Flying w/ a lap child.....Anyone?

[MiniGirl]

If a flight attendant told me I had to put the child on the floor........well, I would not listen! Or I would do it until she passed by me and then you better believe that child would be strapped to me!

Okay...I'm going to be blunt here, and I mean no offense. Thing is there is a reason why you are instructed NOT to put your seatbelt around you and your baby. Now, the flight attendants and the safety videos don't tell you why because it would put a real damper on your travel experience to hear that the immense force you could experience in an emergency would be enough to slice your baby in 2 if s/he were in the seatbelt with you. You just have to trust that there is a reason why the airlines have the safety features in place that they have. Please don't go against them.

 

[jodifla]

Okay...I'm going to be blunt here, and I mean no offense. Thing is there is a reason why you are instructed NOT to put your seatbelt around you and your baby. Now, the flight attendants and the safety videos don't tell you why because it would put a real damper on your travel experience to hear that the immense force you could experience in an emergency would be enough to slice your baby in 2 if s/he were in the seatbelt with you. You just have to trust that there is a reason why the airlines have the safety features in place that they have. Please don't go against them.

Actually, as has been reported here many times, flight attendants no longer instruct parents of lap babies to put them on the floor.

THat's old information.

 

[MiniGirl]

Actually, as has been reported here many times, flight attendants no longer instruct parents of lap babies to put them on the floor.

THat's old information.

That is true. That is no longer done. However, the procedure to put your seatbelt only around you and not the child still stands. The poster that I was responding to said she wouldn't listen to the f/a or would until she was out of sight and would then strap her child in the seat with her. All I was trying to say is that the procedures in place during an emergency are in place for a reason and they should be followed. We may not understand the reason why the f/a doesn't want us to strap our child in, but there is a reason.

 

[NotUrsula]

Jodi's right; the infant brace position was changed as of 2003, and you are no longer advised to put them on the floor. (Here is an illustration of the new brace position recommendation: http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/commerce/circulars/AC0155_att.htm The cited document is from Canada, but the recommendation is the same -- the US version of the rules doesn't have illustrations.)

The other poster who said that you should never put your lap child inside your own seatbelt was also correct -- that is likely to cause severe internal injuries in the event of sudden deceleration. Someone mentioned the Australian practice of using seat belt extensions for babies--those are called belly-belts in the aviation industry, and their use aboard commercial aircraft based in the US is specifically forbidden by federal law.

When using a front carrier, be aware that the FA may decide to take it away from you and stow it in an overhead bin for the duration of the flight. They ARE allowed to do this as a way to ensure that you do not try to use it during takeoff or landing as soon as the FA's back is turned. If it happens, don't argue.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Thanks for the link. That's good to know that I won't have to put her on the floor. This way seems MUCH better.

 

[maryisme]

I'm a selfish, horrible parent also. I can't deal with holding a child for a flight so I always strap their little butt into their car seat next to me. No bashing here, just my preference.

Mary

 

[sharibrat]

THanks for the updated info and the clarification.

I was simply making a point that nobody is going to tell me to put my kid on the floor to be bounced around

I took a look at the new position and am informed now!

 

[Hannathy]

Putting them on the floor is very, very old info. My DD was born in 1991 and I flew extensively with her and was never instructed to do this! This always gets mentioned when this topic comes up and I wish it would be retired already.

 

[all4fun]

I have always said that the extra seat is as much for the parents as for the child. Having the extra seat to stow things under is great and keeps the adults' leg room relatively clear. Also, 3 hours in a small cramped seat is a long time. It is just a nice break for mom and dad to be able to put a child down.

Anyway, no bashing from me, but I would still bring the car seat and hope to get an extra seat. It really is better for all involved.

I have to say I think all of these are also great reasons to buy your dc a seat, aside from the safety ones. Also holding your LO for a few hours might be ok but we have to fly xcountry and that would have been really tiring to have to hold our ds for that long. We always bought him his own seat as much for our convenience and comfort as for his safety. Plus even though we try to travel as light as possible, we all know how hard that is with a child in tow and we never have to worry that we'll exceed our baggage limit.

Also, I've been on a few flights with other children who were not confined to a car seat and did not understand (for obvious reasons) that they needed to stay seated. Their parents did not look like they were having any fun trying to keep a mobile tot in place. I never had this problem with my ds in his car seat (not to say I've never had to wrestle him to get him back in there, lol, but once buckled in he knows there's no point to fighting it!). So w/a 6mos old obviously you won't have this problem but just something to keep in mind for future reference.

 

[bjakmom]

Thanks so much for the update on the new position for babies in emergency situations! - my experience was back in 1989 and I had never heard that they had changed the rules to allow parents to hold the baby against them - that is great news and I will definitely not continue to tell young parents travelling today about that old rule (I had always wished I had known about it before I was forced into the situation, so just wanted others to make educated decisions based on what I had experienced and believed was still true). Believe me, there were many crying mothers/frantic fathers on board that plane wanting to hold their children in their laps - and the flight attendants were in no mood for arguments - they just kept telling us that it was not allowed nor was it safe because our own body weight would crush the baby on impact! I happily stand corrected!! (although I will still continue to purchase seats for my grands- once something happens to you in life, you just don't have the same 'it'll never happen' frame of mind)

 

[MarkBarbieri]

If you don't buy your child a seat, I recommend reserving the window and aisle seats of the second to last row. I think that maximizes your chances of getting an empty seat between you two for free. If it doesn't work and the flight is full, you can always trade with the person stuck in the middle.

If you fly SW and your child is over a year old, make sure that you bring your birth certificate. They may look at your shorter than average 14 month old that isn't walking or talking yet and declare him to be 2 years old and require that you buy a ticket. This process may take so long that, with their cattle car style seating, when you get to the plane there are no adjoining seats left. At that point, your child will magically be transformed to a less than 2 year old to them and they will encourage you to have the child sit on your lap rather than ask someone to move so that you can have two seats together. Of course, SW may behave differently now than what I remember; I wouldn't know because we have NEVER flown with them again.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just for the record, since we seem to have a fair number of new posters here, the FAA's recommendation (and mine, FWIW) is to use a carseat if possible.

On another point that has been mentioned re: FA's telling you to do something that might seem to you to make no sense. The brace position has changed, true, so that argument is no longer an issue. However, if for some reason you do get caught in a difference of opinion with an FA -- do not argue and especially, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DEFY THE FA's REQUEST! It isn't really a request, it's an order, and if you do not immediately do as you are told, without argument, you risk getting charged with a felony. (The charge is "Interference with Flight Crew Members or Attendants" 49 U.S.C. § 46501(2))

Since 9/11, flight attendants do not tolerate *any* opposition or any behaviour they interpret as threatening or defiant, and will press charges at the drop of a hat. While I think civil disobedience has its place, an air trip with a baby in tow is not it. They WILL manhandle you to assure your compliance if necessary, and if that is necessary, you will be met at the gate by law enforcement, and your baby will not be going with you to the jailhouse. (We won't even discuss the possible reaction of fellow passengers.)

If you know that you are in the right, AND have up-to-date documentation to prove it, you have a case and can present your documentation politely to the lead FA. However, if the lead FA still disagrees with your POV, you need to drop the matter until you are off the plane and can file a formal complaint with the airline.

FTR, TSA will react much the same way to any kind of argument, though they don't have as much power to make your life h**l. You want to leave all the mama-bear behaviour on the curb outside the airport -- it will get you in way more trouble than you can imagine, which is not a good thing for your kids.