It's a moment every parent dreads: being stuck miles in the sky on an airplane with a screaming baby. This was the case for TikTok user Jess Spaulding (@jess.spaulding), who has shared a video of her baby crying the whole way through a three-hour plane ride, in a bid to remind other mums that they aren’t alone in this experience - and, as ever, the internet is divided.
The video shows TikTok user Jess attempting to soothe her daughter at time-stamped intervals throughout the journey, before she eventually breaks down in tears herself. In the video, she says that everyone on the plane hates her, before telling her baby (and herself) ‘we’re never going to see these people again. It’s going to be okay.’
She wrote in the caption to the video that she got ‘progressively more and more defeated’, saying that the post intended to show ‘that sometimes you have genuinely NO CONTROL over your baby crying.’ She continued ‘So many people on here know Charlotte is a happy baby who doesn’t cry which is often the case. That said, sometimes there are times where you can try EVERYTHING and they just don’t stop,’ adding ‘I wanted to post this to remind the moms that go through this that it is not you. You did nothing wrong and you are not a bad mom. Stay strong mamas!! It’ll continue to get better so I hear.’
The now-viral video has garnered 28 million views and generated a debate about travelling with young children in the comments. Some people were quick to sympathise with Charlotte, with one user writing ‘I’m really sad no-one offered to help out.’ Another user wrote ‘oh man, this made me cry. I can just imagine the panic you’re feeling in that moment. There’s nothing like it as a new mom! I hope people were kind to you both.’ A third wrote ‘I WILL NEVER BE ANNOYED OF A CRYING BABY ON A FLIGHT AGAIN. I’m so sorry! This must be so stressful you’re doing great.’
However, others disapproved of the situation. One user wrote ‘Nightmare as a passenger. Honestly’. Another wrote ‘As much as I feel for parents in this situation it will never take away from how irritated I’d be.’ Others questioned why she was taking the journey, with one user writing ‘Is it 100% necessary for your infant child to be traveling on the plane?’
It's a divisive topic, which is why the debate about babies on planes keeps rearing its head. Last year, a TikTok of a man shouting and swearing at flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines flight to Florida because a baby had been crying for 40 minutes on the plane went viral. Meanwhile, Corendon Dutch Airlines – the sister company to Turkey-based Corendon Airlines – sparked backlash after it announced it would be trialing an ‘Only Adult zone’ on its flights. According to Trip Advisor, one third of British people have said they would pay more for a child free flight.
As Charlotte’s video shows, any mother who has been trapped on a flight trying to soothe a screaming child will already be painfully aware that it is annoying for everyone else. A big reason why babies cry on flights is because the changes in air pressure hurt their ears, which is pretty inevitable during take-off and landing. Sarky eye rolls and tuts from fellow passengers don’t help the situation, but wherever you stand on the debate, the one takeaway from all this is to invest in some good, noise cancelling headphones before you fly. Thank us later.