I d agree with Rich. If you re kid is capable of a tantrum worthy of being kicked off an airplane fo

As you might have seen in the news, this week a three-year-old car rental san diego to mexico boy was kicked car rental san diego to mexico off of a Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Miami.  The family s ultimate destination was the Virgin Islands for a family getaway.  They never made it.  Obviously I wasn t on this flight, so everything I know is from various news articles, car rental san diego to mexico but my understanding is that the mom, grandmother, and a one-year-old child were seated in first class and the dad and three-year-old were seated in economy.  There was no incident with the three family members in the forward cabin.  The three-year-old, Daniel, was playing with an iPad during boarding and apparently was fine until it was time to turn electronic gadgets off in preparation for take-off.
When the electronic crack was taken away (yes, that is the iPad s official name), the toddler went a bit crazy.  From what I have read, it sounds like he had a full-on temper tantrum at a really bad time.  No matter how good a toddler is, they do seem to throw some impressive fits from time to time.  However, even though you can never totally prevent a three-year-old from self-combusting, there are some things you can do to help lessen the chances of a meltdown that is so epic you get booted off a flight.
car rental san diego to mexico My first suggestion is to really car rental san diego to mexico prepare your kiddo for the flight.  Little C can tell you exactly where our next flight is going, when is is, what she is going to do on the airplane, what she is going to do when she lands, etc. and she is just 2 1/2.  The more kids are excited about flying and understand the process, the better chance they have of being great travelers.
Second, sit together.  This does not sound like a case of a family being involuntarily split-up.  They likely opted to divide themselves in this manner, and I have to give big props to the dad to agreeing to have the womenfolk sit up front with the baby.  However, with an infant and a toddler that may not have been the best plan, especially since the dad is quoted as saying he couldn t calm his son down as well as his wife could.  Monday morning quarterbacking car rental san diego to mexico always makes decisions seem easier than they are at the time, but I do believe it is best for families to sit together whenever possible if the children are that young.  Teenagers and even pre-teens are a different issue, but with toddlers and infants, the more folks you can have in one location to help out the better.
The next problem I see is that I do not really recommend using electronic gadgets to entertain your little ones while the plane is boarding and still on the ground car rental san diego to mexico for this exact reason you have to take them away for a while.  I would start with crayons, looking out the window, reading books, eating snacks, playing with toys, etc.  Basically anything other than an electronic device. car rental san diego to mexico One of my traveling with a toddler rules is to stay with an activity as long as possible while flying, and if you know you are going to have to interrupt the activity very shortly after beginning it is probably not the best choice.  The one exception to my electronics car rental san diego to mexico suggestion is when I am on a flight that has DirecTV.  Since we don t have to turn that off for departure it can be a good option, but it will switch off from cartoons for announcements and the safety video, so just be ready for that.
Another issue was a three-year-old not having some type of restraint.  Had he been secured in a car seat and/or CARES harness, he couldn t have possibly been squirming out of his seat belt in the manner described in this article .  Of course, if a a three-year-old is determined to escape a restraint, they probably can, but at least it wouldn t have been as simple as just sliding out of the seat belt and laying down.  Plus, he would be much safer flying car rental san diego to mexico with a restraint than with the seat belt that was made for a larger person.  From what I understand it was his refusal to stay in his seat belt that actually got them booted off the flight (as opposed car rental san diego to mexico to the tantrum itself) since it was a safety issue.
Finally, I don t know if this was an issue for this family or not, but try to make sure your kids aren t over tired for the flight.  It is tempting to try to ensure that babies and toddlers will be tired during the flight and thus will sleep, but I encourage parents to not intentionally skip a nap time or something similar to try to get the kiddo to sleep on the plane.  The chances of that working as designed with most children is pretty low.  It is way more likely they will just be over tired but awake and fussy.  If the flight happens to fall during a regular sleeping time then great, but having a regularly rested kiddo on a flight is a much better than a cranky and sleep deprived little monster.
The family was presented the option to take the same flight the next day, but declined.  They are reportedly car rental san diego to mexico getting a refund for the flight.  I have no doubt that this was an incredibly stressful situation for the family, but I hope it does not prevent them from traveling with their kiddos in the future.  Three adults to two children really should have been enough support if the details were worked just a little differently next time.  If they wanted to take a beach vacation with their family, then I hope they try again.  There really are some things you can do to make sure that the trip has a very high likelihood of success.
I d agree with Rich. If you re kid is capable of a tantrum worthy of being kicked off an airplane for, you need to go to parenting school. In there worst moments I can t ever have imagined this with either of mine
Sorry folks but this post made me laugh and brought back memories. My 18 year old son, Daniel, is graduating from high school this weekend car rental san diego to mexico and is an awesome, well mannered young man Now. He is my middle child. I wouldn t have dreamed of taking him on a plane when he three. He was a handful for the first few years of his life before we were able to break him in . Of course, we didn t have ipads when he was three, but he had games. car rental san diego to mexico I can only imagine taking away his electronic devices. LOL! Sometimes the most hard headed children will become the greatest leaders.
@ Rich and Phil Nonsense! ANY 3 year old can through a tantrum and refuse to put seatbelt on. Some kids are just more shay and not doing it often and some are more outgoing (wild). I know a family where first 7 (!) kids were very shay and the 8th one was able to outdo all 7 in front of him. This is how he was born! So, the parents before car rental san diego to mexico the 8th kid was born used to say its a parenting issue as well
That said, I ve had my 3-year old go through a flight without napping and be cranky. And precisely the moment when he wants to go in Mom s lap for a snuggle is when the seatbelts sign comes on for turbulence as we are nearing landing anyhow, and he s got to sit in his own seat. We strapped him in over his crying. He wailed for the next 40 minutes until landing. car rental san diego to mexico Sometimes there s nothing you can do except wait it out.
And yes, to reinforce what you said, the FIRST rule of travelling with a toddler is no devices out UNTIL you are in the air. No exceptions, the first time you give in, you re doomed. I turn off my phone at the same time and show the little fellow, so it s clear we are all playing by the same rules. 3-4 year olds know about fairness.
corporal punishment by a parent is not against the law in any state (except maybe California, they are the nations leader in stupid laws). sometimes, expecially at that age, it is nessesary to gain control and get a child to respect his parent s wishes. Parents who allow children to scream and cry and throw fits whenever they like are not in control, and if you can t control your kids they should not be allowed to go into certain public situations, including a plane trip. Resteraunts and movie theaters are also a place where spoiled kids act up to intentionally embarass their naive non spanking parents. A quick visit to the bathroom and an attitude adjustment would get juniors attention and modify his behavior. this was acceptable parenting for most of us growing up, we learned to respect our parents and their rules and kids in our day didnt bring guns to school and go on shooting sprees.
To finish my story earlier . after howling for 40 minutes he perked up on landing and said brightly papa we re at the airport YAY! and clapped. Everyone immediately car rental san diego to mexico around us started clapping too. On the one hand, very embarassed. On the other, there s only so much you can do sometimes, and to be blunt I m never seeing those people again so my shame is shallow and short-lived.
Yes, electronic crack. And it s not just iPads and toddlers, it s anyone with any electronic entertainment device. Kids can learn to behave without an iPad to distract them, but if you teach them that that s what they need to be entertained, then they will come to expect it.
When we got our puppy, we knew we wanted to travel with him. After he got old enough and matured a little, we started to get him and us ready. We bought his Sherpa bag, designed for dogs to fly, and we took him on trips in the car. At first, he wasn t into the program-we coaxed car rental san diego to mexico him into the Sherpa bag, then put him, in the bag, in the back of our car and drove around for a half hour (think Chuck Berry s No Particular Place to Go ). He would scratch the side of his bag like crazy, trying to get out. After about 20 minutes, he d get tired and just lie down. And when we d stop and let him out, it was always at a place we thought he d like-a park, a lake, somewhere with an interesting walk.
After a lot of trial runs,, we thought car rental san diego to mexico he was ready to fly. We went from Denver to the East Coast and he was under the seat in front of us (we never put him in checked baggage.). He was a little unsettled but Mom leaned over and let him smell her hand on takeoff car rental san diego to mexico so he knew we were there and that things seemed somewhat normal.
Eventualy he flew enough to figure out the routine. We started to take international trips, usually to France. We would always fly to