<p>When the kids were little (6 months and up), whenever I had to travel with them for more than 5 hours, I generally travelled business or first - either through points or buying them at a discount. I used to get glares from adults. My kids were so used to flying, they generally sat in their seats, and we packed a lot of toys for them. When they started to provide personalized TV, it was heaven sent (watching TV for 15+ hours, that wouldn´t have happened at home). Few times, people have complimented my kids after a flight was over.</p>
<p>Some countries have quarantine law, and others don´t. UK has one of the toughest laws. I think they used to quarantine pets for 3months.</p>
<p>Whenever I have seen babies on a plane, their parents are always in the row with the emergency exit door. I think it’s b/c of the open area in front of them. Sometimes parents will lay down a blanket for the baby to sleep on. It could also have been just by chance that I saw parents + babies in those rows every time. I wonder if there’s something a baby could to help with the ear popping. Could that be the cause of the crying?</p>
<p>Emergency exit or bulkhead? When I was traveling with toddlers I always requested the bulkhead seats, which had extra leg room and no seats in front to be kicked. </p>
<p>Yes, they sometimes cry because their ears pop. Nursing or giving a bottle may help. Sometimes folks are offended by nursing mothers on planes. Sometimes they may beg you to nurse :)</p>
<p>Hmm… the parents were not in the row directly adjacent to the door but were seated in the center section out of 3 sections. There were definitely 2 babies in that section though.</p>
<p>They would never allow you to book an exit row with a lap child. And if a flight attendent saw one, they would immediately relocate that passenger. Then again, maybe it has been done and the baby was crying because it was stowed underneath a seat?:)</p>
<p>I’m sure you’re talking about the bulkhead row or something near an exit row. </p>
<p>Crying babies in confined spaces are hard to take. I am so glad I don’t have one anymore. We almost never traveled when we did. I am always really annoyed when there is one in first class, because if you paid alot of money for your ticket, it’s even worse with that toddler kicking your seat, or the baby that cries constantly while the parents don’t even try to calm it. Then again, a gum smacker, a shuffler (card players who have to shuffle the decks loudly ten times) or a sniffer can really be annoying too. Dogs don’t bother me too much.</p>
<p>busdriver, how about a toddler who throws up and makes the entire first class section smell like… well, vomit? This happened on our most recent flight from HI. DH looked at me and said, “Who would have thought - we were upgraded to the Vomit Comet!” I grabbed every single piece of napkin etc. and passed to the poor, exhausted mother of the toddler so she could clean the mess up. Luckily, we were sitting across the isle form them. People sitting in front of the toddler weren’t so lucky…</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat or a dog on a flight, though I do know my SIL has traveled with one of those little teacup dogs in a dog carrier that goes under the seat. (Little dogs aren’t real dogs as far as I’m concerned!)</p>
<p>However, I would not send my (big) dog on an airplane pet cargo compartment under any circumstances. If we were relocating cross country, I would drive the dog, end of subject.</p>
<p>There is a huge difference from having a pet in the cabin and having a baby in the cabin.</p>
<p>By the way, if you need some tips on how to keep a toddler occupied on a 15 hour flight, let me know. Small babies are trickier, something to suck on is essential, though.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, the regulation applies to “laps” only. There is usually only one extra oxygen mask for every grouping of seats, which means that for safety reasons only 4 “souls” can occupy a row wih 3 seats and so on (only one lap infant per row allowed).</p>
<p>In all of this, I have just one question. Did the lady with the yapping dog at least apologize to the OP? </p>
<p>The OP should not have had to put up with it, but at least a few good manners in the way of an apology, maybe an offer to buy the OP a drink, on the part of the dog owner could have made a bad situation a little better.</p>
<p>One of the morning show t.v. hosts (forgot who it was) said that when she flew with her kids (when they were young and unpredictable) they would buy drinks for all those in the immediate area who looked ornery and cranky…a pretty wise move, considering the strong reactions on this thread. Maybe pet owners should do the same. ;-)</p>
<p>My daughter was born overseas and would never have seen her grandparents if I had been deterred about flying with her on long trips. Going up and down is hardest on the ears… the very long spans give a child a reasonable span of sleep, which helps. It also helps if fellow passengers do what they can. Once we were sitting in the middle section (4 seats, me and 3 children- one an infant, but I always purchased a seat for her for long trips). On the window across the aisle from us was a man who insisted on keeping up the window shade the entire 12 hour trip- even when I asked nicely. The battleax flight attendant on United was not willing to insist he pull it down, even when the lights were all off in the plane-- but it was still light outside. At the very end of the trip my daughter was howling even though she was nursing to help her ears… She was simply exhausted from very interrupted sleep, as was I, and I could have cared less about anyone else, quite frankly…</p>
<p>The absolutely best flight we ever took was one that landed in the US, eventually, in Minneapolis. We had met the plane in Seoul and when we got in it seemed the back of the plane was empty except for a few adults. In fact, there were rows and rows of infants in the seats, with blankets over the seats as tents. We quickly realized that these babies were being brought to happy adoptive parents in Minneapolis. It was a wonderful trip, in spite of many crying babies!</p>
<p>BunsenBurner - ah, I get it. Thanks for the clarification. Still glad I didn’t wind up traveling by plane with infant / toddler twins! But it’s pretty easy to tell when a parent is trying to bring out all the tricks to console a child, and when the parent is “eh, your problem, deal with it.”</p>
I grabbed every single piece of napkin etc. and passed to the poor, exhausted mother of the toddler so she could clean the mess up. Luckily, we were sitting across the isle form them. People sitting in front of the toddler weren’t so lucky…</p>