We'd requested bulkhead seating so that there would at least not be anyone directly in front of us. We ended up in the center row of a jumbo jet, which had six or seven seats, if I recall correctly. There was only one other person in the row with us - a very nice lady who was kind enough to move all the way to the end of the row so we could have the rest of the seats. We set ourselves up using five seats and folded up some arm rests. My wife sat at one end, I at the other, and the boy had a nice bed to stretch out on across three adjacent seats.
As it turned out, all our concerns were for naught, because the little guy fell asleep as soon as the plane took off and did not wake up until we landed at Dulles at 8:00 pm local time, at which point our son was raring to go! His mother and I had not slept in more than 36 hours, so that was great fun for us.
And I would not trade that experience for anything in the world.
It also made me much more tolerant of crying children on airplanes. I just remind myself "There but for the Grace of God go I" - and that I have no idea what has occurred in the lives of the child and its parent(s) in the hours and/or days leading up to the flight.
“”If it happens it happens. We’ll feel bad if he disrupts the flight, but we’re never going to see any of these people again and they have no idea what we’ve been through...”.”
Interesting perspective.
Regardless of your “events,” what about all the other people? It’s not all about you and there are many others that may be experiencing personal issues as well.