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When was the last time you boarded a flight and had no baby screaming the entire time? Quite a unique sight, right? Sitting next to a whining baby after paying a lot isn’t anyone’s plan. But just like you, a parent would also want to travel quietly without disturbing other passengers. However, only they get all the blame and judgy looks for bringing havoc on the plane. To be honest, they want their baby to calm down more quickly than others.
This article discusses a few sensible reasons why you should stop judging parents who fly with their babies. So fasten up your seatbelts as you’re going to read a lot of relatable situations.
1. Crying Is The Only Language They Know
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Crying is the only way a baby can communicate with the outside world or their parents. No matter how short the duration of the flight, everyone knows it is tiring. And babies are not used to hectic schedules, so they protest by whining. Also, babies like quiet places, so they cannot adjust to noisy surroundings when they travel in a plane. From people talking to the airplane making noises, any little soul will think it’s time to panic. So to complain about this unfamiliar environment, babies speak their only language: crying.
2. Crying Triggers Your Brain Too
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Crying is like a call for help, so when you hear someone screaming, especially a baby, your brain won’t let you ignore it. Your brain tells you it’s a distress call and you need to do something about it (1). As a result, seeing a wailing baby on a flight may irritate you since your brain makes it impossible for you to avoid the sound. When you don’t want to be aware and can’t get out of this situation or fix it, it tells you to be attentive. That’s why a small crying session might make you feel more irritated or exhausted.
3. Irritated Parents Means More Crying
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When a parent tries to calm their baby down on a flight, they do it wholeheartedly. They also don’t mean to disturb fellow passengers on the flight and ruin their mood. However, if you will start commenting on them or how they are raising their kids or question why they’d travel with their babies when they can’t control them, it hugely shifts their mood and makes them even more nervous. And this will ultimately make it more challenging for them to calm their babies.
4. Can’t Control A Baby’s Medical Conditions
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Babies can develop sudden medical issues and might start feeling unwell in a matter of seconds. Issues like teething, fever, stomachache, and other health problems lead them to express their discomfort through crying. And to be very practical, no one can cure them instantly, not even their parents. So, it’s better just to accept that they are in pain or distress and try to adapt to the situation rather than making a scene out of it by showing your frustration to their parents.
5. Babies Are Not Babies If They Don’t Cry
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Think for yourself, is it possible for someone to tell a baby to stop crying and instantly follow their command without showing any protest? Well, even adults don’t behave the same way. And it’s too obvious to understand that babies will cry because they are babies, and that’s what they do. They don’t realize why it’s necessary to be calm in public or to manage their emotions. However, it is up to the other travelers to act like adults and show maturity by not blaming the parents for their baby’s behavior. A baby won’t instantaneously accept all social conventions just because others on the flight want them to, and you all used to act that way.
6. Judging The Parents Isn’t A Solution
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The parents can do nothing if they have tried everything to quiet down their baby yet have reached their breaking point and passing judgment on them won’t make things better. Instead, it will only add to the negative. Therefore, it’s better to choose compassion and understanding instead of anger and judgment.
7. Some Babies Don’t Stop Anyways
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Babies can cry continuously for no particular reason. So despite their parents’ best efforts, a baby may still be unable to control their emotions. And this situation doesn’t make parents irresponsible because they also feel the same discomfort and irritation as any other passenger on the flight.
We know how troublesome kids can be in public places, and sometimes it’s not in their parent’s or guardians’ hands to discipline them. However, looking from their perspective, we can relate to their helplessness and try to act more understanding and compassionate towards them. Hopefully, these few reasons will help you think about such situations more practically before you say something rude to the parents in the heat of the moment. Let us know in the comment section below about such encounters and how’d you deal with them.
