My Child Is Better

April 24, 2009

in Baby & Kid Stories

My son was 23 months old when we took him on his first flight, from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas. I know, brave of us. We booked a red eye in the hopes that he would sleep the entire 5+ hour flight.

We boarded, found our seats and got situated with snacks, movies, drinks and everything else a toddler would want. Shortly after we boarded a family of a mother, father, little girl (about the same age as my child), grandfather and grandmother boarded and sat down. Mom, Dad and little girl were directly in front of us and Grandparents across the isle from them.

Everyone was ready to fly. The safety speeches began and my little Angel was fast asleep before the FA was done. Now, would he manage to stay asleep for take off? Yep, no waking this boy. I was glad we wouldn’t be labeled “The people w/ the screaming kid.” That title went to the people in front of us.

The entire flight, and I mean the entire time, she cried for her “Pappy” across the isle. The mother tried to calm her down offering her food, drinks and what not. But she wanted nothing to do with that. She wanted Pappy, who apparently wanted nothing to do with her at the moment (or Dad for that matter, because he did nothing to console her). I thought for sure she would wake my son up, but nope, he just slept right through.

Once the plane landed (my son still sleeping) we waited for others to exit. The family waited also. People walking by who saw my son sleeping in my lap commented, loudly, about how they didn’t even know he was on the plane. Then they glared at the family in front of us.

{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }

Anonymous April 12, 2009 at 4:20 pm

Geez, could you be any more stuck up? Perhaps everyone on the plane should have gotten down and licked your shoes for being lucky enough to have you grace their lives by being present on the same plane as them!

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Stephanie in Minneap April 16, 2009 at 7:53 am

You have obviously done a very good job with your child. Kudos to you!

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Sarah April 16, 2009 at 9:42 am

Thank you for thinking about the other passengers! If only all parents were like you, flying wouldn't be such a nightmare.

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MissGirle April 17, 2009 at 6:48 pm

Aren't you the best parent in the world….good for you.

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SamH April 23, 2009 at 6:55 pm

Did you use Benadryl or just give Snottums a shot of bourbon?

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Anonymous April 25, 2009 at 8:34 am

I commend you as parents, what you did was not easy and planning ahead to inconvenience as few people as possible is admirable. As for the other family well I guess it goes to show that not all people are considerate and inconsiderate people will always be treated poorly. Not saying it's fair just saying that people who don't have kids don't have them for a reason and should not be subjected to the tantrums of kids and we who chose to have kids should respect that.

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Anonymous April 25, 2009 at 7:13 pm

to be honest, you cant say your kid is better just because he was sleeping, the other kid was obviously afraid of flying which is perfectly normal and when a toddler starts crying or "acting up" than it is very hard to calm them down….not saying that they couldnt have tried a little harder but it is a harder task than one may think

so for you to say that your kid is better is a little rediculous, what would have happend if he was awake? can you be positive that he wouldnt have been that kid in front? the answer is no…..so dont judge others and trying to make yourself sound better….

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Kyle March 30, 2011 at 4:10 am

Never forget: A kid that is dead asleep has 0% chance of screaming or kicking. A kid that is awake has 50% chance of screaming and kicking.
Just for fun 😉

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Amber May 19, 2016 at 8:25 am

That maybe true, but the OP ultimately simply lucked out that her kid slept. The other mom was just as prepared with her kid, she offered snacks, toys, etc to try to calm the child down, unfortunately the child wasn't having any of it and only wanted pappy. Pappy is the disgrace here for not actually being a considerate person and soothing the young kid.

There is zero ways to guarantee your child will sleep on the flight. Skipping naps has a tendency to backfire, as does booking flights over regular naptime with the hope they just take their nap. Short of drugging your child you cannot ever guarantee sleep, nor can you force a child to sleep.

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Anonymous April 25, 2009 at 7:54 pm

forgot to say in post above, ever thought that the air pressure on the kids ears could be painfull?

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Susan May 4, 2009 at 11:41 am

you could have just said the kid was 2 years old, why do you idiot parents insist on saying how many months old your child is all the time? after one year, it's safe to say one year or one and a half or in your case two! jeebus that drives me crazy

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Amber May 19, 2016 at 8:26 am

No, doctors go by months until they child is over 24 months old. Also the difference in ability between a 15 month old and a 17 month old is very noticeable.

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Atari May 31, 2009 at 6:24 pm

Since I can't find anyone I strongly agree or disagree with, and I have nothing to add to the original post, I'll just have to agree with Susan and her non sequitur.

I entirely agree. Using months is stupid after the child is twelve months old. (A year)

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Amber May 19, 2016 at 8:28 am

It's not, a 15 month old has entirely different capabilities then a 17 month old, month by month until the age of 2 has huge changes in growth and abilities. So no just saying your 14 month old is a year old or a year and a half old would be incorrect.

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Cynthia October 31, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Get over yourself! It's great that you planned ahead, but with a toddler, sometimes that doesn't mean a thing. I've flown with my toddler a number of times, and she's always been the "good kid"; but I don't fool myself into thinking she'll never have a meltdown, and if it happens on a plane,well I'll do my best and really hope it's up to your standards. Plus, is that really a hellish trip? Your kiddo didn't even get woken up.

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Alex May 22, 2014 at 12:13 pm

I find it funny, your childs first airplane destination was the same as my own when i was about that age. What i wonder is what do the children do there, because i don't remember?

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shannon August 30, 2014 at 4:40 pm

Lady, I think you NyQuiled that kid of yours.

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