American Airlines said it kicked a family with a 2-year-old off a flight in part over not wearing masks properly. The mother said she struggled to keep a mask on her son, and that he was having trouble breathing.

• American Airlines kicked a family off a flight, in part over not wearing masks properly, it said.
• It also said the family didn't follow instructions to stay seated as the plane prepared for takeoff.
• The mother said she struggled to get her 2-year-old son to keep his mask on.

American Airlines removed a family from a flight on Monday, saying they didn't follow instructions to remain seated and wear face masks securely.

Amanda Pendarvis, one of the passengers, posted on her Instagram story that she boarded the flight from Dallas to Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her 2-year-old son and her mother, but was later kicked off, Fox News first reported.

Pendarvis said in her Instagram story that a flight attendant told her to pull her mask up when her son kept pulling it down. The flight attendant also told Pendarvis to put a mask on her son because of his age, she said in the post.

Children who are 2 years old and above must wear face coverings on American flights, the company said on its website. If a passenger refuses to wear one, they can be denied boarding and future travel, the website said.

Pendarvis said in the Instagram story that the family was escorted off the plane because her son couldn't keep his mask on his face.

She tried to put a mask on her son three times, but he kept taking it off, she said.

Her son was agitated, and as a result developed difficulties breathing, she said. He had an asthma attack two months ago, she added.

Pendarvis said she gave her son an emergency inhaler on the plane.

An American spokesperson told Insider in a statement that the plane returned to its gate at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport because the family refused to "comply with crew member instructions to remain seated while on an active taxiway and to wear face coverings securely over their nose and mouth."

The American spokesperson said the flight attendants weren't made aware that Pendarvis' son was having breathing problems on board the flight.

Pendarvis did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the incident.

The American spokesperson said the crew made "multiple attempts to reinforce safety requirements" after it saw "a minor in the party laying in the aisle and moving between seats" when the plane was on the taxiway.

Pendarvis wrote in her Instagram story that she let her son walk between the aisle rows so he could see her mother on the other side of the plane while it was lining up for takeoff.

The spokesperson said that it was a legal requirement to remain seated with a seat belt on when the plane is on the taxiway.

The three passengers were rebooked on the next flight to Colorado Springs on the same day after they agreed to "adhere to policies instituted for the safety of our customers and crew," the American spokesperson said.