Mom sparks heated online debate after rocking her baby in plane's emergency exit row

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A post shared by Bumpnbub ® Aliza Carr (@bumpnbub)

A woman has faced backlash online for rocking her baby on a plane in front of an emergency exit row.

Mom and midwife, Aliza Carr from @bumpnbub posted the clip herself, showing her soothing her four-month-old in a carrier.

But soon after posting it, comments flooded in from people who said it was “rude” to passengers who had booked that row for the extra legroom and space.

In the video, which has now been viewed 1.8 million times, Aliza is seen gently bouncing up and down with her baby near the emergency exit.

She wrote over the top: “How to get a toned butt and legs? Take a four-month-old, that only sleeps in the carrier, to five+ countries in a month…”

Then the caption reads: “Okay – I joke, but in all seriousness, even as a midwife, I thought the most strenuous part of becoming a mama – was pregnancy. And for some, that is the case, but for me, it was 100% in the postpartum phase. It was this, right here. The hours and hours each day of babywearing my little koala, never getting a break.”

“I remember this flight, it was 14+ hours straight and I remember taking Panadol for my butt and leg muscles that were aching #Mumlife.”

“If you’ve traveled with a little one, how did they go to sleep? I know if my child’s life depended on it, she wouldn’t sleep in the plane bassinet, or even on us – standing, bouncing and aggressively swaying is the only way.”

The point of the video was to shed light on how difficult it is to travel with babies and encourage empathy for parents, but that didn’t stop hundreds of people from criticizing the mom.

“These ‘dancing mamas’ are so annoying, they jump around and annoy everyone. I had the luck to fly with a similar woman recently,” one person wrote.

“If I was sitting at that exit row and paid for the extra legroom… I’d be so mad having this happening in front of me the whole flight!” someone wrote.

But Aliza hit back, saying “Ahh, I’m so sorry that seeing a mother trying to soothe her baby, clearly trying her best could ever ‘anger’ you – this is so sad to see and I hope you’d put your children above the happiness of a stranger on a plane. Also, as you can see I’m nowhere near anyone’s legs or ‘extra room.'”

And someone else jumped in, defending Aliza, saying, “Wouldn’t you rather this than a crying baby on your flight?”

But the criticism kept coming.

“You should get out of the way of other passengers,” someone else slammed.

And this person went even harder, saying Aliza shouldn’t have even flown with her baby in the first place:

“Why do people travel with babies? Have your relatives/friends visit you! And why is it that people without babies/kids who don’t want them or care for them need to be subjected to crying babies on the plane or this? I just absolutely don’t understand the logic.”

“Just stay home! Don’t fly or take your baby to restaurants if your kid cries non-stop. Nobody wants to hear that!”

Luckily lots more people came out to praise the mom.

“Wait – why the heck are the comments all so darn negative? All I see is a loving mother and a baby who needs a bit of extra love and closeness from their mother. Calm DOWN everyone,” one person said.

Another echoed: “You are a fantastic mom. If I was on that plane with you, I would have been so proud to see a mama put aside her own comfort and rest to tend to her baby… who is not spoilt… but displaying our intrinsic needs of safety, connection and comfort.”

And more support came from this person who was fed up with all the mom-shaming on planes: “Moms definitely can do nothing right nowadays.”

“Get your baby to sleep while standing up – how annoying for the person sitting in front of you.”

“Breastfeed your baby to sleep without moving from your seat- you are asked to cover yourself and are seen as obscene.”

“Let your baby cry in the bassinet and disturb everyone – what a monster.”

“Why can’t we just praise our moms for doing their best to soothe their children? Good job mom for keeping your little one happy.”