Traveling with kids can be rough. Parents share their worst experiences.

Every few months or so, a debate strikes up about whether or not babies should be allowed on planes. There are complaints about screaming infants and messy toddlers, countered by parents — including mom Sarah Radziminski, who shared in a recent viral tweet the gripes her fellow passenger made about having to sit near her late daughter, who was on a Make-A-Wish trip after undergoing cancer treatment — opening up about the groans and dirty looks they've gotten for daring to fly with their small kids, even if they're on their best behavior.

But travel stress isn't limited to planes. As summer gets underway, parents share the in-transit horror stories they're still trying to forget. And to help parents avoid debacles of their own, experts share tips for enjoying a smooth journey with the family.

"We got kicked out of the food car."

Florida mom Maureen C. Kenny tells Yahoo Life that travel has "always been a bit challenging" with her triplets. Her family started taking Amtrak's Auto Train instead of flying after being told they couldn't sit together — despite booking adjoining seats — but they also had issues on the train.

"We got kicked out of the food car," she says. "The kids were probably 18 months and typical toddlers. Touching things, climbing on the back of the booth — nothing too out of control. But the waiter was getting really upset with us. We finished the meal and retreated to our family 'cabin.'"

In the morning, the family got ready to go to the dining car for breakfast, but were stopped before they could leave. "There was a knock at our door and someone from the dining car put all the food in a bag for us — essentially saying, Don’t bother coming up for breakfast," Kenny says. "We were a bit shocked, but adapted. The kids ate the bagels and cereal, and looked out the window." Kenny says she "felt upset" but just focused on her kids enjoying the train ride.

"I was already freaked out."

Life coach Caitlin Morris tells Yahoo Life that she was stopped by a passenger while boarding a flight with her sleeping infant and asked, "How old is it?"' When Morris replied, "5 weeks old," the woman "quickly shot back, 'That's what I thought. It's going to cry the whole time.'"

"I wish I had said something smart but I was so taken aback, I just walked on," Morris says, noting that her daughter could be barely seen in her carrier, and that she felt attacked. "I was already freaked out — a first-time, brand-new mom, traveling by myself," she says. "I didn't want to be 'that mom' with 'that baby.' I kept my cool, nursed her on takeoff and landing and just relaxed as best I could." (Morris says her daughter slept the entire flight.)

Morris says it took her a moment to comprehend what had happened with the other passenger. "It hit me — after my heart stopped racing — that she was probably not in a good place in her life," she says.

"It was such an ordeal."

Blogger Gennifer Rose tells Yahoo Life that she had difficulty while flying with her then-4-month-old from California to Hawaii. "At the time, she was mostly drinking formula, so we had to pack a lot of ready-to-drink liquid formula in our carry-on bags for the plane ride," she says. But Rose says that TSA officials "gave us such a hard time because of the limits on liquid you can bring on a plane."

"They made us open up all our bags, open up containers and we ended up spilling formula on our belongings," she says. "It was such an ordeal, and very frustrating as parents attempting to have a vacation with a baby."

Once Rose's family got on the flight, someone made an unwelcome comment. "One fellow passenger make a 'joke' that he hoped our baby wasn't going to cry the whole flight," she says. "As parents, we were already concerned about this ourselves and didn't need the commentary from a stranger." Rose notes that her daughter "ended up sleeping most of the flight."

"Nothing we did could quiet her."

Mom of two Kanyarat Nuchangpuek tells Yahoo Life that she took a long flight to Thailand to visit her family when her daughter was 6 months old. "I was already stressed out about how my daughter would react to such a long flight," she says. "Well, she cried and she cried and she cried. It was non-stop and nothing we did could quiet her."

Nuchangpuek says that flight attendants "kept shushing me," which made her feel "ashamed."

Nuchangpuek says she was told she couldn't stand near the back of the plane where there was space for her daughter to move around. "So, I repeatedly locked myself and her in the bathroom for up to 20 minutes at a time to give the people around us a break from her incessant cries," she says. "The worst part, when my husband stood up and went to the back of the plane, he was allowed to stay there with our daughter."

Tips on traveling with kids

Experts stress that traveling with kids isn't easy. In fact, Dr. Daniel Ganjian, a pediatrician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., has his own family travel debacle story. "I once traveled with my 9-month-old on a red eye, and my baby cried for two hours straight," he tells Yahoo Life. "Everyone was giving me dirty looks. I'm a pediatrician. I felt terrible." Ganjian says a fellow passenger approached him and his baby with a toy and tried to help, and even stood with him for support. "I really appreciated that," he says. "Ten years later, I'm still in touch with the guy."

Ganjian recommends that parents "always have a snack and an entertainment pack" with things like crayons, games and things they can bring out little by little during the flight. "If your child needs to let off some steam, go in the bathroom and let them play with you for a moment," he says.

If possible, Ganjian also recommends that parents try to book a flight around a child's typical nap or bedtime to raise the odds they'll sleep through the ride.

Jen Campbell Boles, founder of Explore More Family Travel, tells Yahoo Life that it's a good idea to bring something a child can suck on during takeoff and landing. "Having a baby or toddler suck on a pacifier or bottle during landing is helpful in alleviating ear pressure," she says. "For older kids, chewing gum can help."

She also recommends boarding later. "Keeping a baby or toddler contained for any longer than you have to might be a mistake," she says. "If you are traveling with two parents, let one go on and get everything loaded and situated while the other boards at the last minute after letting the child blow off steam in the boarding area."

Still, traveling with kids can be unpredictable, and even the most organized parents can run into issues. "I always tell people to step up and offer to help," Ganjian says. "It goes a long way."

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