This used to happen for me routinely, but I'd stare people in the face and shame them into changing places with my 2-year old.  Once, though, there was nothing for it, and it boggled my mind how people would rather sit with someone else's toddler than move to another seat.

I'd just plop my daughter next to them if that happened to me. Let them deal with the consequences... better them than me.

Did the parents get the free booze?

We once had to get a flight attendant to force a switch. We were on a regional jet, with two seats on one side (B-C) and one (A) on the other. We had a 2-year-old with a car seat, and car seats were only allowed in the window seat ("C") of the two-seat side. Somehow, we got assigned to three far-apart "A" seats by the gate agent ("oh, we'll straighten it out on the plane")...we absolutely needed one "C" seat, and preferrably the "B" seat next to it. And nobody would budge. I understand couples not wanting to separate...but why on earth wouldn't someone flying alone want the A seat? It's a window AND an aisle all at once.

Finally, the very nice flight attendant intervened and made people move.

The last time I was traveling with my toddler, the oh-so-lovely flight attendant told me that the airline no longer honors pre-boarding for families with young children.  We had to wait for a seat just like everyone else.  Perhaps that family had the same issue?

Would someone please post a nice flying-with-baby story? I'm going to fly with my 5.5 month old for the first time next week, and reading stuff like this makes me feel like holing up in my house until my kid is begin enough to beat people up on my say so. And I'll do it, too, babyhaters! (Kidding.)

Holy cow!  I think when you book flights with ANY airline as a family, they should automatically reserve seats for you together.  That is just horrendous.  Parents of young children should NOT have to go through that kind of crap.  Even if the airline does not assign seats, families should be seated together.

I don't even drink and I would have offered.  I had an experience getting on a Greyhound bus with a bunch of luggage and the stupid Greyhound depot sold me a ticked when there were NO available seats.  I can't explain the panic as the bus started moving already with me standing with my luggage wondering if I'd have to stand the whole way.  No one said anything to me.  Just stared.  Until a MOM with TWO kids at the very back seat, you know the larger seat by the smelly bathroom?, made room for me by putting a child on her lap and squishing her other child so that one of my butt cheeks could have a rest.  

Bless the mothers of the world.  There is no higher calling.

to boob mom:

You'll be fine!

My daughter was your baby's age when I took her on a plane (just me and her). It went really really well. I got there as early as I could (though I was running to make the plane on the way back, thanks long security line), boarded early, she nursed a bit, slept a bit, stared at nearby toddlers a bit. It was a short (one hour) flight, but it was so easy. No crying even. A little happy squealing.

And, flying Southwest, I boarded early, took up two seats with her, and since the flights weren't booked full, no one asked to sit in the seat next to me, so we got to keep our extra seat.

With a smaller baby, it seems that parents have less of a problem.  Smaller babies tend to sleep most of the time, can be held on a parental lap, and their legs are too short to kick the seat in front.

It's the older babies and toddlers who seem to be getting kicked off all the time, and that sucks because we are now entering that phase here at Casa RachelZ and I don't have a "polite gene" that will keep me from getting arrested should some flight attendant get shirty with us.

Thanks, liberrian. I worry, therefore I am. But hey! if you see anything in the news about someone being beaten with a Graco carseat base, you can tell all your friends you kinda sorta know who did it. Cheers!

Sorry, peeps. Cryitout Mike's on a plane right now, headed for a well-deserved vacation with a sixteen-month-old who has some peculiar sleep habits . Have a wonderful week, Mike, all of you. So I'm filling the void here, so to speak, though I