‘IDK how to hold a baby!’: 19-year-old gets accused of mom-shaming an entitled mother on a flight after getting woken up, forced to care for a stranger's baby, then yelled at for ‘holding it wrong'

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Feb 27, 2025 9:00 PM EST

Like they always say, babies don't come with an instruction manual. This teenager flying solo on a plane knew this very well and was aware of her shortcomings when it came to baby knowledge, but when the mother seated next to her woke her up from a slumber to recruit her childcare services, nobody would listen to reason. 

My mom had my oldest sister when she was in her early 30s, and her own baby was the first infant she'd ever held. Crazy, right? While most people have encountered babies in one way or another before they've reached adulthood, it's also not uncommon to come across people who have no baby knowledge whatsoever. Knowing this, we can't expect strangers to know everything there is to know about infant care. And this new mom in our next story seemed to think that the teenage girl sitting next to her on the plane should just innately have the baby know-how to accommodate her childcare needs. As if she wasn't asking a stranger to do her a favor, this mom not only disturbed her aisle neighbor with a brazen request, she also had the audacity to criticize and nearly criminalize the kid who did her a solid.

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  • HEDE YOUR HEAD
    via Joaquín Corbalán

    (The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.)

    I've held a baby a handful of times (I could count the number of times on one hand), and each time I was made responsible for a tiny human, it was stressful. Without any knowledge about where to support the head, what to do when they start to wriggle, and how to calm down a fussy baby, I'm like a deer in the headlights whenever infants are involved. So this next story rings pretty true to my experience, rightfully shining a beacon of mom-shaming on the mother in this next story for her entitled ungratefulness.

  • "Screaming baby on the plane?"

    I'm 19F. I got a window seat for a 6 hour plane ride. I brought the essentials which was my playlist and headphones and I took my anxiety medication beforehand because I'm an extremely nervous/anxious flyer. This medication usually knocks me out BTW
    via AioliBrilliant5299
  • (I ALWAYS assume the worst when it comes to flying) A lady with her baby sat on the aisle. No one was on the middle seat. I put my headphones on and knocked out almost immediately.
    via AioliBrilliant5299
  • I'm in deep sleep and I feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me. I take my headphones off and hear her baby screaming. She tells me she has to go to the restroom and asks if I can hold her baby while she goes. I tell her "I can do that but idk how to hold a baby either?" (Im 19, I haven't experienced taking care of a baby before).
    via AioliBrilliant5299
  • Cheezburger Image 10472537600
    via Kaspars Grinvalds

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • She mumbles something and passes over her baby and leaves right away. I'm trying to comfort her baby but he's just screaming. I feel bad. The mom comes back and then reprimanded me for not supporting her baby's head. I tell her I'm sorry.
    via AioliBrilliant5299
  • But then she tells the flight attendant and the attendant is also kinda like "what do you want me to do" The mom proceeds to take photos of me (DONT KNOW WHY?!). I put
    via AioliBrilliant5299
  • my headphones back on. When the plane lands, she accuses me of hating babies and that I put my headphones on because I found her baby annoying and that I "mom shamed" her. She seems to think I held her baby that way to be mean but I just didn't know how?!
    via AioliBrilliant5299
  • TravelDaze When one chooses to pawn off their screaming baby to a complete stranger, they really don't have much room to complain. I wouldn't worry about it you were the grown up in this situation
    via TravelDaze
  • LSBabe NTA: What?! You were literally woken up and handed a baby like it's a bag of chips or something. Totally not cool on her part, especially when you told her you weren't experienced. You did your best, headphones back on and vibe check out!
    via LSBabe
  • Bill10101101001 I (M) have flown with a crying baby (10hr). If you managed to zonk out in all the ruckus you better believe that I would not wake you up unless the plane was on fire. NTA And I would not have taken the kid in your position.
    via Bill10101101001
  • agreeable_burn I took countless flights with my twins when they were infants. Never once did I even consider assigning a total stranger to do MY JOB. I'm their mother. It was a choice to have them and a choice to get on that plane.
    via agreeable_burn
  • You are not even a little in the wrong. You're a great person for having not told her no and putting your head phones back on in the first place. She's literally just an insufferable b that can't handle her sh. Trust me, I peed on a plane with two babies could've done it with one. She just wanted a reason to whine and blame someone else. she
    via agreeable_burn
  • lydocia For future reference, "no" is a complete sentence. It's absolutely fair you don't want responsibility over a baby, and even more so if you were woken up. Someone wakes me up on a plane, they get a WHAT THE I AM SLEEPING. F
    via lydocia
  • Altruistic_Yak6538 NTA. Probably should've been more of TAH. Sounds like she could use some mom shaming.
    via Altruistic_Yak6538
  • purplespaghetty NTA. I hope this experience with that terrible human in no position to be mother, does not deter you from helping someone in need in the future.
    via purplespaghetty
  • TarnieOl NTA. What a psycho this woman sounds like. God, I feel sorry for her child and for the future her child has with her. She's gonna be a horrible mother. Edit I should've said she IS a horrible mother. Instead of "is going to be". She already is.
    via TarnieOl
  • Puzzleheaded-Value38 NTA. In the future, it's okay to say "No, I don't feel comfortable." I'm not sure why mama couldn't have put baby in a carrier or asked a flight attendant.
    via Puzzleheaded-Value38
  • nuance61 She should have asked the flight attendant to hold her baby, not you! And to disturb you when you are sleeping? I just could never, ever do that to a complete stranger! What a selfish self-entitled person. NTA and don't let her actions make you think you are. She is a big AH though.
    via nuance61

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Babies baby mother entitled mom flight motherhood moms plane window seat Reddit mom mom shaming airplane entitled people flying
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