid I know. He would go anywhere, try almost anything (except for new foods) but riding a plane is a whole different ballgame for him. He has horrible ear problems when we fly. He would love to sit alone, would have no issue until the pain kicks in. We are working with his allergist to tweak this. We have got the MCO flights down but we recently flew cross country to LAX and no matter how I tried to time his taking his meds, I could not take away his pain. Therefore I am not crazy about him sitting alone.


DS6 is a scaredy cat. He is a huge momma's boy and would never in a million years be comfortable enough to sit with a stranger. It is not fair to him or the stranger.

So I think it would depend on the kid and so far I dont have two that can fly independpently of mom or dad.

I will do my best to have our family sit together, paying fees what have you. I am not sure if presented with the possiblity of no one moving what we would do. I think we would have to get another flight.

We never had a problem with SW bc we got the As at the 24 hour mark. The only airline we had an issue was with USAir when oldest DS was 18 months. They had us all separated and it was nightmare getting people to move.

 

[tjmw2727]

snip
So I think it would depend on the kid and so far I dont have two that can fly independpently of mom or dad.

I will do my best to have our family sit together, paying fees what have you. I am not sure if presented with the possiblity of no one moving what we would do. I think we would have to get another flight.

We never had a problem with SW bc we got the As at the 24 hour mark. The only airline we had an issue was with USAir when oldest DS was 18 months. They had us all separated and it was nightmare getting people to move.

Well said - you are willing to do what you can to insure you can sit with your family. You would also consider deplaning and taking a later flight if necessary. You are taking responsibility for your needs.

Lets say we paid for pre-assigned seats, used EBCI, bought business select to make sure we could sit at least 1 parent with 1 kid. Should we give up sitting with our kids for folks who didn't take any measures? (I am not saying I won't give up my seats - unless I was bullied, I would because my kids are fine alone) What if you did de-plane and take a later flight - and that flight had folks who were separated and thought their need was greater than yours?

I also prepares my kids for the possiblity that they would sit alone even at a younger age. On a flight to Orlando it will be over 50 % families so moving folks around and not separating anyone could be impossible. Even waiting for the next flight could put you in a similar situation.

TJ

 

[tchrrx]

I put teenagers. Not b/c I think DD couldn't handle sitting alone, but b/c she's a chatterbox & may drive her seat partners crazy! Plus, I usually keep all of our plane entertainment (books, magazine, ipods) in one carry-on that stays at my feet. It would take a lot of passing back & forth to make sure everyone had what they needed otherwise.

 

[TinkInPink]

by the time they're in school they should be able to handle themselves on a plane for a few hours. I flew as an unaccompanied minor starting in first grade. i was fine and I loved it. kids often do well when they're away from their parents, they have a sense of responsibility/being grown up and tend to behave better. as long as they have their carry on with their coloring/activity book, Ds with head phones, and a toy or two they should be fine. And on any flight over an hour, once the seat belt sign is off if need be, a parent could walk back and see how things are going/ take them to the bathroom.

 

[mom2val]

We don't fly that often- maybe 4 flights a year. It has never even crossed my mind to let my dd sit alone. I would be so mad if I had someone elses kid sitting next to me while they sat by themselves and got to read magazines or sleep. Why should I have to worry about their kid spilling on me, talking my ear off, looking over my shoulder ect. Bottom line I would not do it to you- so don't do it to me.