Its public transportation. Just like Metro, can't complain when you have an option to walk or drive. You should fly private if kids are a problem for you.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent who has flown with my two kids since they were infants. It is indeed possible to teach even small children to behave on planes and not bother those around them. It takes a little advanced planning to ensure that you have activities that will engage your kids (and not electronic toys that annoy people with their noises), and it takes energy while you're on the flight to help keep them entertained. But that's a parent's job.

Yes. Be prepared with many activities and snacks, clear about limits, and engage/distract. Sure, I miss the days of getting on a night flight with a magazine and a drink and then putting on my eyemask for 5 hours. We've had a few flights that have been a lot of work. On an awful flight where DC2 cried and cried, at least people could see we were trying to calm the kid down. And that is what I find frustrating when I travel. The parents who are oblivious to what their kids are doing or see it and don't give a flying @$%! that their kids are annoying others.

More than once, we have shared our activities and engaged with random children who were going a little nuts. On one flight, two flight attendants came by to thank me for it, and on another a fellow passenger bought me a drink!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i am a very frequent flier and have been on both sides of this. it is really not that complicated. parents need to engage in their best efforts to keep things under control. non parents need to recognize that kids are people too and are entitled to use air travel, that no parent has 100 percent control of a child's behavior, and that reasonable allowances must be made. parents need to understand that certain things are completely unacceptable (seat kicking being the best example) and that people encountering such behavior have every right to be angry about it. tension is high on these issues because airlines have gotten so good at managing load factors that planes are now almost always full, so flying sucks generally for all

+1

My DS has flown to Europe, Asia, and to the west coast in the two years since he was born, and some flights were great and some were not so great. He's actually been the best in business/first class, maybe because there's more room and it's not as stressful (for everyone but me, as I was desperately praying that he would not aggravate our fellow passengers). I am a frequent flyer for work and I know how it feels to get on a plane and see that you're sitting next to a baby when all you want to do is sleep, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes. Flying isn't fun for any of us.

I was just going to say that! My kids have been the best behaved while in business class because a) the seat ahead of you is too far away to kick and b) there so much more room for the kids to play.

I've flown many times with my kids, the most difficult time being when the kids are between 1-3 years old. It's tough trying to keep your kid's feet from kicking the seat in front of you, especially when your child's legs are too short to bend over the edge of the seat and thus stick straight out. We've sat there holding our kids' legs to keep them from kicking for the entire flight. lol However, I remember one notoriously horrible flight from Europe to the U.S. on an incredibly cramped plane. My baby was uncomfortable and crying, and nothing we could do except stand up and rock her would work. The aisles were full, so we went to the middle area where the flight crew hung out. Even though my baby had stopped crying by then, I was told to sit back down because we were "too close to business class and would disturb them." At that point, I just sat down as told and let my baby scream; I think I cried as well. We were two rows from business class, by the way, so I'm sure the screaming bothered them anyway.

Anonymous wrote:i am a very frequent flier and have been on both sides of this. it is really not that complicated. parents need to engage in their best efforts to keep things under control. non parents need to recognize that kids are people too and are entitled to use air travel, that no parent has 100 percent control of a child's behavior, and that reasonable allowances must be made. parents need to understand that certain things are completely unacceptable (seat kicking being the best example) and that people encountering such behavior have every right to be angry about it. tension is high on these issues because airlines have gotten so good at managing load factors that planes are now almost always full, so flying sucks generally for all

Wow! A rational poster on DCUM!

Anonymous wrote:i am a very frequent flier and have been on both sides of this. it is really not that complicated. parents need to engage in their best efforts to keep things under control. non parents need to recognize that kids are people too and are entitled to use air travel, that no parent has 100 percent control of a child's behavior, and that reasonable allowances must be made. parents need to understand that certain things are completely unacceptable (seat kicking being the best example) and that people encountering such behavior have every right to be angry about it. tension is high on these issues because airlines have gotten so good at managing load factors that planes are now almost always full, so flying sucks generally for all

+1

My DS has flown to Europe, Asia, and to the west coast in the two years since he was born, and some flights were great and some were not so great. He's actually been the best in business/first class, maybe because there's more room and it's not as stressful (for everyone but me, as I was desperately praying that he would not aggravate our fellow passengers). I am a frequent flyer for work and I know how it feels to get on a plane and see that you're sitting next to a baby when all you want to do is sleep, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes. Flying isn't fun for any of us.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent who has flown with my two kids since they were infants. It is indeed possible to teach even small children to behave on planes and not bother those around them. It takes a little advanced planning to ensure that you have activities that will engage your kids (and not electronic toys that annoy people with their noises), and it takes energy while you're on the flight to help keep them entertained. But that's a parent's job.