Carseat or Lap Child... Interesting Article

[tms295psu]

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/airplanes/airplanes.html

This is an interesting article... I myself have flown with our 1 year old as a lap child!!! Still debating If we will do the lap child option with our son this year??!!!??

 

[vicki_c]

We only flew with DS when he was in a car seat in his own seat on the plane. I couldn't imagine anything else - for safety, for comfort (his and ours), etc. Buying a seat for him was always just part of the vacation budget - it was never something to be decided - it just was a fact. I imagine anyone choosing not to purchase a seat for their little one is considering budget only, because I don't think anyone could really think the child was safer in their arms.

My kids are 10 and 12, and we just recently entirely did away with boosters in our cars! They still fit the kids, and the kids weren't complaining, so they kept riding in them. And I won't let DS ride in the front even though it's legal now and he keeps asking me!

 

[CarrieR]

Thanks for posting that. I am a huge, huge advocate of putting kids under two in a seat on the airplane... lap children scare me silly. Yet somehow, I had never read that particular article, or the story of poor Evan. I'd be interested to know the final tally on that plane; how many passengers survived and how the other three lap children fared. (ETA: Found details at Wikipedia, here.)

More than crashes it's the turbulence that terrifies me. That, and the idea of holding a child for several hours with no option to put them anywhere... I've often read the recommendation to parents to go sit in their car, hold their child on their lap, and just *sit there* for two hours. I don't have kids yet, but when I do, I already know that an airline ticket for each of them -- regardless of age -- will have to be part of the vacation budget.

 

[DebbieB]

I was once on an American Airlines flight that was 3 hours from Pittsburgh to Dallas. It was an RJ with 2 seats on each side. A woman a couple of rows ahead of me and on the other side had a lapchild who had to be close to 2, she was pretty big. The poor kid was squirming all over the place, I felt bad for the lady next to her, it did not look like they were together. Then she started throwing things. Her pacifier flew up and landed a couple of rows back. She kept throwing her toys into the aisle. The guy across the row picked up a toy and gave it back to her and the child put it in her mouth.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

http://www.thecarseatlady.com/airplanes/airplanes.html

This is an interesting article... I myself have flown with our 1 year old as a lap child!!! Still debating If we will do the lap child option with our son this year??!!!??

Nothing new in that article. This subject has been debated endlessly here and on other internet travel boards for years. Do what you think is best for you and your family.

 

[CarrieR]

Lost in cyberspace... I agree that there's nothing new in that article, for those of us who have been "around" on transportation, air travel, and safety boards for some time. But for new parents, who might think -- due to the sue-happy society we live in -- that "if they allow it, it must be safe," it often IS new information. I replied to three parents in two separate threads last night about my concerns regarding gate-checking carseats... the possibility for damage, which had never occurred to them.

Likewise, I think with a lot of potential lap-baby parents, there are two possibilities thought of 1) plane is uneventful and fine, and 2) plane blows up/crashes and everyone dies. Many parents don't think of the turbulence, and of survivable crashes, where purchasing their small child a seat CAN make a difference in the outcome.

I don't think that a poster sharing information with other parents, that was new to HER, is out of line. (My tolerance might come from the fact that I regularly educate parents on facets of vehicle safety that had never occurred to them -- or that I transported children for years without thinking of many of these items myself.)

 

[MrsNick]

We always bought a seat for DD before she turned 2.

Most important, I figured that she was safer in case of turbulence.
But secondly, I figured that both she and I would be much more comfortable. And a comfortable baby is one who is so much more agreeable! She was so good on our flights.

Just a few days ago some people were injured in turbulence on a plane:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...qOMqmw?docId=d61808b86d7646e4b718867578ae471c

That said, I believe people should do what they feel is right for them.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Sadly a lot of Americans assume "if it wasn't safe they wouldn't let us do it" Yes they would! The FAA has allowed the airlines to pressure them on this... And IMHO it is going to take something tragic for the FAA to do the right thing

 

[kkandaj]

Likewise, I think with a lot of potential lap-baby parents, there are two possibilities thought of 1) plane is uneventful and fine, and 2) plane blows up/crashes and everyone dies. Many parents don't think of the turbulence, and of survivable crashes, where purchasing their small child a seat CAN make a difference in the outcome.

That is exactly what I thought, honestly, until I read this article today. Our family had multiple flights with our children as lap babies, and I NEVER thought about turbulence.

Both of my lap babies did great on all their flights, but I always had DH with me, so we could switch on and off. Our flights were never over 2 1/2 hours and they always fell fast asleep so the space wasn't an issue. But the article above is very interesting.

And the point about how carseats can be damaged if checked...hmmm...glad I read this thread!

 

[robinb]

SHOCKING! A website called "thecarseatlady.com" recommends the use of ... wait for it ... car seats! Who knew??!?

 

[Tinknalli]

We always bought seats. I could not imagine having to put my child on the floor between my feet if anything went wrong.....

 

[goofy4tink]

SHOCKING! A website called "thecarseatlady.com" recommends the use of ... wait for it ... car seats! Who knew??!?

I read the entire article, just to see if the 'carseatlady' was going to 'recommend' a particular brand or style of seat...thereby making it an advertisement or such. But, that really wasn't the case. It's more a case of her talking about all issues pertaining to car seat usage.....actually pretty informative.

There were a ton of good points there. Can we imagine what the situation was on those two planes that landed in Boston recently...one Jetblue flight from Puerto Rico which was supposed to land in Boston and the Lufthansa flight to Europe that was diverted back to Boston??? If there were any lap babies on either of those two flights, I'm sure there were issues.
In the case of turbulence, there is no way to secure a lap baby. There was a woman burned by her flying coffee...lap babies are merely projectiles in the same instance.

Generally speaking, children are fairly safe on a parent's lap. If that parent wants to take responsibility for that childs actions and see to it that the child is not bothering other passengers, then fine. But, I don't want my hair grabbed from between the seats or from above me. I don't want to be hit with flying toys. I don't want my seat continually grabbed and pullled from behind as a toddler tries to stand up by holding onto the back of my seat. Yes, all things that have happened to me by small children in their parent's laps.

Personally??? I can't imagine holding my toddler or infant on my lap during any length flight. But, each family must decided what works best for them, within the airline policies.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

As a long time frequent flyer I have had some ROUGH turbulence.... I was glad I had my seat belt on to keep me IN my seat. And last Thursday landing in MSP a woman a few rows back actually dropped her child during the approach due to the winds buffeting us around. We kind of "wiggled" she wasn't holding on tight or kid was wiggling too and "boom" into the aisle. FAs were NOT amused by this!

 

[MrsNick]

SHOCKING! A website called "thecarseatlady.com" recommends the use of ... wait for it ... car seats! Who knew??!?

That makes you...wait for it...a stater of the obvious.

The OP was referencing a specific article about this topic. If you read it, you would see that the web page offered some very detailed information and evidence as to why people should secure their children on a flight.

Once you read that, you can then decide for yourself what, if anything, you might want to do for your child. I don't see why you would want to belittle the site and information. Your snide comment could convince someone not to look at the information and decide what, if anything, it means to them. Why would you want to do that?

 

[kaytieeldr]

But, each family must decided what works best for them, within the airline policies.

No. You know something? I'm tired of that attitude. I think it's time to amend it to "each family must decided what works best for them until it interferes with other people". You don't want your hair yanked or a toddler pulling on the back of your seat or toys being thrown. The Flight Attendants on OrabgeCounyCommuter's event flight don't want parents dropping lap children in turbulence or a hard landing.

Heck with airline policies. Let's try consideration and common sense.

 

[brymolmom]

It's interesting that the carseatlady would bring up the case of Flight 232. Reading that Wikipedia summary, only one lap child of 4 died. That's 25%. WAY better than the average on the flight - where 38% of the general population ended up perishing. And they were presumably all in seatbelts.

Yes, one child or person is too many. But I think that flight is a prime example that lap children are not any more at risk than other kids at least not in this particular crash. In fact, at the time of this flight - the one child who died was from smoke inhalation from being placed on the floor - which is no longer done. So potentially it might have been 100% survival for lap children if that practice wasn't used at the time.

Bottom line - do whatever feels right to you OP!

And YES, I totally agree with the pp who says consideration is key. My lap kids never once pulled anyone's hair or acted in any way less appropriate than a child in a carseat. And if they tried - I just parented and stopped them. Same goes for all parents with lap or carseat kids - need to be considerate of other passengers.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Good. It's parents like you who prevented me from going into my planned "charter your own lap-child plane" rant

 

[jodifla]

It's interesting that the carseatlady would bring up the case of Flight 232. Reading that Wikipedia summary, only one lap child of 4 died. That's 25%. WAY better than the average on the flight - where 38% of the general population ended up perishing. And they were presumably all in seatbelts.

Yes, one child or person is too many. But I think that flight is a prime example that lap children are not any more at risk than other kids at least not in this particular crash. In fact, at the time of this flight - the one child who died was from smoke inhalation from being placed on the floor - which is no longer done. So potentially it might have been 100% survival for lap children if that practice wasn't used at the time.

Bottom line - do whatever feels right to you OP!

And YES, I totally agree with the pp who says consideration is key. My lap kids never once pulled anyone's hair or acted in any way less appropriate than a child in a carseat. And if they tried - I just parented and stopped them. Same goes for all parents with lap or carseat kids - need to be considerate of other passengers.

Exactly! People always quote that flight -- but miss the total point that it wasn't the lack of a car seat that injured the child.

And I totally agree that just because they are sitting in your lap, they shouldn't bother any other passengers! No hair pulling or seat kicking.

 

[disneydreamkate]

I never even considered not buying a seat for my children when they were under the age of two. I always purchased them a seat and I always brought their car seat on board to restrain them. No amount of money or convenience has ever been worth risking their safety.

 

[goofy4tink]

No. You know something? I'm tired of that attitude. I think it's time to amend it to "each family must decided what works best for them until it interferes with other people". You don't want your hair yanked or a toddler pulling on the back of your seat or toys being thrown. The Flight Attendants on OrabgeCounyCommuter's event flight don't want parents dropping lap children in turbulence or a hard landing.

Heck with airline policies. Let's try consideration and common sense.

Well, someone's a wee bit cranky!!! Thought I was the cranky one around here. I really do wish lap babies weren't allowed. IMHO, it just isn't safe. For crying out loud, they tell us to keep our seat belts on at all times, just in case. Which I do. It's not restrictive, so why not?? IF that plane hits turbulence and drops thousands of feet, that baby isn't going to be a lap baby for long. But, that's only my opinion.
And believe me...if the child behind me continues to bother me or such, I do turn around.