My wife swore off breast-feeding when he got his teeth.
I wouldn’t even be worried about it for a short flight (4 hours or less.) It’s the all-night trip that’s the problem.
Pacifier? Ring Pop?
Except that I’m not giving a common cold medecine. The article also says : “the committee skipped any lengthy discussion of antihistamines like Benadryl”. The article does not say that the serious health problems occurred with antihistamines.
I hope there will one day be an airline that does not allow children under a certain age on it’s flights. I’ll be transferring my frequent flier miles to their program faster than one can imagine. Seems like a valid business decision once you get past all the “anti-family” hand wringing. You’d have the business travel market cornered.
Personally, It shocks me that so many parents put their kids through that. Kids are often terrified, confused and in pain due to the changes in cabin pressure for the span of hours. Does the infant really have to go to Disney?
I’m doubly shocked that parents often think it’s practical to not buy the child his own seat. That has to increase the likelihood of a meltdown by what, 500…600 percent?
Brandy
No problem with that. I left out one final detail. Alitalia never gave us enough water to supply the entire family. If I pressed any harder, I probably would have been labeled a terrorist. Once I got my daughter into the comandeered lavatory, I was getting more and more thirsty partially because I had to keep her restrained and a toddler in distress can be surprisingly strong. I couldn’t take it anymore and I eyed the lavatory sink. I couldn’t resist and used my hand as a cup and just drank and drank to my hearts content like a person lost in the desert might do to a filthy puddle.
Once back at home, I broke out into this massive rash on my upper back, my arms, and part of my neck. It was bad and looked like something from a dermatology textbook. Doctors couldn’t figure out exactly what is was and it lasted two months before it started to heal.
The moral to this story is that, if your toddler gets so out of control that you have to commandeer a bathroom on the plane, don’t drink from the faucet no matter how good the mirage in the sink looks.
No, but Grandma might like to see the infant a handful of times before she dies.
That being said, I am all for an adults-only airline. Trust me, people flying with their kids in tow like seeing people who are horrified and disgusted by the prospect of being near small children on a flight, just about as much as those people like seeing the small children.
I’m shocked by a lot of things that people put their kids through, but long plane flights to visit relatives aren’t one of them.
I’m with you.
For lengthy flights (to NZ, for example), we’ve taken to flying business class (not that this happens much). Unfortunately, there are children there, too. Just not as many.
A friend and his wife recently took a vacation to Switzerland to visit her family, with both the two year old and the jack russell terrier in tow. They flew first class. As Sonny reports, it’s a good thing that the child waited until they were in flight to begin screaming because he’s convinced they would have been thrown off the plane. If I were a fellow passenger and had paid that much money to sit in first class only to be serenaded for hours by a screaming toddler, I would have been livid.
Then don’t tell other people they need to medically sedate theirs so your flight is quiet. If it bothers you that much, put on the earphones. I still like my earplugs idea, too. The foam ones work very well.
I’m going to take the word of the DOCTOR here and stick with my position that drugging children for convenience is a bad idea.
I wouldn’t dream of telling someone else to sedate their child under any circumstances. And I never said drugging kids was seriously a good idea. I’m sorry if the tongue-in-cheek nature of “drug them to the gills” flew right past you, but the serious part of my post was that your opinion that you’d prefer screaming kids to sedated ones can hardly be taken as the universal one. But I certainly wasn’t trying to argue anyone out of their position, especially if it’s espoused by a real live DOCTOR.
Just a comment on the lack of water on the airplane – if buying a 1L at the shops may be an issue (tight schedule, cost, etc), note that (within US at least) you’re allowed to bring an empty water bottle thru security. Once you get past TSA you can fill it up at the water fountain and bring it on the airplane.
I don’t believe there are supposed to be any restrictions on bringing post-security liquids on the flights, but a friend did recently have his airport coffee taken away at the gate so perhaps tuck it away at boarding.
Given your stated attitude, I recommend you don’t take the children anywhere, let alone on plane trips.
Whatsamatter, Carol, couldn’t find a bush to squat behind?
I’m with ya Hockey. In the pre 9/11 days, you could bring your own beverages on board, but not your own alcohol so the airlines could sell you their own. At $5 for crap alcohol, I wasn’t interested in forking over the cash.
Turns out gin and tonic in a nalgene looks a awful lot like water. Best 9-hour flight ever.
I’d also remember to plan ahead for the trip home too. On the way there, everyone is well-rested, excited, the toys are new, the DVDs are new, and being on a plane is a new experience. On the trip home, all of that is out the door. The kids are tired, possibly over-tired, and they remember how boring the first flight was. I’d make sure I had some surprises for the trip home.
Whatsamatter, Q.E.D, couldn’t find the proper forum for personal insults?
I repeat the warning to test out the benadryl say a week before your trip. Bring a lot of wet wipe packets, snacks and stuff in various pockets so you can quick draw. Does the little one like a pacifier? If so bring a dozen.
DVD player with a lot of batteries is really the way to go. Bring his favorites.
I’ve never seen kids in a car seat on flights across the pacific, and imagine that would be pretty hard after a few hours.
Do NOT make the mistake of trying to have a “tired” kid by skipping naps or waking up early before the flight. Chances are having a cranky kid that can’t sleep. Certainly try to tire him out in the airport at the kid’s area, or bring a remote controlled car and let him chase it for 45 minute.
Walking laps around the aisles are good. If it’s a 747 and you can swing it, climbing up and down the stairs is pretty good.
My last trip had two hours of screaming twin in my arms by the galley, and when I finally got her to sleep, little sister woke up and was screaming for the next 2 hours. Shit happens.
I don’t think that was a personal insult. You posted a bizarre insulting post which didn’t have anything to do with the thread. In other words, you thread shat. Q.E.D.'s calling you on it was a little obscured by his metaphor, but obviously not a personal insult. Instead of shitting behind a bush, you shit in this thread. We’ve always been allowed to call threadshitting or comment negatively on *behavior *when we see it.
(Q.E.D., if I’ve misinterpreted your remark, I apologize.)
Noting your threadshitting isn’t a personal insult, it’s an observation.
Nope. You were dead on.