The Best Thing To Do With A Dirty Diaper If You Change Your Baby While Flying

There's a lot that you have to think about when it comes to traveling with a baby. As convenient as flying may be, the second there's a baby in your lap it gets a lot more complicated. You may have thought ahead and figured out if you can bring a diaper bag in addition to your personal item, selected seats bulkhead seats in the airplane, and lined up your best hacks to stop ear pain if your baby's ears pop during take off — but do you know what to do when you have to change your child's diaper mid-flight? There are a few things to consider when deciding what to do with a soiled one, but in general, your best bet is just to leave the dirty diaper in the bathroom trash.

To find out the best etiquette for keeping your baby clean and comfortable without inconveniencing the cabin crew, Islands interviewed Barbi, a veteran flight attendant with almost four decades of experience flying with a major U.S. airline. In addition to letting us know that we should just throw out diapers in the bathroom, Barbi gave us a good rule to keep in mind to avoid doing anything that grosses out your fellow passengers: "If you wouldn't do that at home, don't do it on the airplane."

With limited space and close proximity to other passengers who might be alarmed to suddenly have a smelly diaper around, changing your child can be challenging on a flight. Keeping your baby from getting diaper rash is priority one, but once the offending diaper is off, it has to go somewhere! Experienced flight attendant Barbi told us that the best choice is just to put it into the bathroom garbage, and if you happen to be flying on a plane equipped with a changing table, that will be the most convenient option for you, as well.

However, leaving a dirty diaper in the bathroom may make the experience a lot less pleasant for your fellow passengers, since the trash obviously doesn't flush. In a tiny airplane bathroom, that can get pretty smelly pretty fast. To be courteous to anyone else who might have to use the bathroom during your flight, Barbi recommends asking your flight attendant for a trash bag and tying the dirty diaper up inside before tossing it into the can.

Flight attendants have your back when other passengers make complaints about your baby crying, but you can easily lose their sympathy if you leave gross, smelly diapers lying around on the plane or try to physically place it into their hands. You should never be handing flight attendants your trash while they're trying to serve food and drinks, and that goes double for trying to pass off something like a diaper. According to Barbi, even when they come around specifically to collect trash, it's still not a great idea to hand them a diaper. You're better off just asking for a trash bag and throwing it away yourself.

As always, remember to be polite and pack your common sense when you get on a plane. You would think stashing something as nasty as a soiled diaper around your seat and then just abandoning it would be an obvious no for any parent, but unfortunately, when asked what else passengers should avoid doing with dirty diapers, Barbi told us: "Do not leave it in a seat pocket. Do not leave it on the floor of the airplane."