This One Common Complaint Plane Passengers Make Fills Flight Attendants With Rage
"The only thing more annoying than a screaming crying kid on a plane is somebody that won't stop complaining about a screaming crying kid on a plane," stated flight attendant @ichbinvin on TikTok. When something bothers you on a plane, your first instinct may be to go to a flight attendant for help. These individuals bring you food and drinks, teach you the actions to take in an emergency, and can help you resolve most issues you run into during your journey. While they are famously helpful, there are things that flight attendants would like you to stop doing. When it comes to a crying baby, asking a flight attendant to intervene will likely only frustrate them.
The flight attendant and TikToker sunset_syd declared that as annoying as a crying baby might seem to you, it's much harder for the parents to deal with. As a result, complaining about it as a fellow passenger makes you seem rude. "You guys don't even know how many moms I've had to talk off of ledges that have literally been crying ... because their baby just won't stop crying, and people around are like, 'Won't that baby shut up?' It's extremely insensitive, and I am the first one to let a mom know: do not listen to those people. Just take care of your baby."
Why babies always seem to cry on flights
Babies cry all the time, especially on planes, to the point that many flight attendants have learned to ignore the sound. It's not surprising that babies seem to always cry in this situation. Crying is an ordinary part of development. In fact, many babies go through a period of crying that can last for hours at a time. Unfortunately, life doesn't stop for parents of infants. There's no way of knowing if they're on their way to an island family vacation, visiting a sick relative, or traveling for work; sometimes, parents must take the whole family on a plane even if they know their baby will cry.
As described by pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics Claire McCarthy in an interview with The Washington Post, babies may cry for all sorts of reasons while flying. The unfamiliar surroundings may be uncomfortable or scary, so they cry. If it seems like babies often start crying as soon as the plane takes off, that's true, too. The Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine (pdf) explains that children often complain about ear pain during takeoff and landing. Babies can't complain but can make their displeasure known by sobbing at top volume.
What passengers can do instead of complaining
Flights can be extremely noisy, from the rumble of the engines and the whooshing of the air rushing by to scary chimes mid-flight that you hope don't indicate an emergency. Even without crying babies, bringing a nice pair of noise-canceling headphones can help drown out the noise so you can rest. If you can still hear the baby crying over your favorite music, try putting in a pair of foam earplugs before putting your headphones on. You might still be able to hear the baby, but it should be a lot quieter and more bearable.
You could also offer some encouragement to the parents. As described by one parent in an interview with The Washington Post, it can be nerve-wracking to fly with a baby. That's especially true when the people around you are judgemental or outright hostile about your baby. Some flight attendants will go out of their way to reassure parents that they're doing a great job or even offer to walk their baby around the plane to help soothe them. While you aren't required to go above and beyond like that, you can make flight attendant's jobs less annoying by not asking them to make babies stop crying.