Today I just want to talk about crying children on planes, just because I had a recent unusual experience that inspired me . . .
Do you enjoy flying? Do you like relaxing with a glass of wine? Maybe a good book?
Are you a chatty person who will soon socialise with your “neighbour”?
Or are you nervous and looking forward to land?
Of course, everyone is different and has their preferences, and everyone flies for different reasons (work, pleasure, family duty..) but on the flight back from our holidays last week, we encountered a rather “grumpy” person.
He was on his 60s probably, sitting right behind us and welcomed us onboard looking at his wife and saying BAD NEWS! Oh, thank you, sir, after a delayed departure, being a pain for everyone, not only for yourself, you made it clear that a toddler in front of you would have been a BIG problem for your flight. Well, I’m not sorry for having a child!
Now my daughter had 20 flights in 23 months of life, she got quite used to it and she never behaved badly. So I didn’t pay much attention and wasn’t worried!
But with children on planes, you never know! They are CHILDREN after all? Right!
We were the first boarding, so once the plane got full of our “grumpy friend” realised there were a lot of children around him, not only mine. No one was crying yet, but he asked to be moved to the back. I noticed parents started exchanging curious looks at each other not understanding much . . .
The flight was quite pleasant I thought and honestly no children were being fussy! One hour later our “friend” walked to the front of the cabin and started loudly complaining with the flight manager. I simply quote here: “I hate all this screaming. This flight is horrible. There are children crying at the back, children screaming at the front. There are children everywhere!”
At this point, he was being very rude and behaving like a child himself, to be honest! And a dad actually said that to him!
Come on let’s face it!
I understand a child’s scream is not the most pleasant thing. Definitely not even for parents but it’s something that cannot always be under control!
On planes, there are other annoying factors that could be avoided but no one complains about that!
– People brings in smelly foods that quickly spread all over and that’s fine, no problem. Oh, wait a minute! Parents at the security control must have a sip of milk or water they are carrying for their little one.
– There are very loud people, talking a lot and in some case swearing more . . . Wow! Is that not irritating?
– What about people wearing strong perfumes or having a bad body odour? This can even cause stomach discomfort, especially in a close environment like a plane.
These are just a few examples.
Can you avoid children crying? Well, yes you could if you know the cause, but there are so many and it will take a bit to solve the issue, right? I read in lots of places that babies don’t come with instruction manuals and it’s true! There is so much a parent needs to learn by itself! And it takes time, patience, observation, knowledge . . . everything you’ve got. Especially if they are the babies and they are your first!!
They could be uncomfortable, too hot, too cold, hungry, thirsty, have dirty nappy, over-stimulated, over-tired, scared, they can experience tension, stress from the trip and possible delays, space constriction, they are not on their usual routine and in the specific case of the flight they are very sensitive to the air pressure on their little ears.
We all are! Adults can experience ear pain as well but we know how to deal with it.
Children, however, react crying.
For babies, a little sip of milk during taking off and landing time is usually enough to break the pressure. For toddler and children a sip of water, blowing the nose or sucking a lolly are some options. They need to move their jaw to release the air pressure in the ears and they’ll be fine! We got this little trick from other parents luckily since our first flight with Amy. But honestly, not many people know it and worst of all not many will tell you! There you have my little tip!
The flight attendant just before the landing offered a tissue to all parents inviting them to blow their children’s nose (probably he felt he needed to prevent more annoying moaning from our “friend”) and this was the first time in nearly 2 years and 20 flights that someone gave this advice. So thank you Easyjet steward, unfortunately, I don’t know your name but as a parent, I really appreciate it.
The post is actually supposed to help parents with future flights so I hope you got the point along with the story 🙂
We cannot throw our children out in the air! So at the of the story for all the fussy people, there are always private jets that can take you everywhere you want in peace and quiet! Ha ha ha ha
For all the rest there is respect of each other, help and preparation!
Fly safe!
PS.I cannot have a post without an image so enjoy these
