#Parenting #TravelingwithKids #FlightEtiquette #HealthandSafety #AirTravel
Is it wrong to ask a parent (or crew to ask the parent) whose kid is coughing severely on a flight to give them a mask? 🤔
As the world becomes more connected, air travel has become a common way to get from one place to another. However, it also presents challenges, especially when it comes to health and etiquette. One particular issue that has been a hot topic of debate is the behavior of parents and their sick children on flights. So, is it wrong to ask a parent (or crew to ask the parent) whose kid is coughing severely on a flight to give them a mask? Let’s delve into this topic and examine the different perspectives.
The Controversy 🌪️
The aforementioned question has sparked heated discussions among travelers, parents, and flight attendants. The controversy stems from a clash between the right of a sick child to board a flight and the comfort and safety of other passengers. Some argue that it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that their child is not a disruption to others, especially when they are unwell. On the other hand, some believe that it is unfair to blame parents for their child’s illness, and that asking them to do anything about it would be an invasion of their rights.
Parenting and Traveling Realities 🧳
When it comes to parenting and traveling, there are a number of factors to consider:
– Kids get sick: It is a reality of life that kids get sick from time to time, just like adults do.
– Limited options: For some parents, avoiding travel with a sick child is not always an option, especially if they have important engagements or family commitments.
– Lack of awareness: Parents may not always be fully aware of their child’s behavior, especially when they are in a public setting like a flight with poor air circulation.
Flight Etiquette and Health Concerns ✈️
While it is important to empathize with parents and their children, it is also crucial to prioritize the health and safety of all passengers. Here are a few key points to consider:
– Air circulation: Flights, especially during takeoff and landing, have limited air circulation, making it easier for germs to spread.
– Impact on others: A severely coughing child can not only cause discomfort to others but also pose health risks, especially to those with compromised immune systems.
– The role of flight crew: It is within the flight crew’s duty to ensure the well-being of all passengers, and this includes addressing concerns related to health and safety.
So, Is It Wrong to Ask? 🤔
Considering the aforementioned factors, the question remains: Is it wrong to ask a parent (or crew to ask the parent) whose kid is coughing severely on a flight to give them a mask? The answer is not a simple yes or no. Instead, it involves understanding and balancing the needs of all involved parties. Here are a few suggested actions:
– Approach the parent with empathy and concern, and politely ask if they can take measures to minimize their child’s coughing, such as giving them a mask or a cough suppressant.
– If the parent does not respond or the situation does not improve, it is advisable to approach a member of the flight crew and express your concerns. They are trained to handle such situations and can address the issue discreetly and professionally.
Final Thoughts 🌟
In conclusion, it is a delicate balance between respecting the rights of parents and ensuring the comfort and safety of all passengers on a flight. While it can be challenging to navigate such situations, approaching them with empathy, understanding, and an awareness of the needs of others can make a significant difference. Ultimately, open communication and a mutual consideration for the well-being of everyone involved can lead to a more harmonious and pleasant flying experience for all.
In the US, I think the most diplomatic thing to do would be to offer them a packaged new mask as a gesture of support (rather than a request). I’d love to live in a society where one could make it a demand though.
Coughing could also caused by asthma. A mask would only make it worse. I understand your concern but you don’t always know everyone’s situation.
If you are concerned, you wear a mask yourself.
Wear your own mask
Those parents are the rude af ones, but you will definitely be considered rude by THEM (and probably by everyone else in this thread, sigh).
Even though it can be stress inducing to be near people with coughing fits, especially with the recent pandemic in mind, I don’t think it’s okay anymore to demand that other people wear masks, especially children.
It would be the nice thing to do if you have a cold, but in most parts of the world its not mandated by laws, or even airline policies. The best you can do is offer a brand new mask to the parent and ask if they would like it for their child. But then you’ll have to accept no as an answer too.
It’s a tough situation, but it is also a reason I try not to fly at all during flu season myself. I do have to take other forms of public transport though and you really catch everything from that as well, super frustrating!
My daughter has cf this could be her normal especially once she has recovered from infection her coughs stick around ages
You’re not being too sensitive…Last time I flew, a kid around the same age was doing the same thing, again with mom doing nothing.
We all ended up with COVID. Since the kid was in the aisle next to ours, we are fairly certain we know how we got sick.
What do you think the mum is going to do? She’s a mother not Jesus! She can’t perform a miracle to cure medical problems. My daughter’s started coughing at bed time this week, I hate listening to it but there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Frankly, I think the chances of getting a 4 year old to wear a mask is pretty slim too.
If the kid wasn’t coughing before the flight then it’s probably the Aircon in the aircraft drying her throat out and causing the cough. When my kids were that age I often had to turn the cat aircon off as they started coughing.
Edit: I see from the downvotes that I’ve upset the childless![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|sweat_smile)
A cough can last up to 4 weeks after an infection like pneumonia or bronchitis. The kid may not have been contagious anymore.
It’s always best to remember you will, sadly, never change anyone’s mind. Be it on the internet or in real life. If someone is so entrenched in what they believe most times it will only lead to confrontation. Take your personal precautions and don’t waste the energy trying to convince someone else. Save yourself the added stress.
Yes. Mind your own business. Lots of things can cause a cough and only some of them are contagious.
My daughter has an “irritated airway” and has been coughing for weeks after her last cold. We are going on a flight in January. If it persists we are already planning on masking her. For some individuals the mask might not be safe to wear but I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable on a flight with a random kid coughing all the time. I don’t want to try explaining her residual cough to a whole flight and even if I did it is unreasonable to expect total strangers to believe me when I say she’s not actually sick. Those parents should have done more. Asking a flight attendant to suggest the child wear a mask probably wouldn’t have been out of line.
I wish more people wore masks when they are ill but unfortunately it’s not mandated. I actually just got yelled at when I showed up to work with a mask on. I had the flu over the weekend, was away on the Monday and felt much better by Tuesday so I went to work but wore a mask out of precaution. My co worker said I shouldn’t be there if I’m still sick and I’m gonna get the whole office sick. I was a little flabbergasted because I thought me wearing a mask would be appreciated but she felt if I’m sick enough to wear a mask then I shouldn’t leave my house. 😕
I think it’s a totally valid thing to ask, though they may not have a mask on them or their child may refuse to wear one if they’re very young so ask away but be gracious if they say no.
Hopefully it at least makes them more aware of the health of other travellers and the annoyance too.
I mean, no it’s not wrong. But I just want to throw this out there that when my daughter is sick the cough can stick around for at least a month. We do EVERYTHING to help her but sometimes it’s not enough. She’s not contagious or sick anymore but the damn cough just won’t stop…
The pandemic never ended, so everyone should be wearing an n95 in public indoors at all times.
Maybe the kid has a chronic cough? Maybe the kid wouldn’t wear a mask? Honestly, some parents wouldn’t be bothered, but many would be uncomfortable knowing what others are thinking, but they’re managing their kid, and you just don’t know all that’s going on.
It’s not wrong to ask politely. If the mom says no, ask if you can be re-seated.
I would’ve handed her one and said “I have an extra mask if you would like one.” Whether they use it is up to them. (And then kept my n95 on religiously for the rest of the trip.) If they didn’t wear it I would’ve looked around for an empty seat and then asked to move.
If they said no, you could also have just offered them ask to the person sitting next to them for comic value.
Depending on the age of the kid-if they’re young you can say ‘catch your coughs’ in a kiddie voice whilst showing them how to cover their mouth with their hand/how to cough into their hand,most parents prefer this,the phrase ‘coughs and sneezes spread diseases’ is a very real phrase,to ignore it is just rude
You have to protect yourself. Mask and precautions are all you can do. Pneumonia feels like you’re drowning, adding a mask to that would choke them. I do wonder why they don’t have medical flights where insurance would be involved so that the people on the flight or medical personnel because you don’t get paid enough for that
I will always shame inconsiderate assholes of parents who think it’s ok to spread germs like that. Fucking put the mask on your child if you can’t keep it home, but otherwise keep it home. I was on an easy jet flight behind a kid coughing it’s lungs off and I was sick three days later. But you know, they needed to go on vacation.
I wore a mask on a flight back in March and half the people were coughing; like, hacking up a lung coughing. Me and just like three people were wearing masks. Three days later I arrived home very sick. I sympathize, however people commenting that you can’t change peoples’ minds are correct. Without a mandate to wear masks, it’s really up to them. Not wearing one when they’re clearly very ill (or not having their sick child wear one) while extremely inconsiderate, is their choice.
Yes, if you are worried about the infection from them, wear the mask yourself.
Nope. NTA. Have lived in Japan for 8 years. During the pandemic people would occasionally give me extra masks they had. My bosses did this. Not because I was sick, but because they didn’t want me to get sick.
I work with kids. They absolutely will be given masks if they’re showing signs of being sick. Even before the pandemic.
I would also love to know this for a friend… they always have a spare mask and tissues but don’t want to have a weird interaction so just sit uncomfortably the entire time. My friend flies a lot and isn’t a germaphobe nor just alert since covid, my friend would just appreciate if people could cover their mouths or wear a mask when they sound like they’re dying coughing beside or behind my friend on the plane.
I may be the friend.
I tried to give a cough drop to a lady sitting next to me who was coughing, and she wouldn’t take it, and said, “It’s allergies!”
Lady, I know what allergies sound like.
They don’t sound like bronchitis. 🙁
Absolutely NOT wrong!!!!!!
YOU… might some of the child’s germs on your clothing… and when you exit the plane, someone… anyone, might brush against you and pick them up… then, take them home to their aging grandparents whom they’re visiting for the Holidays… and Poppa gets sick, can’t fight it, and… dies.
Yes, it is ABSOLUTELY OK to ask a flight attendant to provide a mask for such a child. Airlines cover those kinds of possibilities in their FA’s training.
My little one had a cough for a while and she was prescribed an asthma puffer to help it does wonders but she does cough more when she is exposed to allergens,
That poor child it must be excruciating to be coughing so much
I do get my little one to wear a mask as she is learning to cover her cough: as a parent it is a terrible feeling to hear my child coughing I spent like a hundred on cold remedies before her last doctors appointment (Vicks botanicals day and night time) as well as a vapo rub and Manuka honey lollipops plus Kerr lollipops for colds it has echinacea as well, halls makes lollipops for children as well sometimes parents do exhaust all options to relieve little ones symptoms,
I mean, we can only control our own actions and not the actions of others. That being said, I absolutely do not think it would be wrong to mention it to the parent of the child. We just can’t expect that they will actually honor your request. Kinda sucks if they don’t, though.
Does this even work?
Someone wore at N95 mask and was coughing two rows behind and still got my friend sick.
It is never wrong to ask, no matter what the clown advice further down tells you.
It would be wrong to insist, demand or make a scene – but it is a perfectly logical and reasonable request.
Planes are incubators. If you fly you are likely ro get and spread disease, either causing your own death or someone else’s. Communicable disease causes more death than smoking drinking and traffic incidents combined but irresponsible travel carries no penalties or extra taxes and is actually subsidised in many ways.
She is clearly a selfish woman if she put her sick child on a flight without a mask on. That woman has no concern for you or anyone else.
I don’t think it hurts to politely ask for anything but chances are they won’t. I wish people would wear masks…. I read how tuberculosis is in the raise again too in the USA.
Yes, it is wrong. If you can’t handle getting a common cold you should stay home. If that mom put a mask on her kid youd be sitting next to a screaming kid instead. Wear your mask and be quiet. Here you are posting about it because you weren’t man enough to talk to the mother like an adult.
Just because a kid is coughing it doesn’t mean they are contagious. According to my kids’ doctor, the past couple of years they’ve seen prolonged couch in a lot of kids following respiratory infection even once the child clears the virus. Kids with a cough should not have to wear a mask in public if they do not currently have a respiratory infection.
Respectfully and honestly, before COVID no one thought twice about it. Why can’t we adapt the pre-COVID era attitude about not freaking out when someone coughs/sneezes. We were all much happier and healthier then.
The airline should have kept these people off the plane. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.
People believing a 4 year old will use a mask without issue are either not parents or have very good kids…
No its not rude.
To not be wearing a mask, regardless of your symptoms, when this disease:
1, has become endemic; 2, keeps fucking mutating; 3, can be gotten multiple times despite vaccination status; 4, has unknown long term disabling effects; and 5, is particularly vicious to the disabled
Is so far beyond rude it’s all the way into callously cruel.
Okay I will say I have severe asthma and sometimes I just be coughing. Because of allergies, dust, heartburn (UGH heartburn), anything can set it off. So you’re not wrong in that someon coughing *probably* has a cold, but I have gotten the glare a lot when I have been 100% healthy
Airlines shouldn’t not let sick people on tbh.
That and have specific “no children” flights.
This so much. My partner and I are currently in New Zealand on the vacation of our dreams…except the kid with the wet cough in front of her gave her Covid. So that’s our 2 amazing weeks. F that mom for not masking the kid up.