Toddler Thrown Off Plane

[wych]

PS: Not saying that's like THIS case because it's a bit different and, typically, I appreciate it when parents can control their kids. Just pointing out that not all cases are TYPICAL before it turns into a "YAY throw off bratty kids" rally like it has on other boards I go to... sometimes there is more to the story

[nobel]

Yeah. It is a bit different, I think, too.
Sounds like the autistic girl was not actually disrupting the safe progress of the flight, merely disrupting the peace and quiet. The toddler (and more importantly her parents) were preventing the safe departure of the flight, and the airline was 100% correct to remove them when the parents could not (or would not) bring her under control.
It's also rewarding the parent's lousy attitiude towards a perfectly reasonable request with a full refund, plus continuing their flight the next day, PLUS offers of future travel that really gets my back up. Kids misbehave and parents need to suck it up when unhappy consequenses ensue. It's part of the job they signed on for.

[ultimatemind]

ivyjosi said:

Ultimate Mind- your avatar is absolutely mesmerizing. I remember back when I could actually do that !!!!

Thanks, I was an avid gymnastics fan in my younger years, even though I could never do it myself.

[enviedlady11]

See, as a mommy, I can understand being on a plane with a screaming kid. It happens. We've all had our kids misbehave and have had to leave someplace OR haven't been able to leave ie on a plane, a train, etc.

I don't think this article is as much a reflection on the child as it is on the parents. The mother and father in the interview were idiots. Taking 15 minutes to let the girl crawl around under the seats and hit you, and then being angry with the airline because they didn't give you more time? Asinine.

Take your kid, crying or not, and put her in her seat. Period. Let her scream her head off. I just don't see how TWO parents can't get a little girl into her seat.

[Khanada]

Reading this is making me very anxious. We have to take our daughter on a 10 hours flight back to Canada in May. She was amazing on the flight over here but that was an overnight flight, going back is during the daytime. She's going through the terrible two's now so I'm having nightmares about how bad the trip home is going to be.

[stuporfly]

My daughter's first flight was when she was less than one year old. We could see the nervous looks of our fellow passengers as we boarded the flight, but the kid handled herself perfectly well. Someone actually shook my hand and congratulated me because Madeline was perfectly quiet for the whole flight.

Since then, she's flown many times, including a pair of round trip journeys between New York and Alaska, and she's always very well-behaved. She turns five in February, and we've been lucky that she's never pitched a fit on an airplane.

[ivyagogo]

Alec is really good on the plane too. Just make sure you have LOTS of different activities to do. I have a 3-ring binder that I take everywhere. It is filled with paper and a pencil case with loads of crayons. He will sit at dinner in a restaurant and draw the whole time. He will do the same thing on a plane. I also bring noise-free toys on the plane. Last time, I brought his Leap Pad along with head phones and that kept him busy for about an hour. Kids are much easier to deal with if the parents are prepared.

[starry]

*mental note* fly Airtran more often.

[KimK]

Somenewromantic, I couldn't agree with you more on the skate shoes. I'm fine with the fact that kids are getting more exercise but I can't stand the parents that let them zoom around the store without supervision.

[Denise7609]

Amber, I'm just wondering, if your son was acting up before the plane even took off would you offer to get off, calm him down and wait for another flight or would you have insisted on staying on that fight no matter what? I mean, if you're already on the plane and your kid freaks out then, oh well, no like you can strap a parachute on the kids back & push him out. So, there I can see were everyone would just have to get over it....it's not like you can't get ear plugs and watch the movie or whatever.
I know you're a good mommy Amber no doubt! I've seen over the years what you've done for your son and you deserve major kudos!