Baby on lap

[jodifla]

They haven't done that for over 20 years. I don't know why someone always brings that up


I have flown with a lap baby in very rough turbulence, rough take offs and rough landings, including one we had to brace ourselves in the emergency landing position and never felt my child was in danger.

Really! I know. But it's constant. Then they get to Orlando, and put their child on a ME bus without a car seat, with all the talk of "compartmentalization" even though there have been a lot more bus accidents and deaths in the three years than plane crashes.

All transport has some risk. People have to decide what is a reasonable risk for their family. To me, looking at the actual math, paying for plane seat for a baby is like walking outside with $300, and throwing it into the wind.

But I also let my youngster ride shuttle buses and ME and don't worry about a booster, and very occasionally in friends' cars or taxis when we're in another country, or with friends when we don't have a car seat with us.

But at home, he remains in a booster even at 9 years old.

 

[bean24]

My father was on a flight a few years ago and they hit turbulence so hard and fast the fight attendant got hurt, she basically hit the ceiling of the plane, two lap children were also hurt since their parents lost hold of them. Since then we have always Had a seat for our little ones.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

also just back with another carseat on plane question- How exactly does one secure a carseat onto a plane seat? Every single carseat we've owned in the last 13 years has required a 3point seatbelt to secure it safely, but every plane I've ever been on has only has lap seatbelts (which surely can't hold a carseat securely?)

Are American carseats that different to British ones?

 

[LaurenLC]

Our 10 month old has taken 10 roundtrip flights. Some with her own seat and some without, all have been fine. She's going to be a lap baby again in 20 days when we go visit Mickey.

 

[VAfamily1998]

(and to be fair, I doubt ANY parent would chose something they didn't think was safe for their kids to safe a few hundreds, or to afford the trip)

Sure they do. I've seen it come up a lot on message board forums and "we can't afford it" is the most common reason I've seen for not buying an infant their own seat.

Several years ago I had this coversation with a friend about buying seats for infants and she told me they never buy seats for their daughter because they wouldn't be able to do as much traveling if they had to buy 3 seats instead of 2! This friend took several international trips a year.

 

[tnd]

I always buy a separate seat for babies. It's as much for my comfort as it is for safety. I do also believe it is much safer, but I can't imagine trying to hold a one year old on a long flight.

 

[dhardawa]

also just back with another carseat on plane question- How exactly does one secure a carseat onto a plane seat? Every single carseat we've owned in the last 13 years has required a 3point seatbelt to secure it safely, but every plane I've ever been on has only has lap seatbelts (which surely can't hold a carseat securely?)

Are American carseats that different to British ones?

There is no harnessed car seat (at least in the US and Canada) that requires a 3 point seatbelt. Every one can be installed with just a lap belt quite safely. I have been a tech for 9 years and even 9 years ago, all seats could be used with just a lap belt. Booster seats are the only seats that require a 3 point seatbelt because they are just boosting a child into the correct position so the vehicle seatbelt can do its job.

 

[dhardawa]

To answer the original question, no, I would not dream of flying with my 1 year old without his/her own seat and car seat.

 

[Mama Who]

Seat and car seat. Safety is not a place we try to save money. We will pick a cheaper hotel, stay a shorter time, eat at lower end restaurants but we will not skimp on the baby being as safe as possible en route.

 

[Miss Mo]

Bjakmom that is horrifying!

Can I ask does anyone have any experience of flying from the UK with a carseat? When we flew in 2008 we were told it had to be wrapped and put through as checked luggage and that it wouldn't be allowed on board.

Does anyone have any experience of flying UK to USA and being allowed to use a carseat on board?

I was told that too and that carseats wouldn't fit anyway!? and I was made to sit him on my lap for take off and landing when he had a seat without a car seat in it. That said he did get a small belt round him which went through my belt so he was sort of belted as well as held.

mo x

 

[scrapquitler]

also just back with another carseat on plane question- How exactly does one secure a carseat onto a plane seat? Every single carseat we've owned in the last 13 years has required a 3point seatbelt to secure it safely, but every plane I've ever been on has only has lap seatbelts (which surely can't hold a carseat securely?)

Are American carseats that different to British ones?

A regular car seat only needs a lap belt to be installed. Only a booster seat requires a three point harness, and you can't use a booster on the plane anyway.

 

[RMAMom]

My children and now my grandchildren fly as lap babies but I did purchase this for my grandson

http://www.amazon.com/Infant-Flight-Vest-Travel-Harness/dp/B000058DQB

It is not approved for take off or landing but it does secure them for turbulence during the flight and it also gives you a little break as far as holding the baby.
There is a you tube video too if your interested you could search it out.

 

[Minniemouse07]

My children and now my grandchildren fly as lap babies but I did purchase this for my grandson

http://www.amazon.com/Infant-Flight-Vest-Travel-Harness/dp/B000058DQB

It is not approved for take off or landing but it does secure them for turbulence during the flight and it also gives you a little break as far as holding the baby.
There is a you tube video too if your interested you could search it out.

Basically it makes your baby an air bag for you if you are thrown forward in serious turbulence or crash situation.

 

[dumbo_buddy]

OP - this is one of those topics that people feel VERY strongly about, one way or the other. the pro-seat people for infants wouldn't dream of having their child be a lap kid. and the lap kid parents wouldn't buy a seat for their kid until they needed to at age 2. it's one of those questions that will just end up in a fight among online people (see above post). so take everyone's opinions with a grain of salt! and whatever you choose, you are not a bad parent!

***

i have yet to purchase a seat for my son. he will be 2 in june. once he is 2 i will buy a seat because i have to. i've flown 4 times with him on my lap and it's been a breeze. we are actually flying with him as a lap child in two weeks all the way to maui. it's going to be a long flight for all of us!

have a great vacation!

 

[xXMyTwoPrincessesXx]

OP - this is one of those topics that people feel VERY strongly about, one way or the other. the pro-seat people for infants wouldn't dream of having their child be a lap kid. and the lap kid parents wouldn't buy a seat for their kid until they needed to at age 2. it's one of those questions that will just end up in a fight among online people (see above post). so take everyone's opinions with a grain of salt! and whatever you choose, you are not a bad parent!

Wow.. I didn't realize that! I paniced when I read some of the posts.. I've never flew with kids before. And you are 100% correct, whatever anyone chooses, they are not bad parents

 

[Minniemouse07]

The OFFICIAL information from the FAA is that EVERY passenger should be secured in their own seats (and young children should be in FAA approved child restraints).

Their guidelines allow for children under the age of 2yrs to be lap children w/o their own seat NOT because it is safe but solely on the basis that it is statistically safER than traveling in a car.

The explanation is that the FAA feels that if families were forced to pay for seats for those under 2yo then they would opt to drive instead causing injuries/fatalities to increase.

I will reiterate... the FAA has NEVER said that flying with a lap child is safe, all of their recommendations say that all children under 2yo SHOULD be in their own seat w/ a child restraint...they just don't require it to be so.

 

[amylevan]

The OFFICIAL information from the FAA is that EVERY passenger should be secured in their own seats (and young children should be in FAA approved child restraints).

Their guidelines allow for children under the age of 2yrs to be lap children w/o their own seat NOT because it is safe but solely on the basis that it is statistically safER than traveling in a car.The explanation is that the FAA feels that if families were forced to pay for seats for those under 2yo then they would opt to drive instead causing injuries/fatalities to increase.

I will reiterate... the FAA has NEVER said that flying with a lap child is safe, all of their recommendations say that all children under 2yo SHOULD be in their own seat w/ a child restraint...they just don't require it to be so.

It is actually statistically A LOT safer than riding in a car. As in, the way people jump down other people's throats when they say they don't buy a seat you'd have to ask them if they take their child in the car. Because it is way more likely that something will happen in a car - and most of us still put our kids in a car at least once a day.

Yes, I have flown with my DS as a lap child - at 9 mos and 16 mos. I did my own research, looked at numbers and decided that based on the them, I was not going to buy a seat. I did however purchase him a seat at 20 mos because he's now bigger and a lot harder to hold (we were flying without my DH).

And believe it or not, my cousin in a pilot for FedEx and recently flew from Anchorage to Pittsburgh with his wife and DS 20 mos and DD 8 mos both as lap children. I would think a pilot would have first hand experience.

 

[Minniemouse07]

It is actually statistically A LOT safer than riding in a car. As in, the way people jump down other people's throats when they say they don't buy a seat you'd have to ask them if they take their child in the car. Because it is way more likely that something will happen in a car - and most of us still put our kids in a car at least once a day.

Yes, I have flown with my DS as a lap child - at 9 mos and 16 mos. I did my own research, looked at numbers and decided that based on the them, I was not going to buy a seat. I did however purchase him a seat at 20 mos because he's now bigger and a lot harder to hold (we were flying without my DH).

And believe it or not, my cousin in a pilot for FedEx and recently flew from Anchorage to Pittsburgh with his wife and DS 20 mos and DD 8 mos both as lap children. I would think a pilot would have first hand experience.

The point of my previous post was to point out that just because flying is safER than driving, it doesn't mean flying unrestrained is safe!

Crossing the street in a car is safER than doing so on foot, but that doesn't mean I don't do it...and it also doesn't mean that I don't hold my child's hand while crossing just because I don't "have" to by law.

This is a matter close to my heart because I'm a certified child passenger safety technician. I can't IMAGINE not securing my child in a way that would keep them the safest they could be, and ergo can't imagine why any parent wouldn't want their child to be safe as well. (and I do a lot of volunteering assisting other parents that do want their child safe in vehicles)

FWIW, the FAA is actually the stumbling block to requiring the use of child restraints (and the purchasing of seats) for those under 2yrs of age.

The NTSB, NHTSA, Association of Flight Attendants, Safe Kids, Safety Belt Safe, and the AAP have been lobbying them for YEARS to have this lack of requirement changed...and I'm happy to say that it will finally ...probably, be made mandatory within the next few years.

My kid will be long past this age (they are 5 & 9 now) but it will be reassuring to know that coffee pots and pets will no longer be safer than our precious babies on airplanes!

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

Thank you all for the carseat replies, I'm actually finding that pretty fascinating- all our britax & maxi-cosi carseats (those with harnesses for birth to age 4's and those which were high back boosters with no harness for 4+'s) I've ever bought (and with 5 kids I've bought alot! :haha: ) have required a 3 point seatbelt to hold the chair to the carseat.

Off to look at USA carseats now, it's truly fascinated me, it never occurred to me once that they would be different!

 

[GoofItUp]

We did not buy tickets for our under-2 kids when they were that age. However, on all flights except one or two we always were able to get them a seat (flights were not full) which was convenient, but not necessary IMO.

I agree with some of the PP's who have told you that you are not a bad parent whatever you choose to do.

I find it interesting that the FAA feels infants should be in their own seats. Aren't they the same people who are SLEEPING while planes are landing?