Screaming Children

Wow - just came of a PE flight from LAX - LHR. The cabin had 7 young children in it (4 from one family!) with plenty of screaming for the first 2 hours of the flight. Total divine justice when one real screamer (who had the parents saying 'oh arent you clever' all the time when she screamed loudly) threw a cup of orange juice all over Mummy. Suddenly the screamer wasnt quite so clever!

I dont have anything against children on flights as such, but I do wish that some parents would take some responsibilty for their offspring being SO loud and annoying! Some parents are amazing at handling the situation and should be given medals for their efforts - others ruin it for everyone else in the cabin.

I'd have to agree. I appreciate that a youngster cannot always be placated and it's part of childhood but there are some parents who don't give two hoots for others and its clear that the behaviour of the kids is to be expected given the attitudes of the parents.

We had a similar experience last year flying PE to Orlando. I was sat with my daughter in the window seats and my wife sat in the centre with a family and their kids who proceeded to create merry hell for much of the flight. Coincidentally one of their kids managed to spill drink over their mother too! These were 8'ish yr olds who not only shold know better but are surely of an age where their parents could have taken action!

We have a 10yr old and when she was younger we were always acutely conscious of her behaviour and considerate to others. She's a frequent flyer and her behaviour is often far better than many adults we have had to share cabins with!

[fozzyo]

Ah yes, reminds me of our Upper flight with the screaming baby who woke the captain from his crew rest. Not a pleasant experience at all.

This is the reason I've not taken my son (who is 3) on to a flight as of yet as I know he will not be able to sit still or keep quiet. However, as we know from the fantastic TRs by mdvipond that there are children who can behave impecciably.

But an 8 year old should know better and in fact their parents should have kept them in check.

I think they should have child free flights or just put them in the hold!!! [}:)]

Just kidding before any of the parents kill me.......Like others have said some parents do tune out to their children which can make a rather miserable flight for all.

DMB

My favourite part of flying is the screaming child being carried up and down the cabin over your head... but this normally haappens in Y... and Im way too good for Y... just wish my bank manager would agree!

Perhaps we're just too British to mention something to the parents - we'd rather sit there and suffer in glowering silence. This made me laugh though, and is a line I shall be using in future... from yesterday's 'Metro' ...
PR consultant Kirk Hoatson is known for his Victor Meldrew moments. 'Yesterday, in a restaurant, this child was literally rocking my chair from behind,' he says.

'I said to the mother: ÒIf you can't socialise your child to the outside world, don't inflict them on the outside world.Ó'

[Darren Wheeler]

ooo, hot potato or what....... (sits back, pulls up folding chair and waits for the 'debate' to begin in earnest [;)]

Seriously though, to be fair some children can be good as gold even in UC. There were you young cherubs on a LHR-SFO flight 2 years ago. Not a peep out of them all flight. Just look at V-Flyer's very mdvipond jr. (AKA Tizer) to see how it should be done.

Our 3 year old has been to the US about 7 or 8 times and we always try to bring plenty of things with us to ensure he is fully occupied and doesn't disturb others. I have to say I don't like being on flights with screaming children, mine included so fully agree with you 'musicmanbrain' and can't understand how people can sit around and let their children run riot around them.

[Scrooge]

It's not just the kids though, I think a lot of people have forgotten how to behave in public. Case in point, at a recent breakfast get together 4 people 60 + were sat around a table enjoying the wonderful sounds of one of their phones, much to the annoyance of the younger group (us) to the point where being the nice people we are we quietly asking them knock it off.

[Darren Wheeler]

I'm sure LROM will be along to give his in-depth views on the noisy little angels..... [:)]

Originally posted by DMetters-Bone
I think they should have child free flights or just put them in the hold!!! [}:)]

Just what I was accused of wishing when, once, I asked a parent not to place their child on the partition between my suite and another and encourage it to make as much noise as possible!

Seriously, I blame the parents ... they should be in the hold [:p].

That said, I think it's a joy to have well behaved children on board, they make me smile, and remember the saying that all children are beautiful, as long as they're someone elses!!!

I have to say, I've had some absolutely gorgeously well behaved children of late! They were amazing, not a peep out of them, and they were just so content. Then coming form LOS the other day, there was a child screaming from the second he/she got on until the meal service was done! Not pleasant for the people in Y or even W on the -600.

My favourite part has to be when I'm asked for toys to amuse a child, for we all know we have an in-built creche onboard our aircraft. That and on a 6 hour flight I was asked for a nappy for a baby, how they didn't have enough for such a short flight beats me!

In order of deployment to ensure a quite flight with a little one:

Toys (new); stickers; DVDs (best if used in conjuction with DVD player); bribes; threats; Medised; Phenergen.

Then, if all of the above fails, Bose QC2 noise cancelling headphones.

Screaming kids anywhere annoy the hell out of me, we all know that sometimes a 2 year old can throw a wobbler, but its the older kids who run riot that drive me insane, the ones who are definatley old enough to know better, and the parents just seem oblivious that their offspring are annoying everyone else on the flight/in the restarunt etc.

Every parent should have perfected ''the look'' by the time the kiddos are 3 years old. You know, the one that says ''if you even THINK about it I will KILL YOU when we get home'' My mother was a master at it and still has the ability to inflict the fear of God into me with ''the look'' and Im 35 lol

My girls get '' the look'' and instantly stop arguing or messing about when we are in a public place and know fine well that if they continue there will be serious consequences, and trust me when your 13 and have your ipod taken away from you its like the end of the world.

''The look'' is universal, and can even be used on kids that dont belong to you but are getting right on your nerves [}:)] [:o)]

[Neil]

Originally posted by Ptarmigan

''The look'' is universal, and can even be used on kids that dont belong to you but are getting right on your nerves [}:)] [:o)]

Christ I must walk around 24/7 with that look on my face then[:I]

As a child hater I am pretty chilled about kids on flights. I, like others, find the teenage variety who should know better, much more annoying than babies/toddlers. Maybe we have been lucky so far but even on our first UC flight in April we had a small kid (5ish) in the suite behind me but he was brilliant. Sat and watched his dvd, read his book and then slept, which I guess follows Mark's advise of being prepared.

Neil

[honey lamb]

Aer John started his teenage rebellion at a very early age. I think he was about 6.[:0] However take him onto a plane or train he became a charmed child - polite, well-mannered and always had cabin crew eating out of his hand. No wonder he became Flying Club gold at a very early age. [:w]

One flight I had a couple of years ago, there was a toddler who screamed his way across the Atlantic apart for an hour when he slept. In fairness his parents worked their socks off to try and pacify him but whether it was a combination of teething, ear pain or just out of routine he was virtually inconsolable. I think we all felt for those parents as they were mortally embarrassed and kept apologising to us for the disruption

From these reports it would appear that PE stands for 'Pram Experience.'

This topic, while endlessly amusing, has also been endlessly discussed. All we need now to make it a classic is for LROM to issue a seething indictment of anyone under voting age, an offended numpty lurker to go ballistic on His Grace, much squabbling and pecking in the barnyard, and then a thread lock.

There, I've now done all the work for you.

Carry on.

GJ

I while back when my eldest was 6 months old, she was sick on me 2hrs into a 9hr journey! The lady next to me kept spraying me with her perfume as I didnt have a change of clothes. I remember queuing for the car at orlando airport and everyone given me plenty of room!

On the flight home, she was sat up in the skycot and was sick on the people behind us as it went through the gap in the seats. One of the people she was sick over was very angry (obviously) but asked why my 6 month old couldnt have used a sick bag!

Originally posted by sickbag
she was sat up in the skycot and was sick on the people behind us as it went through the gap in the seats

In a very Benny Hill sort of way that made me laugh after a long week [^].

[RichardMannion]

Ahh yes, one of my favourite subjects.

Two words - duct tape.

Is it the childs fault? Depends on the age. Regardless, a well placed foot or elbow can have some entertaining results.

Is it the parents fault? Yes, always. If you see a child that is well behaved, then that's because:

a) the parents have standards or
b) the child has been drugged Portuguese style or
c) the parents have taken the effort to make sure the child has things to keep them occupied.

For c) that does not include other passengers, or members of crew.

Fortunately the last unruly bag of skin I had to encounter was on that NRT flight that fozzyo mentioned. Whilst I have had that stream of luck, the problem has reared it's head in another manner. What is it with morons bringing their kids into the corporate office because it's half term? Jesus. Trying to find a meeting room and finding them like reality visions of Gary Glitters dream room. Drinks cartons all over the place, colouring books, doodling all over the whiteboards and climbing on the furniture. Then there is the dumb child-friendly person that encourages them to play hide and seek or 'find the teddy' resulting in hoardes of running kids running down the corridors (anyone would think that Gerry or Kate McCann have just rocked up). Drives me nuts.

Whilst I agree that good parenting and prior preparation can significantly impact on a child's inflight behaviour, surely the following was a joke.

Originally posted by RichardMannion
Regardless, a well placed foot or elbow can have some entertaining results.

If not, then I shall have to remove one of my leather gauntlets and slap thee sir, whilst at the same time issuing my challenge to a duel. Defend your honour or summon your manservant to start polishing your duelling pistols. [B)]

[numpty mode off]

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by RichardMannion


Is it the childs fault? Depends on the age. Regardless, a well placed foot or elbow can have some entertaining results.

You see this is the problem, and I blame the airlines for this, 'what ! ' you say, 'how are the airlines to blame?'

Well pretty simple...back when I was a young Scrooge we used to do our yearly trip to St Lucia, now back in those days to BOAC aircraft had a nice seat pitch in them, meaning the sign of bad behavior and my mother could back hand us...now days with the seat pitch being so tight a mother doesn't stand a chance...of course if she did raise her hand to little ' Jeremy' then she would promptly be arrested when the plane landed.

I remember our flight to MCO from MAN last Sept in PE, in the bubble, a couple of people at the back, kept swapping places with others and at one piont we had a 2 year old diving bombing who was not in our cabin. Not impressed really. My children are 12 and 10 and in August they will be on their very 1st UC trip, i can rest assured that they will be well behaved as they would not even dare even look at me the wrong way.

They know their place. Unruly, cheeky kids really irritate me as much as chavs

There must be a market for a child free cabin - maybe make the upper deck a nipper free zone????