What an obnoxious, selfish attitude.
No, people don’t think they’re “entitled” to sleep through an overnight, transatlantic flight, but they sure HOPE they can. But no, selfish parents like you apparently deliberately bring noisy toys to entertain their kids, and the rest of us be damned, right? :rolleyes:
I don’t think you’re reading all the words. And I meant for the tone of what I said to be less hostile and calmer than your response. I agree that people have every right to expect courtesy from the parents, but not to expect that children on long flights won’t occasionally annoy.
I have heard parents praise this solution. I have heard from the medical profession, “Don’t give children Benadryl as a sleep aid” but never heard the rationale. Wouldn’t hurt to ask your pediatrician.
Wake him up real early, and keep him hyperactive, running around the airport, etc., so that he is tired and goes to sleep once on the plane.
Thank you for all the advice. All like reading about how other people did get through this! Doctor said no to the Benadryl so we are going o try and tire him out at the airport.
I’m very interested to hear your argument that people aren’t entitled to not being disturbed. If your kid is crying that’s one thing–an annoying thing, but the parent should be expected to deal with it as best they can–but if you’re bringing some stupid toy that makes noise and pisses other people off, you’ll have to explain your reasoning there. Otherwise, shouldn’t I be allowed to play music or something?
I don’t think you’re reading all the words either. But I don’t have a need to debate it. Besides, I’m pretty sure that you and the person before you who was upset about what I said are right in step with the cultural majority.
cheers? 
By stubbornly repeating the very juvenile-sounding phrase “I don’t think you’re reading all the words” over and over, you sound very much like a bratty toddler yourself.
How about, instead, actually explaining your statement that it’s perfectly ok for parents to allow their kids to use annoying, loud toys on board an overnight, transatlantic flight where every single other passenger is desperately hoping to get some sleep?
Absolute - are you a parent? In my experience with 3 kids, the wake up early in order for them to be tired and sleep and backfire spectacularly. You *can *experience a hyperactive, irrational, raving monster of a child because they are so exhausted.
Absolutely try to physically tire them out before hand. Most airports have children’s play areas that are very useful for doing just that. But I wouldn’t personally try the sleep deprivation thing.
I took my then 18-month-old son to India and back (13 hours to Bombay; 17 hours back). He was actually great. I was pleasantly surprised, though I was bummed because he only slept 7-8 hours on the plane each way. He also got really upset if he wasn’t touching me (human equivalent of a blankie, I suppose), so going to the bathroom was a pain for my husband and nearby passengers if I had to go. We also didn’t get him his own seat (my husband didn’t want to), which was a mistake - not only would my son have slept much better in his car seat than on me, there is of course the safety issue and the extra room on an international flight.
I think you’ve got a lot of good suggestions and would absolutely encourage you to use a bottle if possible on takeoff and landing (unless, of course, your child is weaned). One thing I learned on that trip was that you can never tell what will interest your child. I got my son a lot of different toys, which came in handy, but not nearly as handy as used water bottles and straws. My son would spend hours putting the straws in, watching them move around the water bottle, then dumping them out. He was completely uninterested in the videos, but those straws and water bottles fascinated the hell out of him.
Takeoff and landing are the crucial times because of the changing air pressure and a child’s not being adept at clearing their own ears. If the problem occurs at takeoff and the child stays uncomfortable during most/all of the flight, it’s no fun for the child, you, and your plane neighbors. I’ve seen and heard it. No fun at all.
To help avoid this, time it so the child is hungry during takeoff and landing. Then, give food/snacks that require chewing and swallowing. This will help clear the ears.
You can also pull down gently on his/her ear lobes, which will help equalize the air pressure.
Before the flight, practice with the child to see if s/he can open their mouth as wide as possible. If the child is able to, this is another way to help equalize air pressure during takeoff/landing. (15 months, hmm, the child might be too young for this trick)
Bring small, new and interesting toys/gadgets the child has never ever seen before. If the child is uncomfortable, this is a way to distract them while you try the other things. If the child is fine, keep the toys for if needed at landing, or for the return flight. By “new” that means new to the child, not necessarily brand-new. Something different.
I second the suggestion to use Benadryl as a sleep aid. No, do not try the sleep deprivation, that could backfire badly on you.
I also like the suggestion of handing out foam earplugs with a smile. It’s mostly a gimmick, to be sure, but goes a long way in establishing friendly neighbor relations. They’re inexpensive, too, at about $4.00 for 10 pair - here is just one example.
Good luck!
That’s not what he said, and that’s probably why he’s annoyed that people have misunderstood him.
You’re didn’t read all the words either. And I see no reason to explain all that when it is covered in my earlier posts. What you say I said is not what I said at all.
Really, let’s leave this and return to the OP. I’m not going further into my feelings regarding cultural attitudes about children. And I’m not responding to any more tantrums.
Ogod, thank you. ~tapu (a she)
We survived the flight to the States. One thing we did was planning on having our toddler get up and move around. We used the back of the plane for that, and I told the flight attendants. They much preferred that than having a crying baby.
Double check the seats, and specifically ask if the car seat can be used. We’ve had bad experiences with airlines not telling us everything we needed to know about flying with babies and small kids.
Take some Saran wrap and wrap your empty food trays after you are finished so that you can put them on the floor. The airlines take forever to pick up the trays. Or, just carry the trays back.
We got some sponge toys. They’re nice because they don’t make noise and can be compacted.
Triple the advice about not sleep depriving the poor kid. I also have to assume that was given by a non-parent or someone whose kids were very unusual.
Thanks for all the advice guys.
The flight to Ireland went well as we were flying at night and the plane was on time. The little guy slept about five hours on that flight which is great for a car seat.
Thinkgs got trickier on the way back. Flight was delayed two hours so he took his nap in the airport. The lady in front of us moved her seat back right at take off and then complained about our son kicking her seat. My wife pointed out that he just turned 15 months and there wasn’t much she could do about it. Lady was not impressed.
I understand her position but she was very nasty about it. Fortunately, I lowered the food tray and that gave the boy some room so he wasn’t kicking the seat. He barely slept though so it was a long, stressful flight.
Ipad, toys, food, walking him around and just tag teaming it. Don’t know how you can do a flight that long without help and them having their own seat!
One the one hand, I hate having my seat kicked but it’s hard to believe a 15-month-old could even reach it for any serious kicking action. Secondly I ***hate ***when people put their seat back like that unless it’s sleeping time and I have been known to kick a couple of seats myself in that situation.
You did great.
Whenever I run into someone like that, I think to myself that I’m fortunately I’m stuck with emotional underdeveloped person for a few years.
At the start of a 3 hour flight a toddler behind me kicked my seat a few times. I didn’t happen again. At the end I got up and saw the kid laying down ( it was 3 seats to a row) and the Mom sitting forward in her seat to give the kid room to stretch out. The parents had probably taken turns sitting in not-so comfortable positions the entire flight. I should have complimented them on their considerate attitude.
Next time, please do so. When parents work really hard not to disrupt others, a little word of kindness or encouragement from outside can make all the difference.
I once had my kid on time out at disney world (trust me, he earned it). I took the opportunity to have a little cry while he was in the corner. A stranger came up to me, handed me a napkin and said that he was glad to see that we were still maintaining behaviour rules on vacation and that he was sure the day would get better. It did and his words helped that.