Reply #169: You must have been on the same flight I was on

[Ms. Toad]

A toddler cried for three hours straight, mom and dad sat in front of the row of seats with the screaming toddler - leaving older (around 6) sibling to sit next to the screaming toddler and do any parenting. The kid on my plane actually screamed longer than 3 hours since the screaming started before they boarded the plane - mom took the screaming kid to a carpeted area in the midst of a crowd, plunked the kid down, and let her wail. When pre-boarding was called, they picked her up, loaded her on the plane without a break in the screaming.

I'd have loved to have the child babbling "bye-bye plane" for three hours...

Taking a screaming child into on an enclosed space in which other people will be trapped with the screams for hours, when it is predictable that the child will continue to scream, is unacceptable. With the child on my flight, the screaming was obviously a pattern of behavior (based on mom's, dad's, and sibling's nonchalant response to the pre-boarding screaming session). Alternate transportation arrangements should have been made rather than subject a plane full of people to extended screaming - a different matter entirely than an unpredictable reaction to changes in pressure.

The flight attendant (and folks bothered) in connection with the reported babbling incident in the OP - assuming it has been reported accurately - need to take a chill pill.

Disclaimer: My daughter flew a half dozen times between the ages of 1 and 3, and was a quiet, well behaved traveler - and had no reaction at all to changes air pressure. I wouldn't dream of suggesting that children below a certain age should not fly - there are other factors which are much more closely related to pressure related pain in flight than age. BUT if my daughter's temperament had been different than it was, we would have found alternate transportation if the schedule permitted, or skipped some of the travel if time was too tight.