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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Zahna Eklund

'I'm floored by cruel responses to kids on planes - it doesn't make parents selfish'

Travelling by plane is never the most comfortable experience, and it's easy to get annoyed by the tiniest inconvenience when you're already irritable before you've even boarded your flight.

And while lots of people have complained about the inconveniences children can cause - from screaming babies to parents asking people to move seats so the family can sit together - one mum has now urged people to be kinder to families.

The mum said she's currently preparing for her first flight with her two children, as they want to travel to take the little ones - aged three and seven - to see their grandparents.

While planning the trip, the mum realised booking seats would be too expensive, so decided to ask people on Reddit if they had any experience with not booking, and whether the airline would split her up from her kids.

The mum was horrified by the comments she read (stock photo) (Getty Images)

However, when the mum returned to her post to check the responses, she found several cruel comments calling her "selfish" for taking her kids on a flight and "inconveniencing other people" who didn't want to be sat next to a child.

In another Reddit post, the mum, from the US, hit out at the "awful" comments she'd received - claiming there's nothing selfish about wanting to take her kids to see their grandparents, while also wanting to save around $200 (£160) cash.

She wrote: "We're in the middle of trying to plan our very first flight with our two kids and of course, it comes at a horribly inconvenient time (my parents are moving cross country and we have two weeks to choose from [to visit] between the end of school, trying to move ourselves, and other previous commitments).

"I have major flying anxiety, I haven't flown in 8 years. Since then the airlines have changed to charge to pick your own seat As we're on a budget I asked a specific airline subreddit if anyone had experience with children being split up from parents with the saver fare, because that would save us over $200.

"I thought I would get simple answers but instead I woke up to a bombardment of post replies saying how selfish I was to bring children on a plane and inconvenience other people who had chosen their seats, and honestly I was floored at how awful people were.

"I get it, no one wants to be stuck next to a crying baby (but I have a 3 and 7-year-old) but is it so f***ing selfish of me to try to save money so we can afford to go see my parents without having to do a 17-hour road trip?"

The mum said she's now considering doing the lengthy road trip instead because the thought of "everyone on the plane hating [her] and [her] kids' existence" has made her too anxious to fly.

She then asked: "Was I being selfish? I really didn't think so, I would've been fine boarding last with no priorities or privileges but I don't know, I guess I am and now I feel awful. I don't know, I'm just looking for solidarity or maybe someone without an airline horror story."

Commenters on her post were sympathetic toward her, with many saying children have "as much right to be on a plane" as anyone else.

One person said: "Children are people and have as much right to be on a plane as anybody else. Children have NEVER been my issue, a kid has never decided to get his luggage down before the plane stopped, a child has never been a non-stop fart machine, and children never complain loudly about the government (???) in customs lines."

While another added: "It's not you, you aren't being selfish. If people don't want to hear a baby or kid on an aeroplane, they can wear headphones … I literally don't understand what the big deal is."

But some were honest and told the mum that some airlines are likely to split parents and children apart if there are no seats available together, so she would be better off booking seats to avoid having to ask people if they wouldn't mind swapping.

Someone posted: "Some airlines will absolutely seat you apart from your children. So, while you're not selfish to fly with your kids. it would be very unfortunate and stressful to end up seated separately from one or both of your children and be at the mercy of strangers to help you shuffle around. It would not help your anxiety with flying so probably just pay for seat selection."

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