After a vacation in Palm Springs, Whitney Poyntz and her family were returning to Calgary when she boarded her flight [1] with her husband and sleeping 4-month-old. Considering that the little one was already snoozing, the new parents relaxed a bit thinking that it would be an easy flight but quickly realized just how wrong they were [2].
Once the captain came on the intercom, the infant woke up but was able to be nursed back to sleep. "About 30 minutes later all hell broke loose. [I'm] not sure if it was gas or maybe pressure but we did not have a happy baby, and unfortunately those seats aren't made for rocking or trying to put a baby back to sleep," Whitney wrote on Facebook [3]. "Eyes glaring, sweat dripping down our foreheads trying to get her back to sleep, in comes the hero of the day... a flight attendant named Ashley."
Ashley approached the anxious parents and asked not only if she could hold the agitated baby but also if she could take her for a walk. "The first thought in my head was 'Um, a stranger wants to walk my screaming child up and down the aisle?!?!' But she did and got her calmed down," Whitney wrote. "The experience was amazing. Never would I ever think someone would ever do that, volunteer to take your screaming child, but she did."
Whitney knows that to some, this might not seem like a big deal, but she wants everyone to understand how much this act of kindness meant to a stressed new mom just trying to keep it all together. "WestJet (Ashley), I would like to thank you for the over and above customer service (baby whispering) that you gave, truly the greatest airline," she wrote.