You’re running late to your flight and stressed out, as you get to the gate you see that your flight is full of parents with little kids. What did you expect traveling to Orlando, Florida? Many times I have traveled and remember thinking, “If I have to hear that kid this entire flight I don’t know what I am going to do.” But does that mean banning babies would make my flight better?
Sure before having my own child this may have crossed my mind a time or two, but honestly I just put in my headphones and zone out. Get a kid screaming behind me the entire flight we may have another issue, for the most part though I don’t have a problem with kids on planes. A lot of the time I think I have a harder time with most adults on planes with their smells (that they could control with deodorant or a bath), having to constantly move around in their seat making it move back more than I ever imagined and always taking up more than their fair share of arm space.
The problem with babies and toddlers on planes I feel comes from parents that aren’t prepared for what they will be experiencing. Think about this for a minute, you can’t say what you want, you have to sit in your own crap and you’re hungry. Add the pressure change that they aren’t used to and so to let your parent know that you’re in pain or something isn’t right you scream.
If parents were to know the signals that their children give when they need something it makes flying with them so much better.
Let me remind you of a time I flew with my family to Disney World. We knew that flying to the number one tourist destination area would have a flight filled with babies and toddlers. For the most part all the little kids were great, but one screaming baby wasn’t having it. The entire flight from Salt Lake City to Orlando was nothing but this baby screaming. Why? Well the mother had just had some kind of surgery and couldn’t get up and carry her child to calm them down. So every single person on the plane did anything they could to get this baby to calm down. I don’t know about you, but if I were upset and wanting to calm down I wouldn’t want some stranger to be carrying me away from the one person that I know and recognize. Step one, as a parent is to stay calm and collected. If you are stressed or anxious your child will pick up those insecurities in a heart beat.
We had our son on the flight and he was just over a year old. I remember the looks that we got from people and knew exactly what they were thinking. They were thinking the same thing that we heard when flying to Hawaii, “If that kid screams and ruins my vacation I will be very upset.” Really, it’s just a flight, but some people think if the flight goes bad, their entire vacation is ruined.
I get it though, you want to just sit back, relax, enjoy your Diet Coke and not have to worry about a thing. But when there is a screaming baby on board your flight suddenly everything changes. We all get stressed out and would be happier if we just drove.
I just find it funny that in the news they talk about making #ChildFreeFlights and kids’ class when really it’s is all about the parents controlling their own child, being a parent and planning ahead. I know when we go on vacation we want to do just that, be on vacation from our regular everyday lives. Well, when you become a parent that isn’t always the luxury that you get. Well at least not until your kids are older.
Just prepare for flights, have things for your toddler and baby to do and if all else fails, give them a little melatonin and you’ll all have a much better flight. For tips on traveling with a toddler you can review my previous post Traveling With a Toddler or Perfect Toddler Travel Bag that gives activities and suggestions for smooth sailing flights.
