Tearful Child Calms Down Thanks To Unexpected In-Flight Passenger Performance Of 'Baby Shark'

Aug 30, 2022 by apost team

Flying can be a huge headache, especially when compared to its glamorous early years. Instead of in-flight cocktails passed along by a smartly dressed cabin crew, plane travel has become a gauntlet of snoring strangers, hours-long tarmac delays, and standoffs over the armrest. With additional limits on liquids, expensive parking, cats in backpacks, endless security lines walked shoelessly, and never enough cabin space, leaving on a jet plane has become as much of a hassle as it is a dream. 

And traveling with children only makes the whole procedure more complicated. Wrestling with collapsible pushchairs, passing toddlers through body scanners, and packing enough snacks to keep a fussy baby preoccupied for the duration of the flight are all part of the pre-flight routine. But it's imperfect magic and no guarantee that the kid will stay happy, quiet, and in sight for the flight. 

Especially when at altitude and confined to a cabin, an upset child becomes a handful, not just for family members but for the whole plane. Everyone hates a crying baby and being awoken from patchy half-reclined sleep by their incessant wailing. But, of course, some children are so only too young to understand the odd environment of a Boeing 747.

The sights, sounds, and smells may be entirely new and frightening, causing the average child to be more alarmed than usual, leading perhaps to crying being as standardized on planes as cheesy in-flight movies. Every parent dreads being the helpless adult trying to soothe a child in this situation. At times, it seems no combination of singing, rocking, talking, and walking them up and down the aisle will calm them in this situation. 

It seems at times like the parents and all their fellow passengers are doomed to an entire ride punctuated by the cries of an ungovernable child.

During a 6-hour flight between Dubai and Albania, passengers found themselves in this exact situation. A toddler was in tears the entire ride, and his family was unable to settle the little one back to sleep. According to TikTok, nearby neighbors eventually lent their talents to distracting the kid with high hopes of ending his tantrum. However, no amount of waving or clapping seemed to calm him. 

Sometimes it takes a whole village. Or, in this case, an entire plane. It seems when the actions of one or two adults couldn't dry the streams of tears, the entire cabin decided rather unanimously to try together. Row after row of fliers broke out into a rendition of "Baby Shark." A classic lullaby of the modern era, the simple tune captivated the kid. While hoisted in his father's arms, he ceased screaming and watched as the strangers clapped and sang. 

After the plane landed, a March 2022 video taken onboard that flight went viral, with viewers watching in amazement at how the cabin came together to cheer the little one up. The caption, "Everyone on the plane passed the vibe check," perfectly captured the spirit of the day. While we don't know whether or not the flight had to continue singing unceasingly until they touched down at their destination, the video proves that there is one perhaps foolproof way to stop a screaming child. It just requires a lot of participation, a little harmony, and a family of fictional sharks. 

apost.com

What's your foolproof way to soothe a baby in-flight? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family and frequent fliers!