A flight attendant with 39 years of professional experience and a mom of three gives light on how to make flying with children a breeze.
Recently a video of a man shouting on a plane, complaining about a crying baby went viral.
According to Today magazine, the unidentified passenger was flying the Southwest Airlines flight going to Florida with his partner. He was taking a nap and was awoken with cries of a baby, which irritated him a lot.
For three minutes of the almost four-minute video, which was recorded by a fellow passenger and has reached 134,000 views on TikTok, the angry passenger berated flight attendants and fellow passengers in the flight using profanity more than 20 times expressing his disgust over the baby crying.
More than the public responding with so many negative reactions towards the man, people empathize over the parents of the crying baby, knowing that flying with kids, especially infants and toddlers, can really be challenging.
Six Parenting Tricks To Make Flying with Kids a Breeze
Robin Mermelstein, a 62-year-old flight attendant for 39 years and a mother of three, knows exactly how it feels to be both in the shoes of the parents and the flight crew, who can also have a tough time when there are children in the flight.
With this, she took to TikTok today to share what she has learned about "on-board parenting" from both the jump seat and the window seat perspectives.
Here are six parenting tricks Mermelstein offered to make flying with kids so much easier.
1. Leave the plane seat tidy
In light of the recent complaint of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass against a United Airline flight attendant who left his five-month, high-risk pregnant wife Sydney Rae Bass to pick up the accidental popcorn mess their two-year-old daughter created from the plane aisle, Mermelstein stated that as a flight-attendant, she would not have done that to Sydney. However, as a mother she follows a basic rule - ""If [your kid] dropped it on your floor at home, you wouldn't let them leave it on the floor." Thus, it is the same when on the plane, never leave the plane seat in disarray.
2. Leave the messy snacks at home
Leave the big bag of popcorn at home because it will certainly spill and get all over the place. Instead, it would be best to pack and bring "very small" portions of various snacks. This will lessen the potential of spill and being messy on the plane.
3. Parents should never hesitate to ask for help
She assures parents that crew members acknowledge the challenge of parenting while flying. Thus, she encourages parents flying with their children to not be afraid to speak up and ask for help when they need a hand.
"If the mom or dad has to go to the bathroom, we can watch the kids. I'll hold the baby, walk around with the baby or whatever while you take a minute," she recalled several instances while flying as a flight attendant.
Read More: Flying With a Baby or Child: Everything Parents Need To Know
4. Make a packing list ahead and double check
Though the airplane crew members are ready to help, parents need to pack their bags with the assumption that the flight crew would not be able to extend a helping hand.
"After 9/11, we really scaled back on everything. I can't provide you something that I don't have," Mermelstein explained to People. For instance, these days, cabins are not anymore equipped with diapers and domestic flights will not always provide pillows and blankets. Further, she advises parents to "overpack in the snack and diaper department" in case flights will be delayed.
5. Parents need to prepare the kids too
Parents are encouraged to brief their kids that the flight will be long (or very long). They should be asked beforehand what they would need to be still in their seats and comfortable in the long flight. Mermelstein stressed that the parents who were able to brief their children "tend to have the least trouble in the air."
6. Never just rely on the ipad
"You've got to have backup for young kids, because if they run out of steam for one thing, you're stuck. I wouldn't just leave everything to one plan, like just an iPad," expressed Mermelstein, who believes the more options there is the better.
When her kids were younger, she would make sure to pack stickers, activity and drawing books and toys like Polly Pockets to entertain the kids in short intervals.
Related Article: Infants Sitting on Parent's Lap During Flights Considered Unsafe, Attendants Want Infants to Use Own Seats
