I know this is often a controversial subject. On our third flight on our journey home yesterday( and thankfully the shortest) we encountered the child of every parent's nightmare. Mum and four year old sat behind us. They had also been on longhaul( florida) and I admired how mum interacted with her son as the flight took off. She had a sticker book and was involving him in placing the stickers to tell the story. She was very calm and did all the right things. Then it started. During take off, her son decided he didn't want his seatbelt on. The battle of wills went on, with mum calm to begin with, putting it back on right away and explaining why he had to wear it. As it immediately came off for the fifth time she was getting very fraught and panicking. He then, shortly afterwards, discovered the joys of unlatching the table and immediately hitting it back up again. I felt sorry for both the person immediately beside me who was putting up with it all, and the mother, who by now was almost in tears trying to get him to stop it. Mum's sister had obviously had had enough long before and totally ignored the situation. At one point mum burst out with- that's it, I am never, ever taking you anywhere every again!!
Finally, we got to a very bumpy descent, whereupon the boy reverted to being angelic again and playing with his stickers, whilst several other young ones were crying out in distress( understandably).
Poor mum- I felt so sorry for her. Not sure what else she could have done. But oh the stress of travelling with a little one!
We've got four small ones to travel with and have varying degrees of success in entertaining them. Usually they are very demanding for the whole flight to Florida and then pass out as the plane hits the tarmac the otherside. Then you have to wake them up to get off 
I have a lot of patience for parents who try to keep the kids entertained.... the ones who can't be bothered really annoy me... sounds like this woman really tried.
I remember going to Ibiza in 88. The plane was over 15 hours late taking off and everyones patience was wearing thin.In front of us a family of 6 with the youngest son playing mum up. Seatbelt,table up and down,talking loud,seat reclined up/down and just ignoring is mums pleas to calm down.The man in front got irritated by the table being slammed into his seat. All this before we'd taken off. Mum was at the end of her tether. Then dad swapped seats with mum. Table slammed up, dad warned him,2nd time another warning,3rd time wallop and tears from the youngster,4th time, oh there wasn't a fourth.
The pc brigade won't like it but i'll say this, the little fella sat there,ate his meal and read his book to his dad as if nothing had happened.On the return flight we were near them again. This time him and his sister sat together and sang nearly all the way home, a real pair of entertainers.
The pc brigade won't like it but i'll say this, the little fella sat there,ate his meal and read his book to his dad as if nothing had happened.On the return flight we were near them again. This time him and his sister sat together and sang nearly all the way home, a real pair of entertainers.
dramaqueen wrote:I have a lot of patience for parents who try to keep the kids entertained.... the ones who can't be bothered really annoy me... sounds like this woman really tried.
Me too dramaqueen
so long as the parents are trying to keep the kids entertained, I don't really care what the kids do, at the end of the day they are little kids and we were all kids once and probably got on some adults nerves somewhere along the way, the moaners tend to forget that they were kids once or have a view that they were the one kid that was perfect. ("Yeah right 
)When mine were little if I saw other parents whose kids were playing up a bit, I just used to think there but for the grace......... And be thankful it wasn't mine.
Doe
When I was flying back recently , there was a mother who had a baby and was soothing and interacting and the baby made no noise at all even on take off and descending , while another mother who had a toddler was just ignoring him as he screamed relentlessly , the screaming was intense and of the type that you knew his throat was going to hurt for a few days , at one point a member of cabin crew walked by and said in a mock officious voice to the boy " what's all that crying for ? " and he immediately was quiet ( sadly she moved on and he started again ) all he needed was some attention and comforting .
It's not the children's fault , theyre only doing what children normally do . If I have a child near me who seems bored/disruptive I start a game of " I - spy " it's technically a bit boring on a plane but I loved it as a child to pass away the hours in the car travelling on holiday , it made a change from me, my brother and sister puking on each other .
It's not the children's fault , theyre only doing what children normally do . If I have a child near me who seems bored/disruptive I start a game of " I - spy " it's technically a bit boring on a plane but I loved it as a child to pass away the hours in the car travelling on holiday , it made a change from me, my brother and sister puking on each other .
It must be awful for families with unsettled children, but also boring for the child too. With them only being small all they can really see is the back of a chair for hours on end. When my son was small we used to encourage him to pack his own little backpak with toys, games of his choice. Nowadays you could download some kids films/cartoons onto an ipad or something to keep them entertained. But as Andy says sometimes just verbal interaction games can go along way to help.
I'm starting to plan our first family holiday with my two babies for this summer (main reason why i've signed up to the site for some advice).
I can honestly say that the flight alone is the main reason why I've put off travelling abroad for the past few years!
Oldest is 3, youngest is 8 months old.
Must admit as a youngin' with no kids I was one of the insensitive passengers tutting at the parents of annoying kids and now I face being in this situation i'm dreading it! My 3 year old boy struggles to stay still for more than 5 minutes at a time and tantrums are his favourite hobby!
I'll let you know when and where we book, so you can avoid us!
I can honestly say that the flight alone is the main reason why I've put off travelling abroad for the past few years!
Oldest is 3, youngest is 8 months old.
Must admit as a youngin' with no kids I was one of the insensitive passengers tutting at the parents of annoying kids and now I face being in this situation i'm dreading it! My 3 year old boy struggles to stay still for more than 5 minutes at a time and tantrums are his favourite hobby!
I'll let you know when and where we book, so you can avoid us!
LOL it will be fine and don't take any notice of anyone who is horrid to you or your kids as you will never see them again.
If you are already feeling stressed out at the thought just make sure you pick the shortest flight possible. I travelled when one of mine was 3 and the other was 9 months.
A lot of folk forget they were once that age themselves and makes you think they came out of the womb perfectly formed at age 30 tutting and sighing.
Doe
If you are already feeling stressed out at the thought just make sure you pick the shortest flight possible. I travelled when one of mine was 3 and the other was 9 months.
A lot of folk forget they were once that age themselves and makes you think they came out of the womb perfectly formed at age 30 tutting and sighing.
Doe
you have as much right to be on that plane the same as everyone else wether your kids are as good as gold or little tearaways like doe says were they never young you will always get someone moaning we all like a smooth journey and to have fun so do your kids we don't have any but we love to see them getting excited many of them want to see who is behind them on the plane and play peek a boo what harm is there in that im the same people moaning and tutting at me im disabled in a wheelchair and cannot walk far you cant please everyone hope you find a good holiday and have a fab time
Thank you for your well wishes lol!
Settled on a 3 hour flight to malaga so not too bad. Already started collecting a goody bag of distractions for them too!
xxx
Settled on a 3 hour flight to malaga so not too bad. Already started collecting a goody bag of distractions for them too!
xxx
I just listen to my music if a little one starts screaming
What I won't tolerate is kids kicking the back of my seat. I turn round and ask them, very politely, to pleases stop doing it. If they persist, I turn round again, glare at them, and say "STOP IT NOW". Usually does the trick.
What I won't tolerate is kids kicking the back of my seat. I turn round and ask them, very politely, to pleases stop doing it. If they persist, I turn round again, glare at them, and say "STOP IT NOW". Usually does the trick.
I agree nothing more annoying than a spoilt brat kicking your seat for 10 hours !!!!!!
the sooner they invent a drug to knock you out when you sit down and revive you 30 mins before lading the better for everyone.
the sooner they invent a drug to knock you out when you sit down and revive you 30 mins before lading the better for everyone.
madasharley wrote:I agree nothing more annoying than a spoilt brat kicking your seat for 10 hours !!!!!!
the sooner they invent a drug to knock you out when you sit down and revive you 30 mins before lading the better for everyone.
That's a bit harsh on the children
But I agree it could be useful 
I'm sure a packet of calpol would do the trick 
Settled on a 3 hour flight to malaga so not too bad. Already started collecting a goody bag of distractions for them too!
I think that's a very sensible decision.
I sometimes think that parents book flights consisting of 4/5/6/7/8/9/10 hours long because THEY want to go to these places, and the poor kids have no choice in the matter - they get dragged along and have to suffer because their parents want to go - then after booking, they start asking questions on how to keep little Dwayne and Chantelle occupied in a confined space for hours.
errm, why not consider that before?
Sanji
I agree with you there Sanji , because its not just the 3 hour flight , it's the time to travel to the airport , possibly about 3 hours in the airport , then waiting for luggage and then the transfer to the accommodation , so it could easily be 8 hours + on the go , which is tough going on all concerned .
Pippy wrote:I just listen to my music if a little one starts screaming
What I won't tolerate is kids kicking the back of my seat. I turn round and ask them, very politely, to pleases stop doing it. If they persist, I turn round again, glare at them, and say "STOP IT NOW". Usually does the trick.
In my experience, asking the child to stop kicking, even politely, simply invites a mouthful of abuse from the parents who seem to think that their hyperactive junk food fuelled offspring have a God given right to annoy anyone on board the plane.
I REALLY look forward to the day when we get adult only flights.
Many of us would pay a lot more - as we do for Adult Only hotels which happily are starting to get really popular now.
I bet you find the flight is fine. The excitement of a new experience generally has the ability to keep children entertained.
We first flew with our daughter when she had just turned 3 and we found that a DS or portable DVD player kept her from being bored. I think most people get frustrated by parents who dont do anything when their child plays up, even as a parent if there was a child behind me kicking my seat and the parents said nothing I would be a bit cross too but as long as the parent addressed it and even if they carried on then it wouldnt bother me, after all we have all been there either as parents or children ourselves.
We first flew with our daughter when she had just turned 3 and we found that a DS or portable DVD player kept her from being bored. I think most people get frustrated by parents who dont do anything when their child plays up, even as a parent if there was a child behind me kicking my seat and the parents said nothing I would be a bit cross too but as long as the parent addressed it and even if they carried on then it wouldnt bother me, after all we have all been there either as parents or children ourselves.
That's a bit harsh on the children But I agree it could be useful I'm sure a packet of calpol would do the trick :think
But I agree it could be useful I'm sure a packet of calpol would do the trick :thinkI did mean the drug for everyone of us
not just the little angels
madasharley wrote:That's a bit harsh on the children
I did mean the drug for everyone of us
not just the little angels :roflI think you got my drift LOL. I find that alcohol relaxes me , a couple of bacardis and I'm chilled , feeling very laid back .....literally , in my club class seat
Ukbill, not sure if adult only flights will happen , but I've stayed at adult only hotels and really enjoyed them , was at one earlier in the year and got talking to different people here and there with small talk saying how nice the hotel was , I was saying how good the food and drink was and the other person said , what I like about the hotel is there are no kids , they seemed embarrassed about saying this by adding are you allowed to say that ? As if it was politically incorrect to make such a statement , and they had children and grandchildren they take on holiday in the summer .
I now generally look for hotels that are mainly geared up for adults , not because I hate kids , its just my preference .
Whenever I have kids or babies near or next to me on a flight they have always been really lovely and the parents too , I think it really is an over exaggerated problem
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