No More Lap Babies!

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I agree especially now that turbulence has happen twice this week injuring people. I never take off my seatbelt till be are parked at the gate.

 

[sukhakuli]

I think you are very defensive - and I get it - you are in arguing from a position of weakness.

However - it is mandated that ALL passengers fasten their seat belt! Except for kids on laps? Does that not sound ridiculous? Maybe you think no one should have to wear a seat belt. Advocate for that.

But to leave the smallest and most defenseless purposely unrestrained SOLELY due to the price of a ticket is (to me) ridiculous.

No, you are arguing from a position of weakness. Do you not get how incredibly small the risks are here? Do you ever drive your kids in the car? Have they ever gone swimming? Heck, have you ever given them Tylenol? Those things are multitudes more risky than a lap baby on a flight.

 

[mombrontrent]

No, you are arguing from a position of weakness. Do you not get how incredibly small the risks are here? Do you ever drive your kids in the car? Have they ever gone swimming? Heck, have you ever given them Tylenol? Those things are multitudes more risky than a lap baby on a flight.

Totally agree. Like I said before I no longer have kids that young but wouldn't hesitate to have a "lap baby" again if I did. I just don't think the risks are that high. I have let my kids do a lot more "dangerous" things that sit on my lap for a flight.

 

[kkandaj]

Totally agree. Like I said before I no longer have kids that young but wouldn't hesitate to have a "lap baby" again if I did. I just don't think the risks are that high. I have let my kids do a lot more "dangerous" things that sit on my lap for a flight.

No, you are arguing from a position of weakness. Do you not get how incredibly small the risks are here? Do you ever drive your kids in the car? Have they ever gone swimming? Heck, have you ever given them Tylenol? Those things are multitudes more risky than a lap baby on a flight.

Completely agree! My kids get to climb trees, jump on trampolines, participate in sports, ride bikes, ride four wheelers, ( we do use helmets for bikes/four wheelers) climb rock piles, swing on a swingset, go sledding--the list goes on and on. All of these cause more injuries (even head injuries) per year than turbulence, by far.

Geez--I'm a horrible mother. Can you believe how much I put my kids at risk for injury?

And sunshinehighway, I agree about the OP. I just think this thread is comical.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

No, you are arguing from a position of weakness. Do you not get how incredibly small the risks are here? Do you ever drive your kids in the car? Have they ever gone swimming? Heck, have you ever given them Tylenol? Those things are multitudes more risky than a lap baby on a flight.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

And to the poster who wrote that to me, when someone calls me an "unloving mother" for holding my three month old daughter in my arms during a flight, yes, I do like to take the opportunity to defend myself.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

No, you are arguing from a position of weakness. Do you not get how incredibly small the risks are here? Do you ever drive your kids in the car? Have they ever gone swimming? Heck, have you ever given them Tylenol? Those things are multitudes more risky than a lap baby on a flight.

You just don't get it.
Every passenger, pilot and flight attendant must be belted in at least for takeoff and landing. It is mandated.

My position is if the ONLY reason you flight with a lap baby is to save money - then that comes across as mercenary. When parents admit that it sounds horrible.

Do you buckle your seat belt on a plane?

 

[sam_gordon]

You just don't get it.
Every passenger, pilot and flight attendant must be belted in at least for takeoff and landing. It is mandated.

My position is if the ONLY reason you flight with a lap baby is to save money - then that comes across as mercenary. When parents admit that it sounds horrible.

Do you buckle your seat belt on a plane?

So if someone does it to nurse or to comfort the child, it's OK?

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

So if someone does it to nurse or to comfort the child, it's OK?

That is not what the majority of the posters have said.

And my thoughts are babies should be buckled in for takeoff and landing - and when the seat belt sign is on.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I think you are very defensive - and I get it - you are in arguing from a position of weakness.

However - it is mandated that ALL passengers fasten their seat belt! Except for kids on laps? Does that not sound ridiculous? Maybe you think no one should have to wear a seat belt. Advocate for that.

But to leave the smallest and most defenseless purposely unrestrained SOLELY due to the price of a ticket is (to me) ridiculous.

Oh, and as I already mentioned, there are actually far more documented deaths of infants dying while taking a nap in their car seat than there are infants dying from being thrown in the air during turbulence (I don't think there are any actual examples of that based on a Google search). So I would argue that from a statistics standpoint, it's actually more of a risk keeping a child strapped in a seat the whole time during a 4 hour flight than holding them in your arms.

 

[sam_gordon]

That is not what the majority of the posters have said.

And my thoughts are babies should be buckled in for takeoff and landing - and when the seat belt sign is on.

I don't have an argument for the take off and landing portion.

As far as while the seat belt sign is on, I see it on through most of the flights now.

 

[FireDancer]

The DIS will argue about anything.

This country likes to take the slightest risk of injury and legislate it to death in an ill-fated attempt to get rid of it. If there was, or when there is, a demonstrable risk of injury beyond a very low percentage you can pretty much guarantee the FAA will come out with regulations about restraining babies. Perhaps these two recent cases will be the justification they use, perhaps it will take a death.

Until then I would much rather the kid be quiet then anything else so whatever you have to do to do that I'm all for.

 

[Earstou]

Just my experience.
I was 17 years old and on my second ever plane trip, to WDW. Walking back to my seat from using the lavatory, the plane suddenly hits a patch of turbulence. I flew up and ended up laying across a row of seats after hitting my head on an overhead compartment. While apoligizing to the people in the seats, I quickly got up, made my way to my seat and quickly buckled up. The seat belt light then came on. I had a splitting headache that lasted for hours.

I have ALWAYS bought a seat for my children. Chances may not be very high, but it happened to me on my second flight (after a turbulent 1st flight), so I was not taking chances with my kids.
My choice, of course, but no way would I ever let my kids go through what I went through, with a much smaller and less developed body!

 

[amandaleigh2]

Count me in as an unloving mother. I flew twice with my now 5 year old when he was under 2 and he sat on my lap both times. We're heading to DW in October, and my then 1 year old will also be a lap baby. I'm not paying $300 to get him a seat when he will most likely be in my lap the whole flight anyway. Statistically speaking, flying with a lap baby is one of the saferactivities you can engage in.

 

[robinb]

My daughter was a lap baby when she was under 2. We flew to London and Tokyo and she slept in a "sky cot" (like the photo below) both times. There was no way I was hauling my car seat thousands of miles when I had no intention of diving anywhere.

For those of you who want to buy your infant a seat please be double-dog sure that you NEVER take that baby out of the seat for the entire flight no matter how much s/he cries and wants to be held. You just NEVER KNOW when turbulence may occur. "Better safe than sorry" even if the risk of possible injury is very low . It's the DIS way.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Just my experience.
I was 17 years old and on my second ever plane trip, to WDW. Walking back to my seat from using the lavatory, the plane suddenly hits a patch of turbulence. I flew up and ended up laying across a row of seats after hitting my head on an overhead compartment. While apoligizing to the people in the seats, I quickly got up, made my way to my seat and quickly buckled up. The seat belt light then came on. I had a splitting headache that lasted for hours.

I have ALWAYS bought a seat for my children. Chances may not be very high, but it happened to me on my second flight (after a turbulent 1st flight), so I was not taking chances with my kids.
My choice, of course, but no way would I ever let my kids go through what I went through, with a much smaller and less developed body!

I don't really know how I feel in this debate as I have done both and if I had small enough children for this to apply, I may still.

However, you realize you situation has nothing to do with buying an infant a seat, right? A parent walking their child to the bathroom could have had the same experience. A parent could have unbuckled their child since the seatbelt sign didn't come on after the turbulence started.

 

[KatheeME]

Please. If you don't care enough about your child to strap them into a car seat on an airplane, fine.

But I do NOT want to be hit by your child in the even of turbulence. It would be like being hit with a bowling ball. Not good.

Hoping parents are made to buy seats for children of any age in the near future.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/18/travel/united-airlines-turbulence/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Agreed!

 

[kidshop]

I don't have an argument for the take off and landing portion.

.

No one does. Because there isn't one.

 

[cjbcam]

Like I said before, I would not be able to live with myself if my child died because I did not want to buy them a seat. A baby died last year in northern Canada because the mom couldn't hold on to her when their plane crashed everyone else lived. It doesn't happen often but to me I would not be able to cope because ultimately it was my choice. I really don't care what anyone else does. Does it make you a bad parent? No

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Like I said before, I would not be able to live with myself if my child died because I did not want to buy them a seat. A baby died last year in northern Canada because the mom couldn't hold on to her when their plane crashed everyone else lived. It doesn't happen often but to me I would not be able to cope because ultimately it was my choice. I really don't care what anyone else does. Does it make you a bad parent? No

And I think this is exactly what it comes down to. We all make the decisions we feel best and as long as we can live with them, it shouldn't matter to other people (outside of things like child abuse & the like of course). So many people spend so much time worrying about what other people are doing.

 

[Aliceacc]

You know, statistics are a funny thing.

The type of breast tumor I had was incredibly rare-- occurring in 0.3- 0.5% of all breast tumors. Mine was only the 3rd my oncologist had ever seen.And there's no family history-- nothing to warn that I should have been at risk.

So, statistically speaking, it should never have happened to me at all.

And yet, somehow, it did.

"One in a million" is great odds... unless you happen to be the one.

As to the rest, when my kids were young I was a SAHM-- so no money to fly anywhere. Had there been the money to fly anywhere, I would have gotten them a seat.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over the idea of someone's child-- or their laptop-- giving me a concussion. In the event that we do hit turbulence, I'll do everything in my power to keep my family safe-- and if there's anything I can do for your family, I'll do that too. Each of us does what we think is in the best interests of those we love.

But I would pay for a seat. I would count is as a necessary expense, simply part of the trip. I would skip the parkhopper or the character meal, or save for an extra year. But each member of my family would have a seatbelt.

It would enable me to sleep at night.

You do what helps you sleep at night.