Am I the only one who wears earplugs on an airplane? Planes are loud as fuck and it’s exhausting. I always wear earplugs, and put noise cancelling headphones over them.
When my kids were infants, the last 1hr flight left em cranky and tired. At midnight, the cabin lights were dim and my son was wailing. My wife and I felt so bad for him and the fellow passengers as we tried desperately to comfort him. I vividly recall looking up and seeing quite a few weary, yet smiling faces as folks quietly supported us. That moment has stayed with me, and if you have a crying infant on a plane you'll get nothing but quiet support from me.
I was on a flight where the parents of a one year old brought a big bag of those cheap yellow and red ear plugs and just started passing them around the cabin. We amazingly didn't need them, but I have never forgotten that gesture. I'm pretty sure the flight attendants gave them all the drinks they wanted just for that.
You feel like a major inconvenience because you are, as a direct consequence of choosing to fly with your infant despite the likely consequences for others.