@[email protected] Everyone's problem would be solved by putting all passengers in pods and sedating them for the duration of the flight.

@[email protected]
Noise canceling headphones are a must on flights. I really wished I had them on the flight where I had a nosy society column writer sitting next to me.

@[email protected] it's people's own responsibility to bring noise cancelling headphones when flying. With those on the volume isn't a problem, and it's not your baby, so that's not a problem either.
In short, bring noise cancelling headphones to your flight.

@[email protected] I always bring ear plugs or ear buds or something to drown out noise if I'm flying. I would rather hear a noise machine than a crying baby.

@[email protected] "The lady turns around and she goes, ‘Oh, so your daughter does know how to smile.'"
This says it all for me. Just a nasty person. I'd much rather have a sound machine than a crying kid.

@[email protected] This is why I don't fly unless I am out of choices.

@[email protected] Never having heard of or heard a Sound machine. I can understand anyone complaining of any strange additive noise on a flight. However, the stress of traveling with a young child is very high level. As a parent I would have investigated whether I could get ear muffs that could play the sounds without impacting anyone else.

@[email protected] How loud was it? Doesn't need to be on very loud at all for the baby to hear (assuming earbuds are not an option) and shouldn't carry much beyond the seat. If it was so loud other passengers were complaining I can see their point.

@[email protected]

Dear Mr. Takei,

I realize that this may not be a popular opinion, but here goes:

Why can't airlines offer a "Sceaching Hell-Spawn Free" class on certain flights?

That, or maybe the Swaddling Clothes Car Alarms can be shipped by Freight...?

@[email protected] Flew regularly with my kids as babies, wouldn't dream then or now of playing noises loud enough that other passengers would not only hear but be irritated enough to complain about 😬

@[email protected] I have to say I would rather external noisemakers of any kind - without headsets/earpieces - should not be allowed to be used. Period.

Do not think you can do so just because it is the only thing that stops your baby from crying.

Ever think of recording the white noise and playing it through a "pillow speaker" so your child can hear it but it doesn't bother anyone else?

@[email protected] Planes are already loud and uncomfortable. Playing a sound machine is as annoying as playing music or a movie without headphones. I don’t like being that person, but if you can’t travel by air without disturbing other people with your noise, don’t travel by air. I know not all other alternatives are good, and staying home may be lonely, but the level of entitlement here is just extreme. And the “I could have murdered her” comment is just gross.

@[email protected] I mean my first reaction is "complaining lady clearly has NFI how much more pleasant her flight probably was, with the sound machine rather than a constantly screaming baby".
Edit: but having said that, feeling like you can just bring a sound machine on a plane does seem very entitled

@[email protected]

I prefer the sound machine to the sound of a crying child. Unfortunately, all babies are different and while some can sleep anywhere, others can’t. I think it’s best for the grown adults to compromise with the tiny person and the overworked parents. I know it’s not easy, but it makes for a better society in the long run. As it is, people ask parents, especially mothers, to separate themselves from society because they inconvenience us, and it’s isolating and not good.

@[email protected]
Children under 4 yrs should be stored in the hold and reclaimed (maybe) on landing!

More seriously, how loud and/or annoying is one of these machines? My experience of needing to do something others might object to is that explaining what and why you're about to do it gets you a lot of slack.

@[email protected] maybe ask before you do something like that, rather than just deciding that it is fine?

Seriously, be a little mindful of others Kaley, you are coming off as being kinda selfish and removed from reality. While your comments about wanting to strangle the complainer were just completely out of line, for which you should apologize immediately.

@[email protected]
Honestly, if you hate kids, and can't regulate. Stay in your damn house; this world will be theirs.

@[email protected] The request was reasonable, however their reaction to the complaining passenger was not. They should have explained the situation and they should have said something like, "Let's give it 10 more minutes and the baby should be asleep by then." I always take earbuds with me on the plane so that I can block out the noise with music or my own relaxing sounds.

@[email protected]

I think airplanes should have one of those measuring sticks at the door like Disneyland has at the ride entrances. "If you aren't THIS tall, you can't take this ride!"

Make the stick about 4'6" tall. 😏

@[email protected] Easy. I use a sound machine every night so that my dogs don’t react to every critter sound throughout the night. I’d 1000% rather hear a humming noise than a screaming child…especially on an airplane!

@[email protected] They were both wrong.

@[email protected] inconsequential

@[email protected] difficult one + let's face it flying + the whole airport experience makes people tense anyway.
Sound machine or crying baby? I'll take sound machine, but - they're plugging additional sound into a captive environment + sound that's a matter of taste - I don't sit there with my headphones unplugged + Slayer pumping out... but again, crying baby vs settled baby vs kindness. Then again, she does sound kinda entitled about it. Valium + alcohol = peaceful flight ;)

@[email protected] Sound machine? Hard no from me. I have issues with too much or too many sounds. It would make me insane.

@[email protected] I find this a typical discussion between people who have empathy and who don’t. If you see people suffering and they find a solution for it, it is rather entitled to say “but that annoys me”. Sign of the times, I guess.

@[email protected] Crying baby is definitely the worse alternative, but at the same time a lot of hurt feelings could've been smoothed over by explaining what the machine was, why it was on, etc. No one flies with an infant for fun. I can assure you that.

@[email protected] anything that stands a chance of stopping the baby screaming throughout the flight would be a net + for me.

@[email protected] White noise is preferable to a screaming baby, by a mile!