San Jose mom and cranky 2-year-old kicked off Southwest flight

[queenlives]

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-...nclick_check=1

[Cairo94507]

Well I have been a many, many flights with screaming children and let me say that it is something that most people can tolerate for 10 to 15 minutes. If they child can not be calmed and settled down by the parent within that time, then they should be escorted off the plane. Just this year I had a flight from SFO to Miami and there was a sick child 2 seats over form me, 4 years old. The poor child coughed so hard it made me hurt for her. Her mother was very nice and tended to her daughter the entire trip, thank God I had ear plugs in. Even with ear plugs it was a very difficult flight to hear that for 4.5 hours. Not the child's fault; the parent should have never flown with her child that sick. The flight attendants were useless. That was American Airlines BTW.

[NSX-Stalker]

Crying kids are simply something you have to deal with. Just like I have to deal with sitting next to someone to big for their seat, or who smells like crap, or who is clearly sick. A plane is really no different than a bus in the fact that you're going to have to deal with situations you don't like. A crying kid does not affect the safety of the crew or passengers. It's simply an inconvenience.

I haven't read the article because I can't get the link to work.

I do have a 3 year old now and she recently went on her first flight and she was great. But believe me, when she was 2 there was no reasoning with her at all at times. If you put her in an unfamiliar environment and she's scared she's going to cry and sometimes you just have to let them go until they calm down on their own. You cannot reason with a 2 year old.

[queenlives]

Crying kids are simply something you have to deal with. Just like I have to deal with sitting next to someone to big for their seat, or who smells like crap, or who is clearly sick. A plane is really no different than a bus in the fact that you're going to have to deal with situations you don't like. A crying kid does not affect the safety of the crew or passengers. It's simply an inconvenience.

I haven't read the article because I can't get the link to work.

I do have a 3 year old now and she recently went on her first flight and she was great. But believe me, when she was 2 there was no reasoning with her at all at times. If you put her in an unfamiliar environment and she's scared she's going to cry and sometimes you just have to let them go until they calm down on their own. You cannot reason with a 2 year old.

(of course) there is some truth to what you say. i have never seen flight attendants remove cranky kids from a flight so i'm betting this was an extraordinary situation, however in this case, a couple of things come to mind...

seems likely to me if there was a passenger who was repeatedly projectile vomiting on their seatmates, based on the recommendation of the crew, the ac would have returned to the gate / made an emergency landing as s/he did in this case.

as a father / grandfather, i've lived through my share of cranky / anxious kid-moments. but i always felt the responsibility to manage our kids to fit in our surroundings - movies, grocery store, restaurants - rather than require those in our surroundings put up with the out-of-control, feral-child "oh, he'll quiet down in 20-30-40 minutes" behavior seen more frequently these days.

however uncomfortable it was for the parent in this situation, it seems to have been a good learning situation for her in that she re-booked a flight for a later time in the day and made sure to feed the child and darned if the kid wasn't a bit more relaxed and quiet for the subsequent trip... a routine i bet she'll remember for many years to come.

[Dtrigg]

Link doesn't work Hal...

[queenlives]

Link doesn't work Hal...

hmmm, does for me.

btw, i tried the link yet again and it croaked, then re-entered it and it worked fine.

[Jetpilot3]

I hate to say it but why not give the child 1/2 of a sleeping pill or some antihistamine that makes you very drowsy?

[drtruong]

Not the child's fault; the parent should have never flown with her child that sick. The flight attendants were useless. That was American Airlines BTW.

That is not fair. If you have bought the airline ticket for a month in advance, your child suddenly gets sick on that day. Then cancel the whole trip that you have planned for several months?!

[docjohn]

I hate to say it but why not give the child 1/2 of a sleeping pill or some antihistamine that makes you very drowsy?

sometimes "premedicating" a child can backfire.They are stimulated,fight the drowsiness and are worse off.

[queenlives]

That is not fair. If you have bought the airline ticket for a month in advance, your child suddenly gets sick on that day. Then cancel the whole trip that you have planned for several months?!

tricky situation / tough call, isn't it?

risk infecting everyone else on the plane or take care of your own needs?

back to this specific situation, the child wasn't ill but was out of control. (edit: having flown more than a few miles in my lifetime, i think most airline passengers are used to kids crying, people blowing their noses, failing to bathe properly, etc... it's just part of the drill. my take is in this situation the child must have really been out of control and the attendants didn't see making every other passenger live w/it for the next few hours. it'll be interesting to see if a video surfaces on youtube.)

[Carguy!]

I have a funny story about an out of control kid on a trip to England. I was sitting in a seat in coach right next to a kid around 3-4 years old that was screaming and flailing around. The kid kept screaming for his mother, I looked over and there was a lady on the other side of the kid so I give her a stern look, as she is ignoring this kid. Finally she gets up and goes to first class, comes back about a minute later and tells the kid that his mom feels it would be better if he stays in the back!!!

At this point the kid goes ballistic!!! I was hit about a dozen times from the kid and had a bruise on my thigh from this kid kicking. I got up to go to the kitchen area and stand with my business partner, luckily he had worked out a deal with the flight attendant. We both gave her $300 cash and she seated us up in first class! Best money I ever spent!!!

[queenlives]

I have a funny story about an out of control kid on a trip to England. I was sitting in a seat in coach right next to a kid around 3-4 years old that was screaming and flailing around. The kid kept screaming for his mother, I looked over and there was a lady on the other side of the kid so I give her a stern look, as she is ignoring this kid. Finally she gets up and goes to first class, comes back about a minute later and tells the kid that his mom feels it would be better if he stays in the back!!!

At this point the kid goes ballistic!!! I was hit about a dozen times from the kid and had a bruise on my thigh from this kid kicking. I got up to go to the kitchen area and stand with my business partner, luckily he had worked out a deal with the flight attendant. We both gave her $300 cash and she seated us up in first class! Best money I ever spent!!!

great story

[BATMANs]

That is not fair. If you have bought the airline ticket for a month in advance, your child suddenly gets sick on that day. Then cancel the whole trip that you have planned for several months?!

it is totally fair.

the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few or one.

When people decide to have kids that is part of the territory.

My folks made sure we behaved in person at an early age.

Of course the internet is not in person.

- Arrogant NSX owner

[quack]

Crying baby, now that's news. I guess since they added "on a plane" makes it's more newsworthy. Tommorow they'l spin the wheel: Crying baby "on a boat".

[H-carWizKid]

Breastfeeding can solve this problem. Lila has flown 7 times in her first year without issue.

When my daughter starts to get cranky, my wife gives her a boob- works every time- including on flights. The sucking actually helps Lila crack her ears during takeoff, and landing.

My wife also makes breastfeeding covers so everyone doesn't have to watch while my daughter gets fed.

For those who do not breast feed- having a bottle ready would probably be a good idea...

P

[docjohn]

Breastfeeding can solve this problem. Lila has flown 7 times in her first year without issue.

When my daughter starts to get cranky, my wife gives her a boob- works every time- including on flights. The sucking actually helps Lila crack her ears during takeoff, and landing.

My wife also makes breastfeeding covers so everyone doesn't have to watch while my daughter gets fed.

For those who do not breast feed- having a bottle ready would probably be a good idea...

P

Babies are easy 2-3 yo that can be a disaster.

[passline]

Except for, they tend to have somewhat of a "sour" milk deal goin' on from time-to-time!

[tosugrad]

it is totally fair.

the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few or one.

Spoken like a true socialist

[tosugrad]

Breastfeeding can solve this problem.
When my daughter starts to get cranky, my wife gives her a boob- works every time- including on flights.

P

Always worked for me. Heh, still works today!

But you are right. Ive flown MANY times with my kids when they were younger and a bottle or breast is a necessity on take off and landing.

[passline]

Always worked for me. Heh, still works today!

But you are right. Ive flown MANY times with my kids when they were younger and a bottle or breast is a necessity on take off and landing.

For the kid, I think they now have devices for their ears which can help sooth the changing pressures of takeoff and landing which almost always makes an infant cry.
If you cry, maybe a boob might help.

[flaminio]

OK, here's what I don't understand: why do they always scatter the kids throughout the plane, so that everyone gets to suffer? My idea is to reserve the back X rows for "families", and then have the adults up front. The kids would have more fun because there would be other kids they could play with; the parents would have other parents to commiserate with; and the rest of the adults would be separated from all the kids by as much as half a plane length.

[Dhalsim]

Spoken like a true socialist

I thought it was spoken more like this guy

[queenlives]

update:

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_13680219

[flaminio]

update:

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-living/ci_13680219

Southwest did the right thing, and I place 100% of the blame on the mom. I've flown with my children before, and they did not behave like this. You're the parent; control your child, or GTFO.

[BATMANs]

Spoken like a true socialist

That was from a famous Vulcan.....