If you’ve traveled with kids, you know it can be challenging. And if you have an infant? It’s nuts. Going on vacation with an infant (or kids for that matter) is never really a vacation, am I right? This traveling mom from the UK had a 10-month-old daughter. She needed a break—being a new mom is hard, y’all—but her story went viral.
Ellis left her infant daughter with her boyfriend in economy, while she was able to fly in business class. The flight was an 11-hour flight from Paris to Los Angeles, and boy did people have feelings about this. She posted a video about it on her TikTok, where she asked her 22.5K followers “What would you do?” She also said this was her only opportunity to have a baby-free flight, so she took it.
Ellis opened her video explaining that she and her boyfriend spend money on different things. Where she would absolutely spend the money on flying business class and on jewelry, he would rather spend money on going out to eat, and he finds spending money on business class “pointless.”
She continued, “I have never flown with anyone else while flying with Prim, her daughter, so the idea of having help on this flight was amazing.”
The length of the flight was 11 hours, she said, and the thought of having a baby-free flight for those 11 hours was “music to her ears.”
“Flying long-haul with a baby is not easy,” she said. Ellis had shared videos on her account of her flying alone with Prim in the past and shared how hard it was to do.
Ellis added in her video that her boyfriend had never flown with the baby before, and he wanted to take the opportunity, and really wanted to fly with her, so she said, “You know what, that is completely fine with me, I’ll see you in 11 hours, babe.”
She continued her video showing all the luxuries she enjoyed in first class, and she said while there were empty seats in business class, they didn’t want to pay for them because they’d have to pay for a full seat ticket for her 10-month old and the airline wanted “thousands and thousands of dollars.” Ellis did offer to pay for her boyfriend to sit in business class with Prim in his lap, but having to pay for an additional seat for her baby made it out of the question.
“It was so refreshing to have a nice and relaxing child-free flight, especially because the night before I had the worst sleep possible,” Ellis said. “I had an amazing nap on the plane,” she said. Then Ellis documented how she had the opportunity to brush her hair and refresh and get cleaned up after a long flight.
At the end of the video, she said her family told her she was a horrible mom and they couldn’t believe she did that—jokingly.
Most people in the comments were team “mom getting a break.”
“I love this. If the shoe was on the other foot the dad wouldn’t be getting hate,” one viewer said.
“Mums need a break as well!!! If you’re taking care of a baby full time, having a couple of hours to yourself to relax is fine. She is having a spa day, leave her alone,” said another.
And one sweet angel of a dad commented, “I have 3 kids and if I was offered business or first class on a trip I would have sent my wife regardless. My wife deserves it all.”
“You’ve spent SO MUCH time baby handling solo, I feel you definitely earned this!” said another supporter.
Not everyone was on Ellis’ side, however. Some of the comments that were in disagreement were moms saying “how they could never.”
“Wow, I have raised six wonderful boys and this is something I would never do ever,” one mom said.
Another viewer commented, “If you don’t want to travel with your baby then leave your baby with your family. Is your boyfriend the father? As a mother I would never travel without my child. Especially an infant …”
“Yes, you are the definition of ‘entitled.’ Are you really a mom???” said another disgruntled viewer.
While most of the comments in response to her video were positive, the video went viral for a reason. Why is it so unheard of for a mom to enjoy herself on a flight while the other parent takes care of the baby solo? Should moms never get to enjoy alone time, even if the partner is present and willing to take the load? I guess it makes us entitled and not a “real mom” to take a break sometimes.
