Aussie mum sparks debate after rowing with another passenger for travelling with 1-year-old in business class

An Aussie mum has sparked a debate online after revealing she got into a row with another passenger after she boarded a business class flight with her one-year-old baby.

Charlotte Heinrich was flying business class to Singapore with her baby boy when a disgruntled passenger confronted her about his crying.

The mum-of-two recalled the ordeal in a video posted to her Instagram page on Wednesday, captioned: “Should mothers with babies be allowed to fly business class?”

“Freddie was crying a bit, and this lady took it upon herself to scream across the cabin at the top of her lungs, ‘Shut up!’” she began.

She continued: “Then that same lady stood up and stared me down and I said, ‘Is everything OK?’ And she said, ‘No, your baby has been crying and I’m in business class’.”

“I said to this lady, ‘Well you obviously haven’t had kids, otherwise you would understand what it’s like to have a child, and unfortunately this comes with having a baby,’ and she said, ‘I have five’.”

The jewellery designer, who frequently travels between Singapore and Australia, claimed the apparent mother-of-five then ‘verbally abused’ her for travelling in business class with a baby.

Ms Heinrich continued: “She proceeded to say that because she had paid for her business class tickets, a mother and a child should never be in business class, they should always be in economy.”

“Freddie is one, so he travels on my lap. We quite literally come as a package deal.”

The business owner admitted that she had been frustrated by children on flights previously but was stunned that the other passenger believed she didn’t ‘deserve’ to fly business class with her baby.

“I completely understand that a crying baby can be frustrating. I’ve been that passenger too. But children are part of life, and parents are usually far more stressed and anxious about disturbing the cabin than anyone else,” she said.

Ms Heinrichsaid also revealed that she couldn’t understand why the woman wasn’t more understanding of her situation if she had five kids of her own like she claimed.

“Had she not in her past life travelled with one of those kids and experienced a crying baby before?” the mum asked.

“Screaming at the top of her lungs across the cabin at me. . . A mother with a crying child already feels hypersensitive, anxious, upset, you name it, they’re feeling it.

“I guarantee every mother with a crying child is trying everything she can to soothe their child.”

The video has garnered over 135,000 views and over 500 comments, with people torn over their opinion surrounding the business woman’s ordeal.

Some people were supportive, with one user commenting: “That’s so ignorant. Hire a private plane if you don’t want to travel with other people and babies”.

Another wrote: “I always say you’re entitled to a child free life, not a child free world”.

But not everyone was on her side, with some people arguing that passengers pay a premium to be able to travel in comfort.

One person commented: “People pay for business/first class for the luxury and to be comfortable. Especially for long haul flights. And if a baby/child is being disruptive then it’s going to make for a disruptive/uncomfortable flight”

Another user went so far as to say: ”Babies shouldn’t be allowed on planes”.

Let us know in the comments if you think parents should be allowed to travel business class with children.