Baby on Board: Should Parents Hand Out Treat Bags to Passengers When Flying with Kids?

Flying is stressful enough, but when you are traveling with or next to a baby, even a short flight can seem endless. While most parents come prepared with toys and snacks to entertain their little ones, there are times when nothing makes a child happy. A midflight crying spell or a full-on tantrum is something every parent, and passenger, dreads. But the reality is that kids cry – so should parents make a preemptive strike and give out goodie bags to soothe other passengers before takeoff?

An image of a goodie bag one mother created for all the passengers on the plane started floating around on social media a few years ago. Attached was a letter that introduced her young son and explained that because this was his first flight and he was a baby, he might cry. So, to make everyone’s flight a little easier, the mom loaded the bag with candy and chocolates.

More recently, another mom flying from Seoul, South Korea with her 4-month-old adopted the trend and passed out 200 earplugs so everyone onboard could have a quiet flight.

Some applauded these moms for their thoughtful gesture. However, others believe this is unnecessary and sends the wrong message to parents and passengers alike.

Are we really expecting parents to take the time to put together 100 or 200 goodie bags for each leg of their trip? This all seems excessive and expensive. Plus, we have all seen the horror stories of rude passengers on planes who are loud, obnoxious and/or can’t respect others’ personal space. Where are their apologetic goodie bags?

Being a mom is hard enough. Traveling with your family is even harder. So, can we all just say no to the airplane goodie bag, turn up the volume on our movie if a baby cries and offer a little patience instead of judgement?

We want to know your thoughts. Should parents bring goodie bags onto the plane or does this travel trend need to end? Tell us what you think in comments!