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small children

Kelly1carlson
Explorer C

First, I'm a grandmother of 3. One is 18 months whom I just spent 4 days with.

Dirty diapers come with the territory. 

If your child fills their diaper even before we take off, and you don't make an attempt to change it for the hour plus flight, I find that neglectful and disrespectful. They were screaming for a reason.( that's right, Irish twins both in diapers)

I can't imagine the crew did not notice but no attempt to encourage their patrons to do their jobs was made.

Love Southwest but this was a horrible flight.

6 REPLIES 6

Re: small children

bec102896
Aviator A

Sorry you had a bad flight because of some screaming little ones. as I'm sure you know travel with kids can be tough. 

 

if you would like to discuss this with Southwest directly feel free to reach out to customer relations by calling 855-234-4654 or you can send them a DM on twitter.

 

hope your next flight is more enjoyable

Blake 

Re: small children

Kelly1carlson
Explorer C

If it had been just screaming kids, par for the course, but the stench was the problem.

Thanks for the info.

Re: small children

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@Kelly1carlson wrote:

If it had been just screaming kids, par for the course, but the stench was the problem.

Thanks for the info.


My only suggestion - hopefully you aren't ever in the same situation! - would be to try and discretely grab the FA and mention to them in case they could help in some way, either to find out if they were out of supplies and get some from another passenger, or...?

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: small children

Passenger1C
Aviator C

@Kelly1carlson I agree that leaving a child in that type of situation is neglectful and wrong. I don’t understand how some parents can ignore the obvious, but maybe there was a reason?  As a fellow passenger, I would have felt disrespected and frustrated too (sounds like the worst flight ever), but who is to blame here? 

 

 I do not agree that the crew should have gotten involved. The crew has enough on their plate, and now they are to give out parenting advice? I can just see someone filming the interaction with the parents on their phone. Next thing you know it’s all over the social media and local news that SWA does not LUV children.

 

Do we know the reason why the parents didn’t change the diaper? Was there turbulence? Were they told to stay seated with their seatbelts on for their safety? Did they run out of diapers and not sure what to do next? I bet the experience was horrible for them too. 

 

It is unfortunate that you had to experience this situation in a confined space with recycled air, but I’m my opinion, it’s not SWA’s fault. If I would have been you, I would have walked off that flight dancing with joy since you were not living that nightmare. 

 

I hope you had a great time with your grandchildren, and get to see them again soon. 

 

 

 


SWA Passenger, Community Champion

Re: small children

DancingDavidE
Aviator A

@Passenger1C wrote:

@Kelly1carlson I agree that leaving a child in that type of situation is neglectful and wrong. I don’t understand how some parents can ignore the obvious, but maybe there was a reason?  As a fellow passenger, I would have felt disrespected and frustrated too (sounds like the worst flight ever), but who is to blame here? 

 

 I do not agree that the crew should have gotten involved. The crew has enough on their plate, and now they are to give out parenting advice? I can just see someone filming the interaction with the parents on their phone. Next thing you know it’s all over the social media and local news that SWA does not LUV children.

 

Do we know the reason why the parents didn’t change the diaper? Was there turbulence? Were they told to stay seated with their seatbelts on for their safety? Did they run out of diapers and not sure what to do next? I bet the experience was horrible for them too. 

 

It is unfortunate that you had to experience this situation in a confined space with recycled air, but I’m my opinion, it’s not SWA’s fault. If I would have been you, I would have walked off that flight dancing with joy since you were not living that nightmare. 

 


That's really a tough one, we have a young one now as well and one time she did managed to do her business during boarding. I went up to the front and changed her, possibly delaying the flight by a minute or two but it was going to be pretty rough for her, us, and everyone around us if we didn't try to "make a change" right then - obviously once the plane was taxiing and take-off, and then waiting for a good opportunity with the seatbelt light on...it migh be 30 minutes.

 

If one of the FA realized the situation they might be able to suggest - "oh by the way, the changing table is in the front..." but I think they might not have realized the situation, and the parent or parents may not be frequent flyers and didn't know what to do. 

 

I'm sure it was bad all around, I'd hold back on calling it neglectful without knowing more about the situation though. Now that I'm a seasoned airborne diaper changer myself I'd have asked them if they needed a hand (watching the second one while they changed in shifts?) or suggestion to make a change though, offered a couple of spare diapers, etc.

 

 

 

 

Home airport MDW, frequent visitor to MCO to see the mouse.

Re: small children

Kelly1carlson
Explorer C

I apologize if my comment was only seen as finger pointing. It was my observation and I would have added any pertinent side notes if I had witnessed or over heard anything relevant. 

One would think the staff has encountered this problem before so a quick 'can i help you find a way to take care of your baby' would be in their script. It can't be pleasant for them either.

Just sayin......