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World's kindest stranger calmly soothes shrieking infant on early morning flight
Maybe we should all try a little kindness instead of hatred (www.thv11.com) More...
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My wife and I were traveling with our 10-month-old daughter from San Francisco to Honolulu on a very crowded Continental DC-10. We could only keep her occupied for a couple of hours as she kept getting more and more fidgety. A flight attendant from heaven asked if she could take our daughter. Our daughter was learning to walk and this flight attendant had her holding her fingers as she walked up one aisle and down the other. They made several laps around the airplane while my wife and I were able to relax. Our daughter spent a little energy and rested after that. Angels do exist!
The surrogate "mom" deserves all the kudos we can muster. What a great lesson in humility, kindness, and 'pay it forward'!
As witnessed mainly during takeoff and landings, most baby's shriek a fit because their tiny sensitive ears hurt from cabin pressure changes. They will most always stop their wail when the pain abates. Use the old flight attendant trick and hold a plastic cup over their ears. . . this moderates pressure change to a slower rate that an infant can accept.
Another old FA tip is to give the mom a packet of sugar so she lick her finger, dip it in the sugar and let the baby suck on it. It helps open the ear canal.
On my earliest flights the FAs used to come around with a tray of butterscotch sweets for us to suck on and we were given a tour of the cockpit if we behaved. In those days the DC3s also had square windows that leaked in the rain. In the little Grummans you couldn't hear a baby crying above the engine noise and the water splashed a lot more. I don't remember if we got butterscotch on the Vickers Viscounts, but at least the windows didn't leak.
Sounds like it started with the understanding that baby was feeding off monther's anxiety.
Matt 22:39.
Matt 22:39.
