AIW for asking a mom to quiet her kid down on a flight?
I'm a nurse and I work night shifts, so sleep is not something I take for granted. Last month I had a seven hour flight home after three back to back night shifts, I think I'd slept maybe five hours total over those three days. I got to my seat, put my neck pillow on, eye mask ready, genuinely thought I'd be out before we hit cruising altitude.
About forty minutes in a kid behind me started screaming. Not fussing, not whining, full on screaming. I gave it a solid hour because I know kids are kids and flights are hard for them, I wasn't about to be that person immediately. But after an hour and a half of on and off shrieking with zero signs of stopping I turned around and very calmly asked the mom if there was anything she could do, said I wasn't trying to be difficult but I really needed to sleep and asked if maybe she had a snack or something that might help settle him. I was not rude, I did not raise my voice, I genuinely tried to phrase it as nicely as I could. She looked at me like I'd said something horrible and goes "he's two, what do you want me to do about it." I said I understood and turned back around. About ten minutes later she tapped my shoulder and loudly told me I was "bording on harrassment" and that she would be reporting me to the flight attendant. The woman in the seat next to me actually leaned over and whispered "you were completely fine" which made me feel better but the mom kept making comments for the rest of the flight and other passengers were looking over.