“What is with people? Seriously. Hey, jerk-off! You were a baby once. So were you! And you, and you, and you. Don’t want to listen to a baby fuss? Purchase a private flight or else shut up. You think you loud-talking on your cellphone is any less offensive?”

YES to this. People don’t seem to realize they are just as annoying as a crying baby. They need to have a “jerks only” section in the back.

The one time I flew with my twins, they were 6 months old. Neither one of them cried at all in 12 total hours of flying. I felt very lucky, because it was really just luck (and more or less continuous nursing) that made their trip so quiet. Did that stop us from getting dirty looks for even daring to bring babies anywhere? No.

I don’t have a problem with putting babies in one part of the plane. That’s completely reasonable. But the families with kids should be allowed to board first to make sure they get seats together.

I agree with Jeannie and G, I wouldn’t mind sitting at the back of the plane with my child. In fact, when we were younger, my mother insisted on getting seats at the back of the plane, she said it was safer (?). But really, there’s no way I’d be okay with them reassigning my kid’s seat so that I couldn’t sit with her! She’s still a lap child, so it’s good to know about the oxygen masks, I had no idea…
My husband’s parents live quite far away from us, so we have a fair number of plane rides ahead of us. Stories like this just add to my dread of flying with a baby/small child.

This summer my son and I were flying across country. It was when the tornado was hitting the East Coast and we were held up in Orlando. A bunch of us were all in the waiting area together and a family with 7 children was sitting near us. I heard the father talking to the mother about their seat assignments and while there was only one row separating them, he was concerned about how one of their children would handle the separation. I heard him mention their rows and we were in the row in between. I asked him whether it was a-c seats or the d-f and it happened to be ours. I told him I would trade with him to keep the family together and they were very appreciative. Also, at the time of booking my reservation, there were no two seats together available. I chose to not even reserve the seats and spoke with the desk at check-in to make sure my child and I sat together. They had no problem rearranging seats to accomodate us! Love JetBlue! It was four flights in total and there was never any mention that I might have to consider sitting away from my child. This shouldn’t be a concern for any parent traveling as the travel alone can be stressful enough!

Did you seriously just compare this to the plight of African-Americans under Jim Crow? Are you serious??? I have a kid, but my GOD I would never compare myself to Rosa Parks. Get a grip!

I just have to add my sad flying story…let me first say that I have flown BY MYSELF with first 1, then 2, then 3 BOYS about once a year for 9 years now. The airline culture of acceptance with children has totally changed, it’s weird! With my first son, everyone was super helpful and kind..asking me if I needed help, oohhing and ahhhing over my son, the airline TRIED to sit me next to an empty seat even so I had more space without me asking, the people who brought the strollers up unlocked and set the stroller up for me, etc. Things first started to change with security, I had two kids at this point (did I mention by myself?)…I had a 10 mo old crazy crawler & a 2 1/2 year old and I had to collapse the stroller, put it on the belt, take everyone’s shoes off, put all my crap on the belt…and everyone just sat there and gave me the stink eye while I juggled everything, my baby almost crawled away and my older son was crying because he didn’t want to walk through the alarm alone…FINALLY another passenger came to my rescue. And things have continued to get worse, as though the employees are judging my choice to bring 3 kids on the plane alone by purposefully NOT helping me. My most recent flight with my 7, 5 & 8 mo old I had to fight to sit near my 7 & 5 year old, then my 8 mo. old began screaming (he hadn’t beent at all) with pain I got up to go to the back of the plane (yelling at my other two not to MOVE)…while walking back, the 8 mo. old barfs ALL OVER ME, instantly stopping crying-clearly motion sick. The flight attendant looks at me…and LAUGHS (in a mean way), turns on her heel and walks away. I follow her to the back of the plane, ask her if she has any towels, napkins I can have…she gives me the stink eye, sighs all irritated and stuffs a wad in my hand and asks, “if it (IT?) got any vomit on any adult passengers”. Are you effing kidding me beeyotch?

I agree. I get that people don’t like crying babies or unruly toddlers but these “child bans” and other discriminatory practices are getting out of hand. Children aren’t the only ones capable of being annoying and obnoxious. I don’t like sitting in close quarters next to people who talk loudly on their cellphone, or smokers who smell like cigarettes, or people who take their sweet-a** time gettting their stuff and moving down the aisle while everyone else waits, or people who snore loudly, or want to talk through the in-flight movie, or who are rude and demanding of the flight crew, or who crowd my space…. See what I mean? Annoyances are part of everyday life and can come from anyone.
The worst flight I was ever on was a redeye to Vegas. All of the passengers were tired and just wanted a quiet flight. (I know because many of them shared my same connecting flight from the midwest, which has a three hour time difference.) Everyone was calm and quiet throughout the flight except for one girl who appeared to be 19 or 20. She sat in front of me and would NOT SHUT UP the entire flight, even when her friends and other passengers asked her to.
The kicker: There was a baby on that flight and it didn’t make a peep.

Either ask someone to switch seats so you can sit with your child or children, or pay a reservation fee to have two or more seats guaranteed to be together – I really don’t see what the big deal is with either option. I had people switch seats with me or a parent in the 80′s so one of them could sit with me. I’ve switched seats with parents so they could sit next to their kids since I’ve been a teenager. Just because you’re traveling with children doesn’t actually make you more special than anyone else on the plane – and everyone else that’s there paid the same amount for their seats. More if you’re carrying a child on your lap (which, btw, is so not safe). It’s your responsibility to make sure you and your child end up together, not the airline’s.
As far as who’s more obnoxious, I don’t think loud or drunk people are any better – but I’ve had a lot more flights with loud children than loud adults. And an adult has never kicked my seat for a full 4 hour flight.

I preferred to sit in the back of the plane while flying with my son, it’s closer to the bathroom. I also don’t disagree with the idea of a family area on the plane-it would be nice to allow the kids to entertain each other, or at least have someone kind enough to hand you a wipe if you are out. That said, seperating families is just wrong, and short sighted. I do agree with the “you were a kid once” thought, because it’s true. Also true-one day you may be the frazzled mom trying to keep everyone together, and won’t you want someone to help you out then?

We almost always choose to sit in the back of the plane. We figure that if our son starts crying, he can only annoy the people sitting in front of us, not behind as well. I hate that you can’t board early anymore. It is a huge pain to get a car seat and carry-ons onto the plane when it’s full and there are people moving slower than molasses in January shoving their giant bags into the overhead compartments. My husband started going on first, getting our seats set up, and I get on at the last possible minute with our son. And I don’t care how angelic your baby is, people will look at you with a mix of total terror and disgust. We flew many times with our son when he was an infant. He was a dream every time, never crying or fussing. But at the beginning of every flight, we’d get the LOOK from the people in front of us, and then hear, “Wow! You wouldn’t even know there was a baby on the flight!” when we got off. Sheesh.

I agree, of course, that families should not be split up. Very little surprises me, though, in the world of air travel these days.

We recently discovered another downside of “baby ghettos” on airplanes when we flew with our 19 month old this fall. We weren’t split up, but we were seated in a cluster with two other families flying with toddlers. The three kids all fed off of each other’s emotions, so that when one cried or screamed, the other two HAD to join in. Good times! I think the flight would have been more pleasant for everyone if the kids had been out of sight of each other and at least a little bit out of earshot.

Leaving children unattended at anytime is dangerous! Especially in this world where we have child molesters. What the hell? I’d sue…I’d so sue for discrimination and would diffidently have a few choice word for the airline personnel to try to take my child from my hands. Parents should get on this a.s.a.p.!

I don’t have a problem with a family seating area, but I do have a problem with the splitting up of families. I know that my kids would be MORE disruptive if they sat away from us, not because they were being bad, but there would be a lot of up and down to come back to me for whatever they needed. They’d be scared, too. What if there’s turbulance? And if my preschooler is in a car seat, who’s going to do stuff for them? We have started using Jet Blue almost exclusively for flight travel now, it is worth the extra cash for the leg room and the service.

Having a child means that you incur extra expenses, why wouldn’t you budget for a fee to ensure reservations of group seats? I always reserve my seats and pay the extra cost. End of story, deal with it.

I’m okay with being moved to a specific area on a plane. I would not be okay with being seperated from my children under any crcumstance.

I would not be ok being seperated from my baby girl. I would have her sit next to me anyway and if someone had an issue with that i would say oh there is a seat in the back. enjoy. and then turn away and pretend not to hear them. You have to teach kids not to talk to strangers then I wouldnt want them next to a stranger or many strangers by them selves. I would say they spilt kids from their families then a few others need to see how it is too to be split from their families. I would also print of the paper saying the seats will be together. then there is proof and they cant argue with proof and since its a business you can call the better business bureau on it and most likely you could sue the airlines for potential unsafe child travel and having it where there is potential of your child from being stolen from you.

I’m sorry but when I pay good money for first class to get some sleep on long flights the last thing I want to hear is kids all night long and yes I have raised 5 of my own.

1) Babies, under the age of two, do NOT belong on airplanes unless a grandparent is dying and needs to see them before they go.
2) If you have babies, then deal with it. An area for families to sit is a perfectly acceptable way to travel with your little ones. If you are upset, then buy yourself your own private jet.
3) Name it something other than “baby ghetto”. Perhaps “Wally’s World for the kiddos” or something of that nature. Perhaps airlines can do a better job for ‘family areas’ as well.
4) This needs to happen. Kids suck on airplanes. I believe it’s a matter of etiquette, either don’t bring them on the plane or if you do, be in a designated area.

Babies under the age of two should not be on an airplane? We live on an island 800 miles from Anchorage in Alaska, my kids flew from the time they were newborn, all Alaskans who live in the bush do, it’s impossible to avoid it for everything –vacations, seeing relatives on other islands in Alaska, or the lower 48, shopping, traveling for school trips, doctor’s appts etc.
I will say, nobody has ever given me a hard time about traveling sometimes 3 flights in one day with 3 kids, alone (husband on a boat making a living) everyone in Alaska and the west coast in general was always kind, understanding and helpful, plus my kids are trained to behave on planes and in airports, it’s just a part of life. It can be done without disrupting other travelers.
I am so glad I have teenagers now, and don’t have to deal with these issues…but really even very young people do belong on planes! In my town they’d never make it home from the hospital if they didn’t!