Screaming Children In The Care Of Indifferent Adults

[Siguarda al fine]

How do you handle complaints about screaming children?

[bubblesuk]

What do you mean by screaming? Upset, tantrum or boistrus play?

[gcal]

A young nephew once asked what the tail skid (that thing?) on a 767-300 was ...instant reply 'A tow bar for attaching the trailer they put the children in'
Complete silence and a quiet flight.
Discipline is the key always and a little whiskey in the milk wouldn't hurt:ok:

[maxred]

It is the adults that require to be dealt with:*The children are a product of them:eek:

[RedhillPhil]

Too true maxred, too true. Parents just don't seem to be willing to deal with the products of their loins nowadays. My own two - now 24 and 29 - were never inflicted on people. If one or both kicked off in a shop, restaurant, whatever I/we'd whip 'em straight out. Nowadays it's just let them shriek. "He's expressing himself" says dopey burd next door as her twenty month old lets rip with another screech that feels like it would shatter glass. The funniest was yesterday when a yummy mummy was trying to reason with her two year old who got itself so wound up it was being sick on Sainsbury's shop floor. Very difficult to explain to someone that you can't reason with something that's unreasonable.
There's not enough slapping, that's what I say!
:*

[Neptunus Rex]

How do you handle complaints about screaming children?Write a strongly-worded letter to their Fleet Manager!

[visibility3miles]

They used to hand out out chewing gum to young children as the plane started to descend. Young children can't clear their ears as easily as adults (head/ear shape is different). Giving them something to chew on gets their jaws moving, which helps clear their ears.

These days, it's probably viewed as a choking hazard and liability issue. :sad:

My spouse and I refer to infants as "baby barometers", as on descent they start wailing due to the pain in their ears.

Airlines also used to give out coloring books and crayons to keep them busy, but I assume that's too expensive these days. Making funny faces can help.

Sometimes pax making funny faces can distract them. Or read a book out loud! Parents and child may be too tired to handle travel by the time they get on the plane. No fun for anyone.

[Landroger]

I am a Scout Leader jointly responsible for our cheerful bunch of hooligans, between the age of ten and a half and fifteen. Now taking three of your own children out anywhere is one thing, but having up to twenty-six of them to corral and goad is quite another. :eek:

My point being that when we are out in public, we do bear down on them in no uncertain terms and make every effort to keep the general public undisturbed and uninterrupted by our kids. We don't have to beat them and we seldom have to yell at them, but we make it quite clear that the rules is the rules. :ok:

Our Troop of boys and girls are not subjugated or subject to tyranny :eek:, just reasonable discipline, yet they are fairly collected, bright and often fun to be with. And you may imagine the pride we feel when, as often happens, members of the public come to us and say; 'Aren't your children well behaved?' or 'Its lovely to see children so well behaved.' We tell them that mass murder is too good for them and the floggings will continue until the behaviour improves,:D but actually, it is often really quite neat being a Scout Leader. :)

Roger.

[flapsforty]

SgalF, I can not answer your question because in a lifetime of flying I have never had one single passenger complain to me about a screaming child.

Most parents are mortified and can be seen to do whatever is in their power to sush the child. Some are so tired themselves that they become apathetic, and some need a 'bit of a hand' from the cabin crew to deal with the problem. Suggesting a bottle/breast, a pacifier, a cookie.

I usually offer to take the little screamer of their hands for a bit. Gives the parents a breather and time for a pit stop, gives me the chance to cuddle a baby again and often shocks the little one right out of crying.
And even if they don´t stop crying immediately, just walking around the aircraft with them a bit, talk to them, give them something else to play with or stare at, it all distracts and removes the child for a wee while from everybody who has been bothered by the yelling. Often take them to the cockpit too, amuses the lads and if the kid´s a bit bigger, often amuses the kid too.
Not perfect what else can we do?

Vis3M; most heritage airlines still hand out toys/colouring books/games for the young travelers. :)

[T-21]

My wife and I flew back on Monarch Menorca to Birmingham last year . For the whole flight of over 2 hours we had to put up with screaming children 4 rows back . The parents made little attempt to keep them quiet and actually goaded them. Cabin crew seemed disinterested and I did not want to say anything as it would have started a fight and it would have been me arrested on arrival. Basic discipline lacking all round and respect for fellow travellers. I was so stressed driving home on the motorway in pouring rain I had to stop in the services for a break as I was convinced I was driving down the motorway the wrong way ! We have not bothered going abroad since. :ugh:

[GANNET FAN]

Come on JSL, your turn!!!

[angels]

I've flown quite a bit and have never had a flight disrupted by kids.

I've lived in Hong Kong and Singapore and so both my kids flew a fair bit of long haul when they were young. I was lucky that my eldest, a boy, loved to kip while flying.

I came back with him from Hong Kong (CX) once and a nervous-looking businessman sat next to us. As we got off at LGW (yes it was that long ago), the businessman said, "I was really depressed when they sat me next to you as I thought the baby would be a nightmare. Can I say that was most peaceful flight I've ever had back to London!"

My daughter was similar, although aged about two she did like to have a potter about during the flight! Makes me tired thinking about it!

[Basil]

Flaps,
Often take them to the cockpit too, amuses the lads and if the kid´s a bit bigger, often amuses the kid too.
Security alert! Al Q planning 5th column undercover teams!


BBC News - Is it bad taste to have a 'shortest man' record? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11228268)
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49027000/jpg/_49027714_enh.jpg

Don't let 'em snuggle in too close :}

[malagamike]

My wife and I flew back on Monarch Menorca to Birmingham last year . For the whole flight of over 2 hours we had to put up with screaming children 4 rows back . The parents made little attempt to keep them quiet and actually goaded them. Cabin crew seemed disinterested and I did not want to say anything as it would have started a fight and it would have been me arrested on arrival. Basic discipline lacking all round and respect for fellow travellers. I was so stressed driving home on the motorway in pouring rain I had to stop in the services for a break as I was convinced I was driving down the motorway the wrong way ! We have not bothered going abroad since.

how can a screaming child make you so stressed out that you had to stop at the motorway services and has prevented you from going abroad since???

[Siguarda al fine]

From the some what flippant replies I guess CC are oblivious to PAX welfare. I flew 11:30mins during which one infant screamed constantly, same day next flt 7:30mins same story. One brave fellow complained and was moved away from the source of the irritaion. The mother did nothing to quiet the wretched child, what a moron.

[Octopussy2]

One infant screamed constantly for 11 hours 30 mins? REALLY??

My two (now 6 and 2) had healthy pairs of lungs and could be pretty determined, but that would have been beyond them. Even a baby with colic (poor thing) can't manage much more than about 3 hours before being overcome by sheer exhaustion.

It is unlikely in the the extreme that the infant's parents weren't doing everything they could to keep the child quiet, if only for the simple reason that they find the noise as annoying as you do. Quite apart from that, they would be motivated by a desire to find the cause of their child's suffering and deal with it (babies cry for a reason).

The solution? Buy some earplugs/noise cancelling headphones and use them. Then sit back and enjoy your g&t/cup of tea in peace, grateful in the knowledge that you're not the one having to try and shut the baby up.

[jetset lady]

Hang on a second, Siguarda al fine. That's one hell of a judgement call to make considering there is currently only one reply from a known Cabin Crew member and it's far from flippant. In fact, Flapsforty's reply is full of good tips, both for crew like me who must have been off sick the day the maternal gene was handed out and also for parents. (I seem to have the unenviable ability to make children cry just by being close to them.:()

Having children on board is always going to be a balancing act between the needs of the child and the needs of the other passengers. Ironically, in my experience those that glare at the parents of crying children are often inadvertently making the situation worse. The parents become more and more anxious as the disapproval around them builds, the baby picks up on that anxiety and reacts the only way it knows how. He/she cries even more and even louder! A little bit of understanding can often produce unexpected results.

Prolonged crying is obviously different and I bow down to Flapforty's experience and knowledge. There is nothing I can add or suggest that she hasn't already said in her post. Saying that, I do make a good "quiet" rattle with an empty water bottle and pretzels which occasionally provides enough distraction to work for a while. However, if you really had a child on your flight, screaming solidly for over 11 hrs and none of the suggestions worked, then I think I'd be asking some serious questions about what was causing the crying.

[TightSlot]

From the some what flippant replies I guess CC are oblivious to PAX welfare. I flew 11:30mins during which one infant screamed constantly, same day next flt 7:30mins same story. One brave fellow complained and was moved away from the source of the irritaion. The mother did nothing to quiet the wretched child, what a moron.

I'm astonished too, that an infant can cry for that long: It's a very tiring activity. Are you quite sure that you mean "constantly"?

Out of interest, what should the Cabin Crew have done? Clearly you have an answer - please share so that we may all learn for the future. Infants have been crying (and irritating others) since the species began, so we shall all be fascinated to discover what the solution is. I imagine that, if space permitted, moving others was a possible course of action - Hang on! That's what they did in one instance.

You need to think carefully about your answer Siguarda al fine - you've just posted on a Cabin Crew forum that Cabin crew were "oblivious to PAX welfare": Your continued ability to post in this forum may hang on the effectiveness of your answer.

:suspect:

[bizdev]

As a frequent user of the Low Cost Carriers down to sunny Spain, you need a seating strategy as these flights usually have a higher % of squawkers on them than most other scheduled flights.

Its all about making sure you pick the right moment to join the boarding line (notwithstanding that this can be quite tricky as it is often a surge and a scrum once the gate number gets displayed). In this way - the squawkers are already seated so you can choose your seat accordingly.

Then I put my sound cancelling head phones on (with IPod) after take off and my wife puts her ear plugs in - for three reasons:

1/ Even if you have planned your seat well, there will always be noise from the squawkers, also slightly older squawkers are sometimes left to run up and down the cabin making a variety of different noises.

2/ It blocks out the noice from the drunken teenagers & stag/hen parties

3/ It blocks out the non-stop cabin announcements of what is coming next through the cabin that is for sale.

Works for us (SLF) :E

[landlady]

My neice, a CSD, dealt with the problem rather nicely on one occasion. A very cross man told her in a very rude manner, (whilst jabbing his index finger on her shoulder), that he was sick of the screaming child next to him, and as there was plenty of space in Club, she should move him up. She very politely told him to return to his seat, and she would sort something out as Club was virtually empty.
She then moved the entire family (plus by now sleeping child) into club and indicated to the man that the problem was now solved and he had three empty seats next to him.
Be careful what you wish for!

[powderpufff]

There isn't anything you can do about screaming children.Little ones do not want to sit still for long periods.Toddlers love running around and they will never understand at 2years old that they have to sit still.
I flew from Hong Kong with my son who was 5 at the time and he became very grizzly prior to landing.A male pax started yelling he was a f***ing little brat etc and spoiling his brekkie.
When we were disembarking the pax told us to get out of the way.I reminded him that my son can of course,learn his manners etc from him,you know kicking off over something small,swearing,telling people to "get out of the way".
After many years as Cabin Crew,I have seen more adult pax throw outrageous tantrums than small children.
With big brother always on the loose,parents have had alot of control taken away from them anyway.

[Siguarda al fine]

As I said indifferent. :ugh:BTW I am slightly deaf in one ear from years of radial engine noise. I just saw on Fox news one restaurant in Florida ejects people with screaming kids if only Virgin would do that.:rolleyes:

[wannabecc]

I have friends who are now married and have kids (all below 5 years). Believe me I've come to understand that parents do not hear their kids..Period!! The kid could be screaming, running and bringing the house down, but it all falls on deaf ears. They have become so used to the screaming, tantrums they just don't hear it anymore, or choose to channel it out, and do nothing to stop it. And on an aircraft, forget it. I had a kid from the row in front of me, crawl from under the parents seat and appear in the empty middle seat at the side of me. Luckily we didn't have terrible turbulence at that time.

[scotbill]

I have always liked the ancient cabin crew story of the parents with the three year old in full cry mode and impervious to all parental attempts to pacify her - until a passing stewardess bent down and whispered something in her ear. Child immediately shuts up and remains cry-free for rest of flight.
Parents, intrigued, stop the miracle worker to ask what she had said to achieve this result.
"I just pointed out that this was the no-crying section of the plane - and if she wanted to cry she has to go back to row 45" :)