Aircraft and babies

itsmylife_2

Long haul flights you don't generally get free child places, only package holidays, and even then they are strictly limited. I have been fortunate in that I have been in a financial position to be able to do many plane journeys with my son, but I have never once got a free child place, and it winds me up no end for people to think that they can tut at me because they think he is there for free.

I think what people are saying is that they have paid for their child to be on the plane too. It is difficult to have people glaring at you when you arrive with a child, regardless of how they are behaving - I have spent a whole flight with a man glaring at me for having the audacity of bringing a child on a plane - never mind the fact that my son was sitting on my knee (and yes we paid for him then too) and slept the entire journey not bothering anyone (except me who had lost all feeling in my legs! :rotfl:). I just wish people would stop judging us all on the actions of a few, the majority of us keep our kids under control and go out of our way to amuse them on a flight.

skylight

PC Brigade.....

Mine had a good slapped bottom last year on the plane. She didn't want to sit still, screamed, banged etc. My problem is that smacking (esp in public) is really frowned upon so I was loathe to do that, but after half an hour of this, it was something I was not prepared to tolerate and neither should anyone else. Unfortunately the second the "slap" slapped, the entire plane fell silent (or it felt like it...) and the sound vibrated all the way down the end and back again..... But it worked. Short sharp sting and she was told that I would not tolerate that behaviour any longer and if she didn't behave then she would a) get another one and b) never be allowed to go to Granddads again. The rest of the kids were angels for the flights.

Since then, I have never had a problem with her - the rest are all fine! We get comments about how well behaved they are on flights/trains/transport in general etc.

Its to do with parenting. I have seen parents get on board with their fill of duty-free bags, but nothing for the kids to do for 4 hours. My kids, its my responsibility to keep the under control and amused - I would do so at home, so being on a plane shouldn't change that!

And I have sat next to nastier, ruder and generally more disgusting adults than children

lisaloo1977

POSSETTE wrote: »

i also kind of agree with this...you do hear a lot about "child places are free"...so why are you saying all children have to be paid for..my grandkids went for free last year...so it is the adults who subsidse this surely?

they are taking a seat on the plane..why shouldnt you pay full price for that child?? i dont get it if i sat on seat it would be full adult price if child sits there its free or half price? why?.same seat, same journey, same fuel,especially when your a small size 8(which i hasten im not:o !)and there is an obese fat kid sat there using more fuel!!

As pointed out to the previous poster, i have NEVER had a free flight for my son. Infact, i have on some journeys paid close to £1000 for his seat, still think he did not have a right to be there? Funny that the airline do seem to think he does and were happy to take my money.
You do realise that Free child seats are like free deposits on cars they just work the money in somewhere else and it is not really free anyway. You do not get anything for free, you just think you do.

Can i just say your point does not really add up either, small child does not have adult meals, free alcoholic drinks and any baggage allowance. I think the baggage allowance alone would offset the fat kid dig. If you are going to say a fat child has no right to be on there at a child price, which is by the way 75% of an adult fare, because they are causing the plane to use more fuel than a size 8 person who could be sat in that seat, then what about the really fat adults who use even more fuel than them? Do you want to ban them from flying for fear that given their weight they have got a better deal. Thank god your not in charge of an airline, or maybe you were Zoom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

islandannie

POSSETTE wrote: »

i also kind of agree with this...you do hear a lot about "child places are free"...so why are you saying all children have to be paid for..my grandkids went for free last year...so it is the adults who subsidse this surely?

they are taking a seat on the plane..why shouldnt you pay full price for that child?? i dont get it if i sat on seat it would be full adult price if child sits there its free or half price? why?.same seat, same journey, same fuel,especially when your a small size 8(which i hasten im not:o !)and there is an obese fat kid sat there using more fuel!!

Nice diatribe,but in reality me paying for my children to fly Business class actually helps subsidise the ordinary fare paying passenger.

cranezoe

if people want to pay to fly without kids then thats fine with me.
I have only flown with my toddler once, she was fine on the way out, cried and struggled a bit on the way back but the thing that was hardest for me was feeling so stressed about what other people think and watching them shift in their seats and look cross that they were unfortunate enough to be sitting near us. So... maybe parents would then relax and children would behave better as there is no stress to be picked up on.

I would pay to ensure that the people on the plane would all be civilised! no pushing and shoving, no putting their chairs right back and then pushing with all their might to see if it will go back further (WHY???). The big people spilling into my seat, the smelly ones, the ones who want to get up and down all through the flight.. I could go on!

Pssst

I hate the assumption that we should all like,put up with other peoples kids. If i wanted kids I'd have em and further,I'd parent them so that they were better behaved. Theres nothing worse than some wailing brat on a confined aircraft.

cranezoe

Course there are worse things! an idiotic adult behaving badly who should know better. people will always have something that gets on their nerves.
At least with YOUNG children you can make an allowance because they don't understand. and if you had kids you'd maybe realise that. I parent my child as best as I can, of course I want her to behave and have manners - the one time we flew with her she was 18 months, fine on the way out but just overtired and disorientated on the way back which made her cry. shes only little.
So you SHOULD put up with children in the same way that you are expected you put up with adults.

I completely agree that its unnaceptable to have older children kicking seats, being a menace and running about or shrieking and screaming.

sturll

Pssst wrote: »

I hate the assumption that we should all like,put up with other peoples kids. If i wanted kids I'd have em and further,I'd parent them so that they were better behaved. Theres nothing worse than some wailing brat on a confined aircraft.

As an adult should you not realise that 'putting' up with a baby is acceptance of the fact that at that age they know no better? As an adult do you not understand that a baby cannot communicate with his/her parent what is wrong, and that for babies when the pressure changes it effects their tiny ear canals more than adults and the only way for them to clear that pain is through crying.

If you had kids you might understand slightly better and be in a better position to lambast all those parents that obviously like the sound of their kids crying and enjoy everyone looking at them, and their already tedious 12 hour flight being that bit more tedious.

DKLS

I would in the past happily pay extra for child free flights,as I have had way too many red eye flights with mewling spawns of satan, wailing away for the entire flight.

However since discovering the joys of Bose noise cancelling headphones and valium, I can now travel in peace, and only suffer the occasional foul smell of children. I love technology, if you throw enough money at a problem, there is usually a solution.

davidlizard

Re the kicking of seats - one thing I have noticed with ours (currently 3 yo) is that if she sits in the seat "normally", then her legs are too short to fold at the knee, and instead she has to sit with her legs straight out in front of her, which then is touching the seat in front, which can then be interpreted as kicking the seat in front. We put a pillow behind her so she can sit normally, but this is not permitted for take off and landing. I have noticed a lot of other similarly aged children sit in such a manner.

We usually make a point of speaking to the people in front of us, as say if theres any problem then please let us know rather than sit there and stew. It breaks the ice nicely.

Another problem is parents who have every good intention and bring things along keep them amused during the flight - however these often include noisy toys (rattles, electronic games), or activities which go on the folded down table with any tapping being transmitted to the seat in front.