A woman has been praised for her response when she encountered a mother changing her baby’s soiled nappy right on a plane’s tray table.
The 28-year-old detailed her experience on Reddit, stating that she couldn’t sleep because the baby behind her was crying throughout the flight. Attempting to remain calm, she reminded herself that “flights can be scary and stressful” for youngsters.
However, the final straw was when she saw the parents changing their child on the tray tables instead of using the bathroom facilities.
The passenger shared on the AITA (Am I The A******) subreddit: “I’m a really nauseous flyer, so I took a Dramamine ahead of time and did my best to get some sleep during the flight. This didn’t happen because of the baby’s crying, but oh well, I know flights are scary and stressful for infants and there was nothing anyone could do about that.”
She continued: “What got to me was the couple changing their baby’s extremely stinky number two diaper right in the middle of their seats, using the mom’s food tray as a changing table. We were at the back of the plane right by the bathrooms, which I confirmed had baby changing tables when I had to go back there to throw up after the smell hit me.”
“I didn’t say anything the first time, but the second time I heard them go into the diaper bag a couple hours later I asked if they could please go use the plane bathroom instead of exposing everyone on the plane to the smell.”
The request was met with angry response from the mum of the baby who argued about the challenges of travelling with a small child.
The poster went on to say: “The flight attendant at the back of the plane agreed with me and asked them to only use the bathrooms to change their baby, plus a few minutes later the pilot made an announcement that all diaper changing needed to be done in the bathrooms, after which both parents looked extremely annoyed.”
Despite the backing from the flight crew, she found herself questioning her actions and sought advice from Reddit users on whether her reaction was justified.
A fellow Reddit user replied: “There are changing tables in the bathrooms. That’s what they are for. Thank God the maintenance crews disinfect between flights. The thought of eating/drinking off a tray table used as a changing table makes me want to hurl.”
Another chimed in with some etiquette tips: “Basic rules of baby changing, don’t do it where people eat or where people are in close proximity. If you have a choice always use the changing tables.”
A third person pointed out the particularly offensive nature of the odour: “Baby turds stink worse than regular ones. Exposing people in a closed metal tube thousands of feet in the air to that is criminal.”