It’s a flipping nightmare. Understandably they try and save the seats for mothers traveling with babies since they need the bassinet, but parents with toddlers should be next in line.

Time and again they give them away on a first come first serve basis at the airport – doesn’t matter what time I get to the airport, I’m always to late.

Consequently I have to deal with the huffs and puffs of those sat in front of my son. It’s not his fault, he’s in a car seat and since the airlines try and squeeze as many seats as possible in the plane, he’s left with only about 2 inches between his feet and the chair in front on him.

this flight is going to be so much fun – NOT!

I went through almost the same thing when we moved to Hawaii, and again when we moved back.

The first trip, when my son was 2, we sat two rows back from the bulkhead in an otherwise packed plane. We spent most of the 16-hour flight taking turns holding my son in the bathroom and singing lullabies to try calming him down. It was the only way we could think of to keep from making everyone in the plane listen to him screaming.

On the flight back, when my son was 4, they sat a returning tour group in the bulkhead but since we were taking a redeye the plane wasn’t packed. The group freed up one row of seats for us and we were able to keep our son happy — and quiet — the entire flight.