Plenty of travelers gripe about sitting next to a baby or toddler on a flight. Japan Airlines has a more effective solution: A seat map showing you where all the babies are so you can choose not to be near them.

The carrier's seat-selection map shows potential passengers where seats have already been purchased for infants and small children.

Passenger Rahat Ahmed told USA TODAY that he was selecting his seats for a long Japan Airlines flight when he noticed that the seat map had an indicator for a baby bassinet.

"Some of them were not where the bassinet would be, so I was curious if this actually was an indicator of a baby on the seat," he said.

Japan Airlines' website explains the meaning of the seating chart's "child icon."

"Passengers traveling with children between 8 days and 2 years old who select their seats on the JAL website will have a child icon displayed on their seats on the seat selection screen," the site notes. "This lets other passengers know a child may be sitting there."

But it cautioned that passengers shouldn't accept the baby map as gospel when picking seats.

If, for instance, a child seat is booked through a method other than the JAL website (for instance, as part of a tour or award ticket), then the child icon would not be displayed. And if there is a change in aircraft, the baby locator icons may not be displayed in the proper spots.

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Ahmed, who travels frequently for work and tries to sleep on overnight flights, considers the baby map to be an asset despite those disclaimers. Though rowdy kids have been the exception rather than the rule, he has had a few bad experiences.

"I have no issues with babies, but if I can avoid the risk of a parent who lets their child run amuck, I’m happy to take advantage," he said. "And when you have transoceanic flights, you want greater certainty," he said.

This is the first Ahmed has noticed a baby map during the booking process but wishes other carriers would offer the tool.

In addition to warning adults where kids will be seated, Japan Airlines also offers several amenities to the families themselves. They can take advantage of priority boarding and check strollers free of charge. The airline also offers bottle-warming assistance, diapers and child-friendly entertainment.

USA TODAY reached out to Japan Airlines for comment.

Follow Morgan Hines on Twitter: @MorganEmHines.