Bub's 7th Flight!
I’ve done a fair amount of flying with the family over the past few months.
First, there was Puerto Rico with my daughter in June. Then it was Jamaica with my daughter, then-16-month-old son and mother-in-law. And just the other week I returned from a trip to visit Beaches Turks & Caicos with my daughter. On our return flight home from Turks & Caicos I overheard one of the flight attendants mention that there were 15 infants on the plane. Fifteen babies. One, Five. To some, that’s their idea of Hell.
After all, a USA Today article from August pointed out that over half of fliers would limit where kids could sit on planes. And that one article, at less than 500 words, had over 700 comments, most of which were anti-kids on planes. During my short tenure on the Internets, I’ve learned that a sure way to get a gazillion controversial comments** on an article is to write about circumcision, breastfeeding in public, or flying with kids. **unless, of course, the article’s on my site 😉
I was baby-less on this particular flight, so I was curious to see if 15 babies would get on my nerves. Luckily my almost-5-year-old is a seasoned traveler at this point, so I was actually able to sit back, and enjoy my flight. And you know what? I did.
There was the odd wail, the occasional aisle walk-by… every now and again, a bit of baby screeching… But mostly the drone of the engines. With headphones and in-flight entertainment on, I didn’t really notice anything.
Could this be because I’m used to hearing the noise that a baby typically produces? Possibly. But since I was missing my baby so much, I was more acutely aware of the babies around me. I’ve always found airplanes to be noisy anyway, the addition of the occasional wail or cry isn’t that big of a deal to me. I’m usually the one holding the occasionally wailing, yelling, crying, or screeching baby, so I know that the baby’s parent is stressing enough about the noise for both of us.
So what did I learn on that flight? I learned that 15 babies on a plane is not a big deal. And I learned that Turks & Caicos is a popular destination for people with babies, so I better get writing about it!
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Grace Bay Beach, Turks & Caicos
My next post: “Why to Get Your Son Circumsized Before Breastfeeding Him Midflight”
I love your positive attitude about flying w/ babies. I don’t mind at all when little ones are seated next to me on flights. In fact, I sometimes offer to sit beside them. 🙂
Ha!
Oops – need to add vaccinations to that list!
Snakes would definitely be scarier! I agree that planes are noisy affairs anyway, between other passengers, the drone of the engine and the attendants walking around… but then I’m used to the noise of kids. My husband and I now fight over who gets to sit next to our five year old – another seasoned traveller that’s happy to sit back and amuse himself on plane. Miss 3 is wonderful and I love what she’s getting up to at this age… but on a flight I dream about the days when she too is 5! Can’t wait to see the redesign and read more about the Turks/Caicos
@Stephanie – I hope you’re on our next flight! 🙂
@Tracy – It’s so great when they’re excited about a plane trip because they know they’re going somewhere fun! Pretty sure that’s what motivates my daughter to behave!
It’s great that you didn’t notice the crying and I think that’s probably the chase for many travellers.
Looking forward to reading more about Turks & Caicos.
I meant probably the CASE, oops! 🙂
Are aisle walks something people complain about? I never thought that would be bothersome – if not for aisle walks I don’t think I would have survived flying to and from South Africa from Canada with my 15 month old!
When it comes to flying with babies, people complain about everything. Some people.
I would have never thought of the Turks and Caicos as a particularly family friendly destination, but apparently it’s where all the cool kids are headed this summer. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a flight with that many babies!
It’s a pricey island, but it’s safe and very clean, with lots of options for self-catering as well as the big resorts. There’s not much in the way of local culture, but then you don’t feel guilty just lazing around being a beach bum 😉