Strollerderby : airplane

Woman Gives Birth on Airplane, Abandons Baby in Airport

Kate Tuttle — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:02:00 GMT

A sad and strange story out of New Zealand: authorities there are reporting that a pregnant Samoan woman boarded a flight from Apia to Auckland last week and gave birth while on-board the plane. While early rumors suggested that the infant had been found in the airplane lavatory, it's now reported that the newborn was fond in a trash can in the airport in New Zealand's largest city. The baby and mother are both now reported healthy, in the hospital.

How was a heavily pregnant woman allowed to board a plane, in violation of both airline and national regulations? And was the woman, reportedly a member of a group of immigrant workers who regularly arrive from Samoa for seasonal agricultural work, so in need of mone that she couldn't afford to stay home and give birth? Was she seeking the New Zealand citizenship most Samoans are denied (even though the law changed in 2006 and no longer grants citizenship by birth alone)?

We'll probably never know. But let's hope the mother and child are able to recover from this bizarre beginning to their life together.

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American Newborn's Stuck in Iraqi Red Tape

JeanneSager — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:29:00 GMT

Would you go to a war torn country when you were six months pregnant? What if your eighty-six-year-old mother-in-law was there and in ill health?

Grace Alshemmari had never left the United States before, but when her husband, an Iraqi refugee, wanted to visit his ailing mother, she said OK. She'd be home, she thought, in time to deliver her little boy back in the good old US of A.

Except she wasn't. At thirty-five weeks pregnant, Grace Alshemmari was told she couldn't get on an Iraqi Airways jet to fly back to the United States. She was stuck in Iraq for the rest of her pregnancy. In May 2008, she gave birth via C-section in an Iraqi hospital to baby Amir, a week late.

Now Grace is home in Indiana, and her son's stuck in Iraq. She's been told the only way to get the baby out of the country is by visiting the US embassy in Baghdad, but her husband's family has warned that it's much too dangerous for an American citizen in Baghdad right now. She'd be putting herself - and the baby - in mortal danger. The family made attempts to file the necessary paperwork in another Iraqi city and at an embassy in Jordan, but again they were pointed to Baghdad.

So Grace came home in September, hoping she could reach out to the American government from within the borders rather than across the globe. She's been told the State Department can't help her - she has to follow procedures that were set in place to ward against "baby smuggling." They want to verify the baby is truly a U.S. citizen before they let her bring Amir home.

I'm still not sure I'd get on a plane and fly to a war-torn country when I was six months pregnant - sick mother-in-law or no sick mother-in-law. But for family, it's hard to say what you will and won't do until you're there. Can you really blame her for supporting her husband in his time of need?

As for the baby smuggling - what ever happened to checking with the Iraqi hospital? If they confirm this woman gave birth, do they really think she's going to sneak someone else's baby into the country and leave her own stranded in Iraq? Or here's a crazy thought - how about State Department officials work FOR an American citizen instead of against one? They have the means to travel within the country with military protection. How about they travel to the Alshemmari's family's home in Najaf, where the baby is currently living, and confirm his existence and his resemblance to his mother. If they so wish, they can pluck a few hairs and send them off for DNA testing to confirm this baby is REALLY the child of an American citizen.

A part of me can't help but wonder, is Grace, the American citizen, being penalized for being married to an Iraqi?

Image: Yahoo (1 - Grace and Amir. 2. Grace and Raad Alshemmari's elder child, Karina, holds a picture of baby brother Amir)

Parenting 101: Changing a Baby's Diaper On an Airplane

Kate Tuttle — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:29:00 GMT

Traveling this holiday season? Worried you'll get one of those planes with no changing table in the lavatory? Just in time for your diapering-while-flying conundrum, here are some sites with useful tips for dealing with junior's dirty dipe while crusing at 30,000 feet.

From MSNBC's travel writer comes an assortment of ideas from parents who, it turns out, were writing to complain about an earlier column in which she declared all in-air diapering verboten. She graciously issued a mea culpa and shared her column with the experts: parents who have actually flown with little ones. Best information: which planes have changing tables (nearly all widebodied planes, like the Boeing 767 and 777 and Airbus 300). Most pointless factoid: changing a table in an airplane lavatory without a changing table is damn hard work. Most disgusting etiquette "don't": Gary, an airline employee, says he's seen parents change their baby on the tray tables, using all three in the row to stretch out the baby's body. As he points out, these trays are not typically cleaned between flights so, um, that's a good reason right there to bring your wipes even if you don't plan to change the baby.

Another site offers some handy tips, including the a-ha idea of timing any seat- or floor-based diaper change to the bathroom visits your seatmates make. If you finish up quickly, they won't even know you changed your baby within inches of where they're sitting. Another tip? Waving around a diaper wipe to use as an on-the-fly air freshener.

Mostly, the expert advice is the same as what any parent could come up with: try for the biggest plane you can possibly book (any semi-nervous flyer already does this), slap on a fresh diaper at the airport, just before boarding, and hope for the best. Of the 40+ separate flights I've taken so far with my two-year old, he's only had a poo blowout once, and that was on a plane that featured a changing table (yay!) but on a day I had neglected to pack extra pants (boo!). It's all, if you'll pardon the expression, a crapshoot. Got any tips of your own for dealing with diapers while flying? Share them in the comments section!

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Snakes, Oops, Babies on a Plane! Babies on a Plane!

Amy Kuras — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:02:00 GMT

If you're planning on taking your family out by plane for the Labor Day weekend holiday, you might be interested in this: Out of 20,000 travelers surveyed by AirfareWatchdog.com, 85 percent said they would support the creation of a section just for babies and small children on planes.

And fully 100 percent of those polled said they'd pay $20 extra each way to be on a longer flight (2 hours plus) with no kids under 13, at all.

I'll make a confession here: I have not flown since my kids were born. The very thought of it makes me want to lay down and have a glass of wine. Most of our favored vacation spots and all of our families are within driving distance, so we haven't had to, and I hate to fly just all by myself. Put me and my nearest and dearest on a BIG TUBE HURTLING THROUGH THE SKY and add in the potential for truly embarrassing tantrums, and that trip to Disney just ain't happening.

So I am kind of neutral here. On the one hand, I'm like "Babies cry and we live in a society with other people. If you hate listening to them so much you cannot stand it, buy your own damn plane." On the other, I have a strong inkling about how my kids would react to a plane ride and it's not pretty. Being around other people who BTDT would be a lot nicer than being seated next to the leader of the Child Haters of America, that's for sure.

Frequent travelers, what do you think?

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Your Kids Don't Want to Vacation with You

Your Kids Don’t Want to Vacation With You

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Oh man, I thought when I saw the title to this article—“My Interminable Flight with a Crying Child”—yet another uptight non-parent complaining about the indignities of being subjected to strangers’ children in public places. But it turns out that Chuck Cohen has some decent points—and he’s a parent himself.

I still maintain that I have little sympathy for Cohen’s complete intolerance for crying children on his plane (“Why should kids under the age of 2 fly free on airplanes? And if they do, shouldn’t we institute a decibel charge?”), since I happen to be of the school that believes going out in public means encountering small humans—and sometimes, they’re going to cry.

But Cohen may be on to something when he argues that toddlers cry on airplanes (and in the theatre) for a reason: they don’t want to go to London, or sit still in a dark theatre for two hours. They’d much rather play on the swing set in the backyard.

Still, Cohen’s insistence that kids—and the vacationing public—will be happier if they are left at home may be logical, but it’s not necessarily practical. Are parents supposed to give up vacationing all together until their children develop a sophisticated interest in London theatre and Yosemite falls? And what about the plane flights that are to Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Photo: Mom's Buzz

When The Loud Neighbors Are Your Kids

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.

Airlines Actually Help Keep Your Kid Quiet? Tickets Please!

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:31:00 GMT

On a flight to Michigan several months ago, Dana and I brought onboard food, toys, games, blankets, pillows, baby syringes filled with baby horse tranquilizers -- anything we thought might keep Emmeline calm during the four-hour flight. The only thing the airline did to help out was lose our luggage.

Turns out we've been flying the wrong airline (have fun with that bankruptcy, United!). Several international carriers are offering everything from puppets to puzzles to interactive televisions and children's programming to help make long flights easier for kids -- and the passengers around them.

Even the worst carriers (is it that obvious I hate United?) are getting into the act by including kids show on their miniature TV screens.

Where the hell were these perks when I was a kid? Sure, I occasionally caught a glimpse inside a cockpit, but I would have foregone the flashing lights, countless switches and crazy questions about Turkish prisons for the chance to pre-order my own meal and play Nintendo during a cross-country flight. That does it. We're definitely switching airlines.

What's the Nationality of a Baby Born Midflight?

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:27:00 GMT

This is a great question. I have no idea what the answer is either: If a baby is born, to a Japanese mother and English father, on an American airplane, flying through Indian airspace, what nationality will the baby be, or be entitled to be?'

This question came up during a debate on if having sex on an airplane is legal. A man named Rob (from London) asked it on the BBC News Magazine Monitor.

Crap, Rob. I don't have any clue. Maybe the parents could petition whichever government they choose? Maybe this is why women really aren't supposed to fly in their third trimester. Maybe (like in the Jewish faith) the baby would be whatever the mother is. Does anyone have any insight on this one?