W hat would you do if you were seated on a plane and the person behind you was a four-year-old who refused to stop kicking your seat?

When a video documenting this experience recently went viral on TikTok, people in the comments were divided over who should take responsibility.

Is it up to the parents to wrangle their kids? Should you complain to the cabin crew and see what they can do? Or should you just tell the kid point-blank to stop?

Plane etiquette is a touchy subject. That's why the experts at Netflights decided to go straight to the source.

The travel booking company spoke with a plane cabin crew manager, Francesca, to discover what passengers, parents and cabin crew should do when faced with a similar situation on a flight.

It turns out that flight attendants have a sneaky trick they can employ to distract any unruly kids.

"If the children are aged between three to four and are walking around," says Francesca, "then we will get them to help with rubbish to distract them."

By enlisting the kids to help out, they're being distracted with a task and hopefully will get out some of the pent-up energy that comes from being strapped into a plane seat.

Francesca says sometimes they can give kids extra treats if they stay on their best behaviour.

"If kids are playing up, we will say that if they behave well, we can give them treats from the bar; however, this is at the cabin manager's discretion, so it shouldn't be expected," she says.

But ultimately, dealing with unruly kids is simply sometimes just part of the job. "We have to remain calm, considerate and approachable. We always put ourselves in the shoes of our customers."

When 9Travel editor Kristine took her one-year-old daughter on her first long-haul flight, there was one surprising thing that served as great entertainment - paper towels in the plane toilet.

"She really didn't have meltdowns at all, but when the seat got too boring and her toy rotation was no longer working, I found a quick duck into the bathroom, to freshen her up was a great way to reset."

"She was obsessed with the paper towels. So I used them a few times as a distraction. "

Kristine also says that if you can, getting access to a lounge on any layovers is a godsend. Kiddies can walk around and get their energy out, in a much calmer and less overstimulating area than the rest of the airport.

And if you're ever seated next to a kid who's acting out on a plane, just remember to give the parents a little grace - they're probably even more fed up than you are.

Kids will be kids, and most parents are doing everything they can to make the flight comfortable - for their children, for themselves, and for the passengers around them.