A major pet peeve on a plane.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Nice touch, her having had two miscarriages. Also her in-utero child serving a mission. And her joining the church. All sorts of embellishments here.

Not to mention miscarrying both of them in the Chicago airport

[smokymountainrain]

Not so thankfully, not all parents are the same, at least in their ability to control their kids.

International flights are, of course, without recourse to alternatives. Deal with it.

I should qualify what I said above, however, by saying that's my personal policy. I don't complain about other people's kids until I get home - I'm not going to raise an issue on the plane as long as I have earphones. But I simply don't fly with my kids unless I'm comfortable I can do it without some member of my family being the ass that makes everybody else uncomfortable.

Niku, I guess my point is that most parents, if they could keep their kids from crying, they would. I've met very few who enjoy the "crying on a plane" experience.

And there are several other circumstances that may require a flight even within the lower 48.

[CJF]

I'm on Tim's side here - and I'll remind all of you that I am a veteran of the toddler Tokyo Nonstop of 2003. If I can keep an 18 month old and a three year old happy for 14 straight hours, you can too. I simply do not fly unless I feel competent in keeping my kids pacified within reason. I will drive instead.

Obviously there will be some crying by babies. That is okay. I'm talking about multiple hours of nonstop crying. It is perfectly acceptable, in my view, to pop out a nipple and breastfeed midflight, if that helps. I suspect Marsupial will back me up on that.

What did you do to keep your 18 month old happy on that flight to Tokyo? Breastfeeding is not an option. At least not for the 18 month old. Might help me relax though.

Here is my concern. Our boy is extremely active. He doesn't do well in Church and that is with a whole row and only an hour and change. So he can either annoy the heck out of everyone after breaking free, or he'll annoy the heck out of everyone when restrained. I'm seriously dreading every minute of this. I like the idea mentioned already of taking little presents and letting him unwrap and play. That might keep him busy for a bit. I'm open for other suggestions. Especially from those who have pulled it off.

[Jarid in Cedar]

If I've learned anything here, I've learned that embellishment is what Mormons do best.

[Fiyero]

I had a flight where a one year old kept crying and crying and some of the people around him complained. I had an iPod and just turned the music up. But I paused it when a Steward came over because I wanted to hear the confrontation, and he explained that small children who fly for the first time aren't used to the altitude adjustment and the changes in cabin pressure, so they often develop pain inside of their ears. (I remember when I was young, going from Park City down the canyon to Salt Lake City, and I had to yawn to get my ears to "pop"). He said it helps if they have a binky or something to suck on, because it alleviates the pain. Unfortunately, a child with pain in his ears doesn't want a binky, he doesn't understand he connection.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I'm on Tim's side here - and I'll remind all of you that I am a veteran of the toddler Tokyo Nonstop of 2003. If I can keep an 18 month old and a three year old happy for 14 straight hours, you can too. I simply do not fly unless I feel competent in keeping my kids pacified within reason. I will drive instead.

Obviously there will be some crying by babies. That is okay. I'm talking about multiple hours of nonstop crying. It is perfectly acceptable, in my view, to pop out a nipple and breastfeed midflight, if that helps. I suspect Marsupial will back me up on that.

Consider yourself lucky not competent.

[kccougar]

Tim, Tim, Tim. I know you're a compassionate guy, but must you save it all for the flattened bunnies with none to spare for the stressed-out parent?

You know we are all marking this thread for review in a few years.

[TripletDaddy]

For those with the inside dope on how to convince your baby to stop crying, please PM me. I think I have a really viable business idea.

[MarkGrace]

In my experience, the people who fly the most are the most tolerant. I've rarely seen intolerance in first class. When I first started flying a lot, I cashed in some miles for a family vacation and I was upgraded. I wanted my wife to have a chance to fly first class, so I gave her the ticket and offered to hold our then 18-month old. She wouldn't take the seat without taking the baby, so we agreed that if the baby started fussing we would switch back. The moment she sat down, the gentleman next to her introduced himself and told her he would be happy to help with anything she needed. Everyone was very obliging. I think probably because the folks in first class have all flown with kids, they are usually very understanding.

Ha. Sounds like you had one experience that colored your impression.

First class passengers are the least tolerant group on a flight.

[kccougar]

Consider yourself lucky not competent.

Best response of the thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

It never bothers me. I always carry a few pairs of earplugs when I fly. May not shut it out completely, but it certainly takes the edge off.

I figure the last thing a stressed out parent with a crying child needs is for his/her fellow passengers to bitch and give dirty looks.

[Pheidippides]

Consider yourself lucky not competent.

Yeah, 10 years of no problems with hundreds of thousands of cumulative in-air miles, all based on consistent parenting approaches that have nothing to do with flights is luck. I may as well just give the hell up on this parenting shit, since obviously nothing I do means a damn.

[cowboy]

Ha. Sounds like you had one experience that colored your impression.

First class passengers are the least tolerant group on a flight.

Our experiences may be different, but my opinion isn't based on one incident. I fly around 30 first class segments every year and see intolerance a lot more in coach than in first class. Last night's episode was in coach.

[Soccermom]

Our experiences may be different, but my opinion isn't based on one incident. I fly around 30 first class segments every year and see intolerance a lot more in coach than in first class. Last night's episode was in coach.

Am I the only one here who has never flown first class?

[happyone]

Am I the only one here who has never flown first class?

nope Then again I don't fly much