I was sure my parenting had made our baby’s first flight go smoothly. Then came the return trip | Arwa Mahdawi

I felt positively smug after our journey from New York to London. I should have recognised it was just beginner's luck

On New Year's Eve, my wife and I locked ourselves in a tiny British Airways bathroom and frantically pulled off items of clothing. It would have been a pretty exciting way to see off 2021, were it not for the fact that the clothes belonged to our seven-month-old, who had decided to do an enormous poo at 30,000 feet.

I had had a little chat with the child before the flight and told her Mummy and Mummy would appreciate it if she held off on any major bowel movements while we were in the air, but she didn't cooperate. Babies, I have learned, are not very good at listening.