It is never okay, even during turbulence, to change a baby’s diaper on your airplane seat. Passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight were treated to the nasty stench of feces after parents decided it was a good idea to change their baby’s diaper right on the seat.
Delta Passengers Experience “Horrendous” Odors From Baby Diaper Change In Airplane Seat
As shared on reddit:
“The people in the row in front of me are changing a poopy diaper in their seats. The smell is horrendous. Anyone ever experienced this? There’s no reason not to do this in the bathroom.”
Thankfully, I have never witnessed this…and I consider myself fortunate.
What would drive such low-class parents to think it was okay to change their baby’s diaper at the seat?
If this ever happens to you, it is essential to alert a flight attendant immediately. I cannot imagine a scenario in which a flight attendant would not immediately (and forcefully, if necessary) instruct the passenger(s) to take the baby to the lavatory to complete the diaper change.
Hey parents, do you know that lavatories are equipped with changing tables? Use them.
The smell may be the most offending part, but the bacteria could cause illness and the “poopy” (as the passenger called it) could end up smeared on tray tables or seat cushions…which we know are not cleaned after every flight.
That’s a good reason to wipe down your seats and tray table as well…
But what if there is turbulence? What if the seat belt light is on? (there is no indication that is the case here)
Then you wait…a soiled diaper takes more than a few minutes to cause any harm to the child.
This is an easy one: there is NEVER a circumstance to justify changing a baby’s diaper in an airplane seat.
Does everyone agree?
The parents can’t win, apparently. If the kid’s diaper isn’t changed and he or she is fussy until it is, then the situation is viewed as a misbehaving child and clueless parents. If the parents change the diaper, then they’re viewed as inconsiderate. FAs aren’t going to give parents permission to get up against the seatbelt sign, especially with an infant. Far too much liability there, too. With turbulence and the seatbelt sign on, these parents did the right thing based on what we know.
I’ve smelled foul body odor and other rancid smells from adults nearby and, unlike the changing of a diaper that last mere minutes, that was for the entire flight. It’s clear this perspective is written by someone without kids.
Incorrect. I have two young children who fly to Europe three times a year and have since they were born.
The smell of an open diaper is exponentially worse than a closed diaper and more aggravating than a crying child.
I sincerely cannot believe you are defending these parents.
NO and NO.
Premium.
How could the passengers tell it was the stench of the diaper and not the general stench of Delta, the worst airline in North America?
And infants should not be allowed to fly. Whichever politician proposes this as a bill has my vote for life.
I was on the upper deck of an LH 747-8 last summer when the parents sat a few rows back from me decided to change their baby’s diaper at the seat. Seatbelt sign was off at the time – no issues with access to bathrooms.
After the stench spread through the cabin, flight attendants sternly informed parents they were not to continue at the seat and instead directed them to the bathroom.
I was astounded that someone would even want to do it at their own seat, given the availability of a changing table on board!
Lol, I can just picture the LH flight attendants doing that!
You are not allowed to change a baby on your seat. You must use the bathrooms changing table. It’s unsanitary to change them on the seat! How would you like that seat on your next flight after parents changed a dirty diaper in that seat then they put it into your seat back pocket!! That is exactly what they do!!!! NO it’s not allowed no Flight Attendant will tell you that’s ok!!
Agree 100% Tammy!
Knowing the habits of US airlines… perhaps the seatbelt sign had been on for a prolonged period of time, as it commonly is.
Also, overuse of the seatbelt sign (a form of crying wolf), in addition to increasing the likelihood of gross situations like this, increases the likelihood of the sign being ignored when there’s actually dangerous turbulence.
One aspect of US vs non-US carriers that always seems different is the duration of the seat-belt sign after turbulence is over. NON-US: Turbulence occurs, sign gets lit, turbulence ends, sign soon goes out. US: keep the sign lit for 30 minutes of clear flying after a minor rattle. It’s as if US pilots are driving down the highway with the blinker on.
@Dave W: I quite agree.
Not only duration but US carriers will turn it on at the slightest hint of turbulence. Thank you slip and fall lawyers. Foreign carriers I’ve been on are not nearly as trigger happy.
Last Nov I changed my 18 month old grand-daughter on an AA flight and her feet hung over the end of the change table. A year later it would be an impossible feat.
Not to change modes of transportation but right now we are on a Princess cruise ship, there is one change (for babies) on the entire ship. There are no tables in any cabin or washroom. The choice for mom is a concrete and carpeted floor or a sofa or cabin bed with a plastic pad between baby and surface. Any smelly diaper goes into plastic until disposed of.
The baby’s mom finds that the baby shxx is disgusting and sometimes smells. I remind her that it is composed of natural products that are biodegradable and washable.
Put yourself in the shoes of the parents. Airplane lavatories are gross even when “clean”. Have to side with Steve.
Doesn’t matter if it biodegradable. As a paying passenger, I should not have to smell some brat’s shitbag in my presence. Is that so much to expect?
So, parents find airplane lavs gross, and your solution is to make the cabin disgusting? What an entitled bunch those parents must be. Under this logic, I should be allowed to urinate in a Gatorade bottle at my seat to avoid airplane lavs.
I suggest you pay for a ship within a ship then instead of cheaping out with an economy cruise package
I think this is a much bigger issue than parents changing a baby diaper on their seat. This is about a rotten society that has lost the ability to respect others. People just don’t give a shit and only think about themselves. Unfortunately, I think it is much worse in America than in other places but we have a generation that never heard the word “NO” so they think they can do whatever they want. This won’t end in a good way.
I’m in the practice of wiping down all the touch surfaces with disinfecting wipes….way before COVID. The jaw on the woman sitting next to me dropped to the floor. I reminded her that you having no idea who or what had touched the tray table. She gladly accepted several wipes.
Basically in a closed airplane environment, you are exposed to human bodily fluids by air, and contact with surfaces. It all turns into a biohazard and your body has to fight off the germs, bacteria and viruses. Good luck.
Agreed! This is disgusting behaviour and yet another reason why some people should be sterilised.
Quite a few years ago (innocent babe in the story is now 18?!), I was on a plane with no changing table. When I asked an FA which of the lavatories had the changing table in it, she said none. I just kind of stared at her, thinking that was that and yay. A second later, “give me a minute to put away some things in the galley, and I’ll get you set up for how we handle diaper changes on this type of plane”. Um, sure. She stows the things in the galley and spreads a couple of blankets (on a US carrier, yeah, this is definitely not recent) on the floor. Yup, that was the solution. /shrug I knelt on the blanket/floor (I was a younger man, much more able to get up and down than today), put her down on the blanket, and changed her.
It was _probably_ Southwest, but I’m not sure. If it was them, I’m pretty sure whatever plane model/generation/age is no longer in their service.
On a recent flight from SoCal to Florida with wife and 1.5 year old toddler, we performed a “Formula 1 pit stop” diaper change in our seats. It was fast, clean and didn’t smell. It wasn’t because we are lazy, disrespectful etc., but due to the fact the changing table in the lav is hardly big enough (and safe enough) to change a diaper on on a Barbie doll or GI Joe. Let alone enough actual space to perform the doodie duty. I imagine most of the people complaining here don’t have children. There’s far more other issues to to complain about than diapers. Look at all the stories here about adults behaving badly lol.