Business class babies

[JohnK]

I'd love to do so many trips too, before he starts school but hard when both of us work full-time.

Yes that makes it difficult. I'm lucky I'm getting towards the end of my working career and will soon go from 9-10 weeks leave/year to 12-15 weeks leave/year.

 

[RooFlyer]

If he cries a bit during takeoff yes we have a dummy and bottle of milk ready.
If he cries during yes we're ready to do laps up and down the aircraft till he settles.
It's mostly boredom.

Well organised and considerate. If only everyone was!

 

[daft009]

Well organised and considerate. If only everyone was!

Thanks! Don't want to jinx it for our next long haul but we barely had any issues last time.

Even the SQ hosties commented on how well behaved he was and he was giving them all flirting smiles in return and that was when he was only 10mo!

 

[blackcat20]

I look forward to flying up the front once we have kids

 

[daft009]

I look forward to flying up the front once we have kids

It's fun. Keep you the parent occupied

 

[Pushka]

I look forward to flying up the front once we have kids

. Well, it will certainly be a different experience for you!

 

[whughes3]

From my experience (15+ years of 30-40 international J sectors a year), this issue is just not a big deal; I cannot honestly recall a single incident of being disturbed by a noisy infant, in fact it is relatively uncommon to have any infants in the J cabin at all. No doubt it can and does happen, but you apparently need to be very unlucky!

The only infant-related incident I can recall was some years ago when I was seated across the aisle from the bassinet seat, and mummy decided that her dearest was not comfy enough and requisitioned my pillow while I was in the toilet!

 

[LadyC]

I look forward to flying up the front once we have kids

Why schlep it in Y if you don't have to! It's just a bit trickier when you need to find 3+ J/F seats

 

[blackcat20]

Why schlep it in Y if you don't have to! It's just a bit trickier when you need to find 3+ J/F seats

Isnt that when you fly up front and the kid flies as UM down the back?

 

[Lynnelanne]

I despise children on planes, being honest. Not only the noise but the seat kicking. If I was disturbed on a red eye by a screeching child in business class I’d be really pissed off. Yes, I am an impatient, intolerant old bag; no denial from here. I am the one who fixes you parents with a steely glare when your child kicks me in the back, and if it continues I am also the one who asks you to control your child. Fortunately the screeching baby in Business scenario has never happened to me. I regularly use earplugs on flights and anyone who says they compensate for a screaming child must be hard of hearing in the first place. I was unaware that some airlines ban kids from business class but now I’m going to do more research on who they are.

 

[whiteshark]

Absolutely instigate a practice for reducing exposure to crying babies or any other child annoyances.

I saw a flight attendant in business class direct a mother to walk her crying baby. When she did the silence was instant and every time the mother tried to sit down for a period the baby started up again and the flight attendant gave her another reminder (until she learned how to manage the situation). Outstanding work by the flight attendant.

What annoys me the most are the inconsiderate parents, who let their children annoy others. They think because they have had a child we all have to suffer the parenting, screw that. You look after your own kids and take measures to control their impact on others.

My partner and have flown globally with our children from infants to teens and got nothing but complements on how well behaved they were. No crying babies not one, because we took steps to ensure that they didn't. These steps not only reduce the impact on other passengers by also the children - everyone is happy.

I have read some of the posts by others online and in this forum saying that "...they are babies, and they cry, get over it" all i can say to these people is, 'no i wont get over it and you need to take responsibility for your actions as a parent', damn inconsiderate and lazy people.

 

[sammy]

My husband was posted in a couple of locations in Asia over a period of ten years, starting when our youngest was 5 months old. So we were always flying around in J class several times every year. Our kids all ended up being platinum (or equivalent and n other airlines used)
Many of the kids you see in j class are expats who are there et company expense. To wipe the airlines to forgo that whole customer base is naive.
I had only one bad crying baby incident (although tried valiantly to quiet her) But experienced flying parents like us generally fly with a plan, and an coughnal of tricks and distractions in our bags, so others wouldn’t even notice their presence.
I’ve seen lots of parents though, who are lazy and clueless. Didn’t order the kids/baby meal (somehow were given ours by mistake, and consumed it despite the label with our name on it) didn’t bring anything whatsoever for their child to do (like, not even a book)
Maybe parents of small children in business class could sign some type of contract, or be contacted by a customer service rep, going over the things they should or shouldn’t do?
Please don’t throw the good parents under the bus with the bad. Some of them aren’t flying for vacations or through choice.

 

[Pushka]

Not strictly flight related but I’ve seen the brain fade that can take over parents and grandparents when they have small kids in tow. Just saw it the other week at our Market with my SIL who had her 4 and 6 year old grandkids in tow. There were prams and dolls and other such useless things. SIL completely blocked a main path while sorting out one of the kids tantrums. People piling up behind. My brother and I looked at each other and moved them out of the way. SIL is not normally the kind of person to impose a large footprint but give her children and her common sense flies out the window.

 

[whiteshark]

Coming back in J on QF12 a couple of years ago, we had a child (?3yo) and mother in seats in front of us. The child screamed and cried and yelled and kicked the bulkhead as well as jumping up out of her seat and throwing herself in the aisle for 8 of the 13 hour flight. Being a night flight, this made for an unpleasant and exhausting journey The FAs were brilliant, trying everything to calm the child down without any success.

I noticed that the mother was replaced by the father for 3 hour stretches at a time.

When the FA queried what both parents were doing, the mother said (quite loudly, intentionally or otherwise) "she's always like this when we fly. That's why we book one seat back in PE so that we can take turns getting some rest on this long flight whilst the other looks after our daughter!"

Yeah right, what about the rest of Emerald City?

Lazy irresponsible parents.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Babies travel. Babies cry. The only issue I have is parents who don’t try and manage that crying. If they are doing their best, so be it.

But the same applies to snorers. If they do their best by sleeping on their side or stomach, so be it. But if they refuse to manage the situation (for example by remaining on their back), that becomes an issue.

 

[Aceman]

What BS ??? If I'm paying Business for a Baby and it Cries Tough cough suck it up Princesses- the people that can't handle it go back to Cattle

 

[gazzax2]

YES!!! Please ban babies and children from Business class.

I am in my late 20s, and I cant stand loud babies and children in Business class. They are getting the seats for less, we are subsidising them.

Its also very bad for the baby's health to fly - consider the germs they come in contact with and the air pressure would surely be doing something to their developing brain and body.

 

[Catweazle]

Hey, we were all babies once. Just saying...

Although from what I've seen, some parents ought to be banned from J in the first instance...

Airlines are not common carriers so if they choose they can restrict access to a particular cabin by age.

Maybe I read this wrong (hey it is Sunday morning lol) but can you explain what you meant by this statement?

 

[mrtupperware]

There are better ways to deal with this, and the responsibility should be with the parents.

If the baby cries during the flight, the parents should pay extra and the money should be disbursed to the other passengers. Something like $200-$300 per passenger. If you can afford J for your kid you should pay up. Similar scenario to when airlines flights are delayed and they need to give you food and hotel vouchers.

 

[ffhound]

Integrated solution:

"Flying with babies and young children" educational booklet automatically sent to the address of anyone booking child seats

1. Create a soundproofed crying room at the back of the plane for crying babies
2. Conditions of carriage should include a rule that you agree to allow a child to be sedated if it becomes a nuisance or cries excessively
3. Noise cancelling headphones for all who want them in J

And if all else fails - tazers.

cheers Peter