Ugh Ugh Ugh

[ducklite]

last Friday I had one of the worst plane rides I've ever suffered through.

This one child managed to frazzle the nerves of every other passenger on a full 757 with the 2 1/2 hours of non-stop wailing. It wasn't sore ears, it was wanting to get down off of mom nad dad's laps and run around the aisles.

If you were the family with the 1 1/2 year old on CO#21 EWR to MCO, do everyone a favor...don't expect your kid to sit quietly on your lap for 2 1/2 hours...buy him his own seat so that he can be content and comfy in his car seat, and not disrupt every other passenger on the plane.

Anne

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Please don't take this as flaming...I feel for you, but, unfortunately, some parents can't afford the extra seat. I hate to say this, but wailing, screaming, annoying, children are to be expected on any flight to or from Orlando. As a parent, I try my hardest to keep my 3 y.o. DS's wailing/antics to a minimum, but sometimes he just loses his cool and there's no pleasing him. Even with a seat, my son may not want to stay put. I think we tend to forget that we were babies and toddlers once too, and I'm sure we had our moments. Maybe red eye flights are in your future--I doubt there are many small children on late flights.

 

[Goof]

Some children are plagued with medical conditions that may cause them to be this way. Maybe the child has ADD or is extremely hyperactive. Either way, we all must learn to deal with this. As DeeCee stated, this isn't another flaming. I'm just a parent with a child who has experienced both of these conditions. As for frazzling the nerves of "ALL" the passengers on the flight, I am sure there were those who tolerated it because they understood the toddler's demeanor.

 

[ducklite]

I can understand a child getting a little fussy for a few minutes, but this kid SCREAMED constantly for 2 1/2 hours to get down off his parents laps. If he had been comfortable in a seat of his own, I doubt he would have been that upset and fussy. He was obviously very uncomfortable on the parents laps.

If the parents couldn't afford the seat, then perhaps they should have postponed the trip until they could. The situation they caused was unacceptable. The entire plane, including other parents and even other kids, were frazzled, upset, and disgusted by the time we landed.

And BTW, my son is ADHD and NEVER carried on like that, even on his worst day. Of course I never expected him to sit still on my lap for 2 1/2 hours either.

Anne

 

[chadfromdallas]

Child-size muzzle

`````````````

 

[GEM]

I still don't know what makes you think he wouldn't have been screaming in his carseat. I've seen lots and lots of babies wail for hours on end in their carseats - both on plane trips and on car trips I've been on. Some of them just hate being restrained in any way. My poor cousin's baby just screams bloody murder anytime they put her in her carseat. She absolutely hates it.

 

[XStAnt]

Sorry, I have to agree with ducklite. There is no excuse for an infant to be crying and screaming for 2 1/2 hours. I don't know if his/her own seat would have stopped it, but there are many ways to control a child when they get upset. I understand if the child throws a tantrum every so often, but the entire flight is a little much.

 

[wdwstar]

i totally agree with the pos , no excuse for a screaming child for 2 1/2 hours from mco or anywhere, those parents should have done something out of respect for the rest of the people that paid alot of money for the conveince of flying not to listen to a child screaming the whole time.

the most important thing for the parents was to purchase a seat for the safety of their child.

i know how the pos felt, we were coming home on a 9pm flight from mco and the woman next to had a 18 month old that was walking down the isle while we were taxing down the runway, and the sterwards had to pick him up and give him back to the parent, again once we were up in the air the parent let him go down the isle screaming and crying . then half way thru the flight the child had fell asleep with diarrea in his pants and she didnt want to wake him to change him. and if that wasnt enough we had our coats in the over head and during the flight her pedicare broke open all over our jackets, our carry on bag and was dripping down on our seats and we didnt notice until we got up and was getting ready to get off the plane, lets just say the woman grabbed her kid and ran off the plane before anyone around her started to complain.

i know what you went thru and when your paying for your whole family to fly, its not cheap and you shouldnt have to encounter anything like that.

 

[GEM]

Originally posted by wdwstar
i totally agree with the pos , no excuse for a screaming child for 2 1/2 hours from mco or anywhere, those parents should have done something out of respect for the rest of the people that paid alot of money for the conveince of flying not to listen to a child screaming the whole time.

Like what? Do you really think they didn't try every possible thing they could think of? I'm sure they were as desperate as anybody else on that flight, probably more! Sometimes nothing works - especially if the child is sick or tired or teething. I guess they should have opened up the emergency exit and tossed the kid out.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by GEM
I still don't know what makes you think he wouldn't have been screaming in his carseat. I've seen lots and lots of babies wail for hours on end in their carseats - both on plane trips and on car trips I've been on. Some of them just hate being restrained in any way. My poor cousin's baby just screams bloody murder anytime they put her in her carseat. She absolutely hates it.

If I knew my child made that kind of a fuss in the car seat, I certainly wouldn't attempt to take them on a plane where I would be subjecting everyone else to it. I'd either drive or stay home. It's common courtesy and consideration of others.

Anne

 

[disney4us2002]

Sorry that your experience was awful but I'm afraid I see it like GEM. There is just no way to guarantee that having his own seat and carseat would've changed the situation. I am a daycare provider and I've watched 30+ children since beginning my business. Believe me I have encountered children who can scream and wail for 2+ hours! It's highly frustrating for everyone and no doubt his parents weren't happy either. I have asked my pediatrician about travel aids/medications to help when I didn't know what to expect from my boys when they were younger. Thankfully, I didn't have any problems but I have some daycare kids that cannot stand just the 10 minute trip to the bank drive-thru so I certainly feel for the parents of that child.

 

[maciec]

What / if anything did the parents try to do to get the child to stop screaming? This makes a difference in my answer if I agree or disagree with the OP. And there is a big difference.

If the parents attempted to get the child to stop crying then I disagree. Were you close enough to observe what the parents were doing or not doing to get their child to settle down? If not, how do you know that they didn't try? Parents aren't miracle workers unfortunately.

If they did nothing and just let the child scream then I absolutely agree.

I know as a mother of 2 if I am in a public place and my child starts screaming I do everything that I can to get them to be quiet. Especially if we are in a restaurant, airplane, or a show. It is not fair to torture the other people that you are with, with a screaming child.

My oldest is 3 1/2 and she has been flying since she was 13 months old. Fortunately, we have never had to deal with her screaming on a flight.

On a side note, I think that it is safe to assume that any flight to Orlando is going to have at least 1 crying baby on it and if you don't get one baby crying you are pretty darn lucky.

 

[GEM]

And of course, when that situation happens in a show, restaurant, etc. you just get up and take the baby outside. You can't really do that on an airplane, can you? Sometimes all the humming, bouncing, singing, distracting, and cheerios , in the world just won't do the trick. Yes, it's miserable for everyone (includig the parents) but that is a risk you take when you enter an enclosed environment like an airplane. When I flew to Maine last summer I was seated next to this guy who coughed (and I mean seriously hacked up part of his lung) for the ENTIRE four hour flight. It was gross! The flight was packed, though, so there wasn't really anything I could do. I just turned my headset up and tried to ignore it. On another flight last year, the woman behind me threw up from the minute we started our taxi down the runway through the moment we touched down. This was a four hour flight as well. The stewardess kept bringing her more air sickness bags. It was horrible for everyone around her, but I don't know what she could have done about it, so we just tried to ignore it. Sometimes, that's all you can do. I'm sure the parents tried everything they could think of.

 

[wdwstar]

i feel sorry for the parents only if they tried to do something, this story didnt sound like the parents tried anything, and some parents are use to their own kids screaming, and they are not bothered by it.

 

[Goof]

totally agree with no excuses for the behavior, especially in an already cramped aircraft and i do hope that the parents were embarrassed if they continued to allow it to happen but most likely they did what they could, considering they were at 26,000 feet.

i know what you went thru and when your paying for your whole family to fly, its not cheap and you shouldnt have to encounter anything like that.

They also paid for their whole family

Child-size muzzle

Would you put one on your child?


I do understand where ducklite is coming from but the question is could the parents have done more to control the child under the circumstances?

 

[wdwstar]

They also paid for their whole family

not quite, if they had paid for their whole family that child would have been in his own carseat in his own seat where it is more safe then on a lap and might have been more comfortable, would you have like to sat on someones lap for 2 1/2 hours

 

[jgates]

maciec - I have to agree with you - it all depends on how the parent was handling it because I have seen it go both ways!!! Some of them just block it out and don't even try to do anything - pacifier (maybe ears were plugged), singing, tickling, blowing kisses, blowing bubbles - you get the idea. We did them all at one time or another. Others try their hearts out and simply cannot get them to respond.

We still tease my wonderful son about the time my poor dad had to grab him and haul him out the restaurant and tear his diaper off him and spank him to finally get him to sink in - he was in a 'i'm a total and complete brat and i am going to make your life a living **** and nothing you can do or say will stop me' mood. Of course the first thing I said to my dad was 'you tore the diaper - do you know how much those things cost!!!' Poor dad!!! But it's a little hard to do that on a plane.......

No muzzle.....duct tape maybe? (JUST KIDDING!!!!!!)

Anne - that is one impressive house. I am just sitting here realizing that we must have different lifestyles!! I couldn't afford it as my primary home let alone my vacation home!!! Once it is built, how can you bear to be away from it - it is beautiful.

 

[chadfromdallas]

Originally posted by Goof
Would you put one on your child?

Nope, don't have one.

I would put it on anyones in a heart beat if I was on that flight though.

 

[GEM]

Originally posted by chadfromdallas
Nope, don't have one.

I would put it on anyones in a heart beat if I was on that flight though.

Charming.

 

[Goof]

Originally posted by chadfromdallas
Nope, don't have one.

I would put it on anyones in a heart beat if I was on that flight though.

I don't believe that it would be in your best interest to take that approach!