No More Lap Babies!

[NewRVLady]

They must have paid for a seat for the kid and decided not to use it, then. For all children, you must provide proof that they are under 2 or you HAVE to buy them a seat.

The flight was full
First week of Dec 2013
it was a 2 -2 seat row


we were next to grandparents
Parents in two seats in front of them

 

[sukhakuli]

Once again, 10 people per year. TEN. It's really not much of a risk at all. You are a much more negligent parent just by driving your kids anywhere than having them sit in your lap during a flight (based on number of deaths and injuries), and yet we all decide this is an acceptable risk to take.

I'm not getting the vehemence here. Ten people per year are injured, and it doesn't say how many of them are lap babies. The risks are infinitesimally small.

 

[JanaDee]

Except it's not, and it is up for debate. Just because you disagree, doesn't mean everyone else has to shut up.

It is 100% about the money.

 

[kidshop]

Except it's not, and it is up for debate. Just because you disagree, doesn't mean everyone else has to shut up.

You don't have to shut up. You are free to rationalize that while you wear a seatbelt for safety, a baby doesn't need to.


No one could ever convince me that this makes sense.

Money is the only concern here.

 

[disney junky]

It is 100% about the money.

No it's not.

 

[Hisgirl]

Interesting story: My ex husband was an engineer for a major air line. He did a project on plane crashes and basically the findings were this: If the air lines required families to buy a seat for an infant, many families would choose to drive instead of fly, in order to save money.

And...since it is more dangerous to drive than fly, more infants would be injured or die in automobile wrecks, than infants flying in the sky while sitting in a lap. So for now, it is not a requirement.

 

[georgina]

It wasn't 100% about the money for us. My kids never took a bottle, so they would have screamed much of the trip strapped in car seats. When we were driving we could have stopped to feed and change them when necessary. Turbulence could happen without warning at any time, so really they should be in the seats 100% of the time and not taken out for any reason.

 

[JanaDee]

You don't have to shut up. You are free to rationalize that while you wear a seatbelt for safety, a baby doesn't need to.


No one could ever convince me that this makes sense.

Money is the only concern here.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Interesting story: My ex husband was an engineer for a major air line. He did a project on plane crashes and basically the findings were this: If the air lines required families to buy a seat for an infant, many families would choose to drive instead of fly, in order to save money.

And...since it is more dangerous to drive than fly, more infants would be injured or die in automobile wrecks, than infants flying in the sky while sitting in a lap. So for now, it is not a requirement.

Seems logical. I bet most posters will totally ignore this as they do the posts pointing out how few people are injured by turbulence.

 

[Tinkermommy]

Another thing I always thought about with lap babies is the air bags.

What if you need the oxygen masks? I think there is one per person or do they have extras?

 

[kkandaj]

Another thing I always thought about with lap babies is the air bags.

What if you need the oxygen masks? I think there is one per person or do they have extras?

I'm pretty sure there are extras that fall. Otherwise if a few malfunctioned, paying adults wouldn't get oxygen.

 

[LSmith]

I'm pretty sure there are extras that fall. Otherwise if a few malfunctioned, paying adults wouldn't get oxygen.

Has this ever been a real life threatening problem though? I would say almost never.

People are getting worked up because of one incident. Anytime a person is not strapped into an airplane seat there is a chance of turbulence. It's not only when the seatbelt sign comes on. I've been on hundreds of flights, many of which are transatlantic/pacific and have yet to see a carseat or a flying baby.

 

[sookie]

I was on an under sold flight once where parents had an unbuckled toddler laying across three seats on the back row so she could "sleep". I saw it when I passed to the back to take my own kid to the bathroom.
I pointed out how unsafe it was to the stewardess. She looked at me like I had three heads. Idiot. That kid could have died if we had experienced turbulence, and the kid was big enough to require a paid seat.
The fact that they still allow lap babies boggles my mind.

 

[Gracie09]

Interesting story: My ex husband was an engineer for a major air line. He did a project on plane crashes and basically the findings were this: If the air lines required families to buy a seat for an infant, many families would choose to drive instead of fly, in order to save money.

And...since it is more dangerous to drive than fly, more infants would be injured or die in automobile wrecks, than infants flying in the sky while sitting in a lap. So for now, it is not a requirement.

This isn't completely accurate. You are assuming that those with lap children will choose to drive. A small percent would but its likely they would either fly with the seat or not go. Also the last report from the govt that looked at this was in the mid-90s, a lot has changed since then. Cars are safer, car seats are safer and highways are safer (my husband is a heavy infrastructure engineer the amount of improvements done to the nations highways is staggering).
There was a private study done that if I have time tonight I will find, that shows that the difference in injuries and deaths in negligible at best and with continued increases in the safety of cars, car seats and highways it will only get better for drivers and passengers.

 

[kkandaj]

Has this ever been a real life threatening problem though? I would say almost never.

People are getting worked up because of one incident. Anytime a person is not strapped into an airplane seat there is a chance of turbulence. It's not only when the seatbelt sign comes on. I've been on hundreds of flights, many of which are transatlantic/pacific and have yet to see a carseat or a flying baby.

Completely agree with you.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Have you ever been on a plane that suddenly hits rough turbulence or drops a few hundred feet? I have, and you often have no warning. Anything and anyone not strapped down go flying.

The only way you could be sure to keep your baby safe from a sudden jolt of the cabin is to keep a tight grip on them for every second of the flight. Do parents do that? Not that I've seen. The keep a grip on the baby for takeoff and landing, or during patches of turbulence, but the rest of the flight the baby is not being actively gripped by the parent.

As far as I know, no baby has ever smashed their head against the ceiling of a plane due to a sudden drop. However, it is going to happen one of these days, and I feel terrible for the parent who has a dead or disabled baby and is kicking themselves for being to cheap to by the baby a seat.

 

[sookie]

I'm pretty sure there are extras that fall. Otherwise if a few malfunctioned, paying adults wouldn't get oxygen.

It is now 1 extra mask per row of 3 seats on most airlines. So 4 masks. It used to be only 1 extra mask arranged on every couple of rows. I remember because I asked to be seated with MY lap baby in a row with an extra mask when he was about 5 months old. The stewardess had no clue what I meant or was asking for. I had to point it out to her in the airline booklet - and that the rows had signage. I had asked my TA about it in advance, because I was concerned. Thankfully the TA called the airline to ask for me in advance, because she didn't know and she doesn't work for an airline.

I have and had some anxiety over the whole ordeal of flying. Just holding DS with no car seat or protection in the plane freaked me out. So after that we didn't fly for a long time. When we did we fly again, we went with the kids in their own seats, in car seats. That way, we didn't have to worry about a mask or a car seat. And as a bonus, we had car seats for the rental car.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

The flight was full First week of Dec 2013 it was a 2 -2 seat row we were next to grandparents Parents in two seats in front of them

And you're positive of the age? Did you ask the parents? I'm telling you now, even on a full flight, they would not allow that. That said, my 2 yr old nephew is as tall as my (average size) 5 yr old son. There is a chance he was a really tall child under 2.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Another thing I always thought about with lap babies is the air bags. What if you need the oxygen masks? I think there is one per person or do they have extras?

And there are 4 oxygen masks per side on most planes. I have flown with my children as lap children, I've also flown with them in a paid seat. On one flight where I had one as a lap child, I had to switch the side I was sitting on because the original side didn't have 4, but the other side did.

 

[LSmith]

Have you ever been on a plane that suddenly hits rough turbulence or drops a few hundred feet? I have, and you often have no warning. Anything and anyone not strapped down go flying.

The only way you could be sure to keep your baby safe from a sudden jolt of the cabin is to keep a tight grip on them for every second of the flight. Do parents do that? Not that I've seen. The keep a grip on the baby for takeoff and landing, or during patches of turbulence, but the rest of the flight the baby is not being actively gripped by the parent.

As far as I know, no baby has ever smashed their head against the ceiling of a plane due to a sudden drop. However, it is going to happen one of these days, and I feel terrible for the parent who has a dead or disabled baby and is kicking themselves for being to cheap to by the baby a seat.

So how is a mother supposed to nurse her baby on a flight if the baby is strapped into a carseat? What if the baby starts crying and can only be comforted if the parent picks up the child? What about a child or adult any age going to the bathroom? Turbulence could just as easily happen then.

As for people "being cheap" not everyone on a plane is going to Disneyland. Families often have to travel for work, funerals and host of other reasons. Not having the money doesn't mean you are cheap.

How about all of the children that are injured in car accidents that were strapped in carseats that have rendered them handicapped?

This thread is getting hysterical.