Did you purchase a seat for your toddler?

[Hannathy]

BTW, during the near-crash, the FAs said that lap children are "human air bags" in the lap, or "projectiles" when placed on the floor, which was the instruction during the crash position practice we had to do.

Once again. They DO NOT do this anymore and haven't for probably 20 yrs, so this is not a concern. they do not have you put them on the floor. I and my DH have also flown a lot and have never seen a child hurt from turbulence.

 

[thepeach80]

Once again. They DO NOT do this anymore and haven't for probably 20 yrs, so this is not a concern. they do not have you put them on the floor. I and my DH have also flown a lot and have never seen a child hurt from turbulence.

They may not be put on the floor, but they are still 'loose' around the cabin making them exactly that, projectiles or airbags for the parents who hold them. It happens and I'm sure if you spent everyday on a plane like pilots do, you'd see it a lot. I've never seen it either, but after talking to several pilots and FAs, I know it happens. I've never seen a child get killed in a car crash either, but until recently it was the leading killer of children. I'm a child passenger safety technician so child safety whether in a car or on the ground is important to me and I've done a lot of reading on it. If anyone would like to have more info on why you should have your child in a carseat on the plane, I'll give you the links.

 

[CEDmom]

The only time we didn't buy a seat for DD was when we brought her home from China. She was only 9 months and had never been in a car seat before. We thought the trauma of being put in one for such a long time would be more than she and we could handle. I got one of those safety vests to put on her and loop through my seatbelt. They're not FAA approved but I used it anyway and no one noticed.

I honestly couldn't imagine having a 2 yo on my lap for any length of time. Buy a seat, you'll all be happier.

 

[teresajoy]

We got our 23 month old a seat... our plane was ALMOST full on the way down... he was by the window.. i was in the middle.. NO ONE would sit next to us I could hear them all thinking... NO WAY am I sitting next to a baby (okay he's 2 but he looks at least 3.5 yes he's huge) but anyway... the flight down was HORRIBLE... he was OVER OVER OVER tired... his ears hurt he wouldn't eat or drink to get them to pop.. the flight attendented made fun of me and my WHOLE family because of it after we landed... it wasn't like we didn't TRY to calm him down.. he only fussed for the last 30 min or so.. not even crying... she came over to me and said.. you know your making the people around you really stressed out with his crying.. .can you please get him to be quiet... well lady.. if I could i would.. its not like fussing is music to my ears either... anyway... he DID have his own seat.. I did pay for it but he didn't use it... as much as i TRIED to keep him in the seat the harder he fussed/cried... yes even I was ready to jump off that plane.. her making those comments didn't help either.. like he was the first baby to fuss/cry on a plane?? come on... anyway... do what YOU feel is right.. I thought all along that him on my lap would be better... but DH said... just do it... so I did.. .wasted go money on nothing and I HATE when I waste MY money! Oh on the way home he did wonerful by the way.. and he even sat in his paid for seat (most of the 2.15 hr flight! )

Oh, I feel for you! How stressful that must have been. No matter how hard the people around you thought it was for them, having a fussy child is 100 times harder on the parent!

 

[Nanu57v]

We purchased a seat for DD each time: at 9 months, and at 18 months. At 9 months we flew United or USAir and got her ticket for 50%. The second was Southwest and we paid adult rate. I don't think a lot of people do though, because the flight attendant told me that DD's carseat (a convertible) wasn't meant to be installed rear-facing (when she was 9 months).

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I always bought my kids a seat and took a car seat with us , when I took my Nephew to Disney it was his first flight and bought him a seat as well .
It was worth it to feel safe .

I didnt think Airlines let you have a toddler in your lap . I thought once they were 1 yrs old they had to have a seat. But it is been a long long time since I had a really small one

 

[Zakk and Marcs Mom]

We took my son on a 5 hour plane trip when he was 2 months old. He sat on our laps on the way out and man was that a pain. He was fine but the seats are small and we would have been much more comfortable if we did not have to take turns holding him. I could not imagine having my 2 year old on my lap for the trip. He TOTALLY would not stay still! Luckily on the way home we were able to get him an empty seat and the flight was much more enjoyable. We are flying to Disney in September and he will be 2 years 2 months so we do not have a choice and have to buy him a seat but I think we would have anyway, the seat belt will be invaluable I am sure!

 

[HelenePA]

the seat belt will be invaluable I am sure!

OR it will become a toy like it did with my son... he's smart for his age, his sisters have taught him all the bad stuff early YAY for me he learned how to undo it.. it became a frightning game to me at one point coming home I had to hold his hands so he couldn't open it... they open WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY too easy if you ask me!!

 

[Benducci]

I have always pruchased seats for each of my kids regardless of age. I believe it is safer and I really did not want to hold a child through an entire flight to Disney. I brought their carseats which were strapped into the airline seat. This was good since I then had their carseats with me in Florida for the rental car. I also thought that it is easier for them to remain seated since they were in something familiar. I also did not want them to want to get out & annoy people/myself. Most times they would also fall asleep - being in the carseat was like being in the car.
Most airlines sell kids seats cheaper than regular seats. YOu have to ask.

 

[Princess Roo]

I think that there's the safety factor and the convenience factor. DS had flown 14 round trips by the time he turned two. We only bought him a seat the one round-trip when DH was flying alone with him at 23 months. From what I've seen, the discounted infant fares are generally off the full-fare, so were more expensive than just buying a regular ticket through the airline's website.

I understand that they are safer in a carseat, but IMO we all as parents make decisions about what risk levels we are comfortable with our children. Personally, we buy top-of-the-line carseats for our cars, install them correctly, leave them rear-facing longer than required and plan on using 5-pt harness longer than required, etc., but there are VERY few airline accidents where a carseat would make a difference between serious injury. If it were THAT much of a risk, I also believe the FAA would require seats.

As far as convenience, when DS was under a year, he generally nursed a good portion of the flight and the rest of the time was content to play on our laps with all the interesting things in our "bag of tricks". When he was older, we would actually seat him next to me on my seat for most of the trip. With the armrest up, this worked pretty well and he thought he was a big boy. We have always brought a lot to entertain him and have never had a problem with his behavior. It takes a lot of effort, but was worth the average of $250 per ticket we saved for the average of 4 hours of RT entertainment required! We actually have had more problems with him annoying passengers by kicking their seats now that he is two and we do buy him a seat, and we still need to expend just about as much effort entertaining him. (That carseat puts him in prime kicking position, because it brings his long legs right to the tray table.)

BTW, we probably got him a "free" empty seat on ~1/4 of those legs. Flights are just fuller than they used to be IMO.

Good luck with your decision. There are definitely a lot of parents who do it each way.

 

[Tator Tot's Mom]

If you do buy a seat and bring your child's carseat- becarful that it is not one of the super deluxe nice big padded ones. Last September we were on a flight with a family who had a preschool aged cild and a young infant. They bought a seat- the problem was that even on Midwest airlines- who have the largest nicest widest first class type seats throughout the entire plane... This family couldn't fit their carseat into the plane seat- it would only fit in the bulhhead rows- which were filled with large men, and handicapped individulas who didn't fit anywhere else either. So- check ahead of time if your carseat will fit in the plane seat in the row you will be assigned. The family ended up having to gatecheck the seat and hold the baby on their lap- even thought they bought him a seat.

 

[Nanu57v]

Wow, we had a britax roundabout...which is pretty big, but not as big as the marathon. Its fit in coach on both United and Southwest.

 

[Nanu57v]

BTW, during the near-crash, the FAs said that lap children are "human air bags" in the lap, or "projectiles" when placed on the floor, which was the instruction during the crash position practice we had to do.

OMG! How scary!

 

[NotUrsula]

Once again. They DO NOT do this anymore and haven't for probably 20 yrs, so this is not a concern. they do not have you put them on the floor. I and my DH have also flown a lot and have never seen a child hurt from turbulence.

The FAA brace position recommendation HAS changed, but it sure has not been twenty years since it was changed: the current recommendation came out in 2003:

"Children which are occupying approved child restraint devices should be
braced in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Children in
passenger seats should utilize the same brace position as adults. Adults
holding infants should provide as uniform support as possible to the infant's
head, neck, and body, and lean over the infant to minimize the possibility of
injury due to flailing."


The cite for this is FAA Advisory Circular AC121-24C (2003) -- This URL is really long; so you'll have to cut/paste it to go to the doc:
http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory...idance_Library
/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/1ab39b4ed563b08985256a35006d56af
/2026259a7a7247f986256d7a00508ba7/$FILE/AC121-24C.pdf

Naturally, the FAA doesn't illustrate what this position looks like in that document, but the CAA (Canada) does illustrate it in their documentation of the same standard:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/c.../AC0155_att.htm

Turbulence injuries do happen, I've seen them several times; mostly just knots on the head or bruised legs from hitting the bottom of the overhead bins and then bouncing back down to hit the armrests or tray tables, but I have seen a few bloody noses and cut lips, too. In any case it is enough to insure that the rest of your flight is occupied with trying to soothe and comfort a screaming child. (The official count that the FAA keeps notes about 50 turbulence injuries a year of passengers in general, but that only counts people who need to go to the hospital for treatment; bumps, bruises and band-aid cuts don't get recorded.)

Personally I don't do lap-carrying, primarily because it's a PITA to try to keep a frantically squirming child or a dead-weight sleeping one on your lap for a few hours in such a confined space. If I had to pinpoint a cut-off age at which the discomfort of holding them solidly outweighs the added cost and hassle of carrying the seat, I'd put it at about 11 months, myself.

 

[cuppycake]

Saftey is more important than convenience in this house. Everyone is entitled to decide for themselves, of course, but it's not worth the risk in my opinion.

They may not be put on the floor, but they are still 'loose' around the cabin making them exactly that, projectiles or airbags for the parents who hold them. It happens and I'm sure if you spent everyday on a plane like pilots do, you'd see it a lot. I've never seen it either, but after talking to several pilots and FAs, I know it happens.

I have heard more than one pilot say that there is NO WAY they would carry a lap baby on a plane. Many don't agree with the FAA regulations at all.

If you really think about it....you hit one big batch of turblulence, and (especially if it's a bit by surprise), you THINK you are going to be able to hold onto your child, but there's a good chance you won't and he/she will at the very least end up with some kind of bump or cut. Heavens, they even advise adults to stay buckled up when the seat belt light is off *just in case*.

We don't have to worry about this anymore, but my DDs have always been put into a car seat on the plane. They know nothing different and travel well that way, just like in the car.

Yes, it stinks to have to add the money into our budget, but that's just how it is for our family.

 

[jenjersnap]

We were on a very turbulent flight 10 days ago that made me grateful my young toddler was in his carseat, in a seat we paid for. It was the roughest flight I've ever been on in probably 150 over my lifetime. I could easily see a lap baby being a projectile.

We always do purchase a seat but this reinforced to me why it's right for my family.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

My grandson will turn 2 during our trip to Disney so I bought him a ticket and will haul his car seat with us.

Coming back from Orlando last summer there was a "lap-baby" in front of me. OMG ... he screamed, he yelled, he kicked the seat in front of him, he kicked the guy next to him AND the guy across the aisle. The flight attendants had a heck of a time getting past him.

It was AWFUL ... I felt so sorry for his mom. He may have been under two, but he was too big (physically) to sit on his mom's lap. Probably didn't help that it was an evening flight and we were delayed.

I was thankful that I was behind him and only had to deal with the noise and my tray "jiggling" due to his seat-aerobics

 

[momma of 2]

My youngest will be 24 months and I have to buy him a ticket. But I am kind of glad we did. he is very squirmy. I like the idea of buckling him in. But I am not bringing him a car seat.

 

[stacy6552]

Buy your child a seat. Lap riding is too dangerous to risk it.

 

[Jennygt]

Ibought a seat for DS who will be turning 12 months during our trip. He is squirmy now and a big boy, he always sleeps in his car seat so I am hoping that he will during our flight. I don't think that I would feel safe just holding him the entire time, just my opinion.