Traveling With Kids

Regarding “Airlines Tackling the Squeezed-Seat Problem” (Travel Insider, Aug.22): I’m glad to see that airlines are working to make flying safer for infants and children. However, along with providing special seats, customer service is a must.

After spending a summer traveling while my husband was deployed, I encountered numerous barriers from airline employees when attempting to use a car seat. Parents should not feel that they are being difficult or causing problems because they decided to use a car seat for their child. I hope the airline companies remember that repeat business is vital to them.

SHANA McHAFFEY

Fayetteville, N.C.

I was extremely dismayed by Patrick Goldstein’s story about his Wine Country jaunt with his wife and year-old infant son (“Grapes and Gurgles,” Oct. 24). Bed-and-breakfast establishments traditionally provide a romantic getaway for adults. My husband and I had a beautiful weekend at a bed-and-breakfast in Napa almost ruined by a baby who cried most of the night. I’d be really upset if I had paid $300 a night for a room, only to have the Goldsteins and their bundle of joy wake me up before dawn.

Perhaps the Goldsteins should not subject those of us wanting to get away for a romantic weekend to their selfish desire to act as if having a baby doesn’t change things for them. It just does. There are some sacrifices you have to make when you become a parent. You stay in a hotel, not a romantic inn, when you travel with the kids. You hire a baby-sitter if you want to go wine tasting. You don’t let your baby run around a restaurant.

And most of all, you must remember that not everyone’s as enchanted with your baby as you are. Children are wonderful, but not welcome in every situation.

BILLIE JO MASON-MOHR

Moorpark