Strollerderby : airline travel

Woman Sits in Pee Seat on Plane: Whose Kid Is Responsible?

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:27:00 GMT

Ahhh, holiday travel. When the peanuts are banned and the in-flight movie's been hacked up and G-rate-ified just when a bit of Brad Pitt booty would do you do you so much good, when your small child and all the crap they require during a simple cross-country trip could very easily outweigh you and the four people you feel sorry for sitting around you. Oh, and then there's all the pee. In the name of jet-fueled in-law exasperation and the Baby Jesus, don't forget all the pee.

It is probably newsworthy enough that a woman who probably paid way too much to fly during the holidays, waited patiently in a security line that was far too long only to have to remove her shoes and have her underwire examined by a rough-handed female TSA agent, then burned her mouth on a seven-dollar Starbucks coffee that was many degrees too hot, boarded a plane in a manner too-her dish for human beings to hold on to any Christmas cheer, hunted desperately for a tiny corner in an overhead compartment sixteen aisles away to cram her sole regulation carry-on into and then slid herself between two loud/obnoxious/talking over her/snoring/armrest hogging people into a seat that an Italian model would be uncomfortably squeezed into and FINALLY found herself stuck in a urine-soaked seat that in turn, offered her a urine-soaked outfit. And because airlines and air transport and airplane riders are what and who they are in this moment of customer un-service time, nary a flight attendant or fellow rider offered her sympathy, extra clothing or assistance. Oh, my heart goes out to her to know she spent the entire flight and walk through some obnoxiously gigantic airport wrapped in a plane blanket that was probably nasty enough before it covered up her pee-stinky self.

The thing is, you know some kid who was scared of the blue gunk in the plane potty or who was (literally) pissed at their mom for making them stop kicking the seat in front of them or who was just bored as hell by the G-version of Knocked Up playing on the screen four rows to the front, is the one responsible for the offending puddle. And you know some parent, already strung out on carrying all of the North Pole in a rolling duffle bag and the idea of another year of Aunt Gertie's green bean casserole disaster and flying with a screaming kid, realized it, shuddered in complete terror and then booked like hell off of the plane before the flight attendant caught on...or caught a whiff. The question is, which one of you is the parent of The Plane Peer? Come on, 'fess up. We know you're out there and we're pissed.

Should Kids Fly Alone?

Karen Murphy — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:28:00 GMT

I've had more than my share of airline travel (ten years of standby travel while married to someone in the industry will do that). Way more than my share, and in it, I may have seen it all, or quite a lot of whatever "all" is when it comes to moving about the world inside a flying bus. And what I've seen mostly is that things get screwed up. And often. Maybe not often when compared to the sheer number of flights etc that take place even within a single airport in a single day, but when it's you that's affected, it's huge. And even worse when it's your kid. Flying alone. Where there are, sad to say, fewer protections in place than we realize.

But, knowing what I know now, I wonder why parents send their kids off unaccompanied so often? Yes, I've done it, had to, when my older daugher spent summers with her dad in a another state. Waving goodbye to her, all of 8 or 9 years old and marching up the jetbridge all alone at the gate was probably the single most frightening thing I've had to do. But I couldn't afford two roundtrip tickets for myself to fly her there and back, nor could I take the time away from work to do so. So I am guessing that many parents are in a similar predicament.

And usually things go smoothly: flights are on time or close enough, luggage arrives as well, the proper people are at the other end waiting to pick the kid up.

But sometimes things go wrong. And airlines shoulder far less responsibility than you might think. For one thing, every airline has different rules about unaccompanied minors. In some cases, any special treatment stops at age 12. My older son is about to turn 12, and even though he's also flown zillions of times, I doubt he would know what to do in a crisis of missing flights, cancelled flights, etc.

Would your kid? Sure, that's why they make cell phones, but on the other hand maybe the whole system needs to be rethought. I understand the desire on the part of the post-9/11 financially-ailing airlines to cut back on costs: it's costly to make someone available to walk a kid to his next gate or to sit with him during an unexpected delay. But hundreds of thousands of kids are flying by themselves these days in the U.S alone. Something has to change

Kiss It, Southwest. We’re Flying on Delta

Madeline Holler — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:39:00 GMT

We won’t be making our annual coast-to-coast flight with Southwest this year.

We compared all the prices and with so little difference among many of the airlines, we decided to treat ourselves to the luxury of reserved seats on Delta. Who cares about pre-boarding with kids, when Aisle 22, seats A through D, will display our names etched in gold.

But it's not either-or. You can still pre-board with your little ones. You just have to choose the right airline. This convenient and frequently updated site lists major carriers and their pre-boarding policies.

We used to always fly with Southwest, precisely because I knew we'd be allowed to board first. But their recent change in family pre-boarding policies made the low-cost carrier with first-come-first-serve seating the least attractive of our options. No way could we get to the airport hours and hours before take-off to secure a position in the coveted Group A. No way could we split up the four of us. No way could we suffer uncertainty when waiting for three benevolent travelers to sacrifice their choice aisle and window seats for our selfish little family outing.

Standing for hours in line so that we could then sit for hours in flight seems only slightly more appealing than sitting for hours in flight next to a talker while my kid screams “nurse me, Mommy, nurse me!” three rows back.

Bonus secret, especially if you've already booked your travel: many of these carriers seem to have pre-boarding policies “upon request.” Request, Mom and Dad, request.

Strollerderby Playdate: Flights with Kids Are Great!

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 11:02:00 GMT

SD commenter Boob Mom yesterday said she wanted to see some "nice stories" about airplane travel with youngens, given she was about to embark on ~~a personal journey from hell~~ an airy, pleasant trip with a 5-month-old soon. Given that I'm about to do the same -- with a 16-month-old -- I wanted to hear a little good news, too.

So here goes. Flying with kids can be fun!

Krystal's infant slept the whole way - lucky.

Davy has his first flight - and giggles. Good for him!

Fellow commenter Liberrian (great name, by the way) said all would be well.

OK, I'm still thinking this is a joke, or maybe just written by one of the babies, but it's still pretty funny. Sure, the message is nice -- flights with kids can be fine -- but the thought of "brining children" at 30,000 feet still has me chuckling. Enjoy.

To Dose or Not to Dose: Benedryl for Babies?

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 11:38:00 GMT

I ride a bus with Emmeline almost every day, so I know that after about five minutes, she gets squirmy. After about 10 minutes, she gets antsy. After about 20 minutes, she's almost speaking in tongues. No amount of Cheerios or crackers or bite-sized baby crack will calm her down.

So the thought of hopping on an airplane later this week with a 16-month old has me a little worried. I just know she won't be able to sit still, and I'm only half serious when I say she may very well wind up on the wing through her own volition of not.

So what to do? I want to drug her -- just a small dose of Baby Benedryl. While my wife wants to go for something more au natural, like scotch. For us. Not the baby.

So what do you say? Does Baby Benedryl actually work on long flights? Or is that just an urban myth, like baby crack.

Flying with Kids Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

ChagHolland — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 16:28:00 GMT

If you are brave enough to travel by plane with your children this summer, CBS's The Early Show recently profiled some products and tips to make your flight a little less crazy.

The program mentioned a vest which attaches to your seatbelt that keeps your baby on your lap and out of the overhead compartment when the plane hits a pocket of turbulence. For those of you who do not feel like dragging a toddler and a car seat through a busy airport, there is a portable restraint system available that only weighs a pound.

One of the many tips the segment provided was to keep your baby's bottle chilled by storing it in an ice-filled air-sickness bag. Here's a bonus tip from me: you can also stash your airplane bottle of vodka there until your kid finally falls asleep.

Unfortunately, the program did not state how to pack a playard, a box of diapers, pool supplies, a ton of beach towels, forty-eight changes of clothes, and all the other crap needed for a vacation with a toddler.

Introducing the Latest Member of the Mile-High (Birth) Club

Karen Murphy — Sun, 27 May 2007 14:04:00 GMT

Bringing another meaning to the phrase "upright and locked position", a women eight months pregnant went into labor Wednesday on a Delta flight bound for Atlanta from Germany and gave birth right there in the aisle in first-class assisted by two passengers who happened also to be doctors. Having flown while eight months pregnant myself, this was a not a scenario I envisioned for myself but on the other hand my flights were relatively short and I figured I'd be able to at least make it to the airport before things got sticky. Not so when it's transatlantic.

Although the questions I'd want answered still remain a mystery (did the airline offer any additional snacks to the passengers? Were drinks free? What was the movie on the flight? How many people willingly gave up their blankets and pillows to the cause?), we do know that the baby is a boy and that he weighed about seven pounds. Likely being surprised by his birth himself, the baby also required resuscitation after birth but was doing fine by the time the plane made an emergency landing in Charlotte so mom and baby could deplane.

But my biggest question is: will Delta give frequent flyer miles to the baby?