Flight attendant warns of the easy mistakes parents make that put kids in danger
FLYING with children can be a total nightmare for everyone.
Passengers hate sitting next to screaming kids, while parents get flustered when they run out of ideas to keep them in their seats.
But there are some really stupid things that parents do that make life more difficult for themselves and for their youngsters.
In this edition of my weekly blog for Sun Online Travel, I'll explain the things parents do that not only annoy everyone on board, but could actually be quite dangerous for their kids.
Firstly, please don't let them crawl around on the floor. It's disgusting.
Airlines don't get to clean the floor properly all that often and, I know it's good to expose your kids to some germs, but not that much.
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I wouldn't advise passengers to walk around barefoot, or even with just their socks on, when flying.
So the thought of your kid putting their hands on that floor and then inevitably shoving their fingers in their mouth, really turns my stomach.
It's also risky to have your youngsters in a position where you aren't immediately able to strap them in.
Some flight attendants in America actually want the rules to be changed, so all kids have to be strapped into their own seats, and not on parents' laps - and it's not a bad idea at all.
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If there's turbulence, or an emergency landing, you've really got to try and protect yourself and no matter how tightly you're holding your child, there's always a risk they can be thrown through the cabin.
If you're looking after the kid, you're putting both them and yourself at risk.
I'd prefer them to be strapped in, if possible, and not crawling about, leaving themselves at risk of turbulence, or horrible germs.
It's understandable, however, that parents or people who don't fly that often might not know about those things, but there are plenty of examples of parents doing bad things when they should know better.
You'd be amazed at how many get on the plane and seem to think their parenting responsibilities end once they get in the cabin.
We're not a creche and we're not there to look after your children for you - that's still very much your job as a parent.
I've been handed kids to look after while parents are in the toilet and that's not too bad if you're on your own with a kid, you might need a bit of help.
But you can't ask us to keep an eye one them while you go to sleep, or even while you have a drink.
I've sadly seen parents on flights knocking back the drinks and then nodding off, while their kids just sit there looking on.
You wouldn't do that in your home, or anywhere else for that matter, but for some reason people think the rules change on planes.
They don't change on planes and you need to stay sober enough to keep your kid occupied and safe.
You also need to keep your kid happy - and if they've got very specific tastes, that's up to you to sort out, not us.
We do serve meals on some flights, but that doesn't mean we run a restaurant and if you know your kid is picky, please bring some food with you that they will eat because we can't make new meals mid-flight.
We have very limited ingredients and resources and very few options if your kid doesn't like what we have on board.
This doesn't necessarily only apply to kids, but the amount of parents who tell us that their children don't like certain ingredients or types of food etc and ask us if we can make anything else is really frustrating.
So just think about what you'd need to keep your kid happy, safe and well fed and that will minimise the stress for your flight crew, your fellow passengers and crucially yourself.
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Meanwhile, a flight attendant has revealed the best plane seats for kids - and why parents with babies should never fly at night.
And a former flight attendant has shared where it is best to sit on a plane if you don't like screaming babies.
