Why you should never fly with a child in your lap
— -- Usually I consider it bad form to criticize another publication's advice, but when the issue at hand literally concerns life and death, then attention must be paid. For years now it's become apparent that many adults traveling with babies have no idea how dangerous it is to allow infants and toddlers to fly on commercial airline flights as "lap children." And two recent reports indicate some journalists don't get it either.
Example one concerns this column: Surviving a Flight with Your Baby or Toddler. This choice of the word "surviving" clearly was not meant to be ironic, yet the embedded advice was counter-intuitive: "While car seats aren't required for young children, the Federal Aviation Administration recommends buckling kids into child restraint systems or a car seat. Those parents who can afford to buy their children separate seats may find their babies or toddlers are more comfortable and likely to sleep in car seats than on their laps."
In the second instance, the editor of a new travel magazine recommended "strapping in first" before tending to your lap child when traveling with a baby.
Both articles should have unequivocally advised against carrying lap children. This issue is so important it needs to be stated very clearly. In fact, since this advice can save a life, it's worth stating in all caps: NEVER TAKE A BABY ONTO AN AIRPLANE WITHOUT A SAFETY SEAT.
Life-saving logic
Now you may find yourself asking: If the Federal Aviation Administration and the airlines don't require babies to travel in child safety seats, how harmful can it be to carry them as lap children? Well, actually the government agency tasked with ensuring our safety in the air has acknowledged the inherent danger of small children flying without safety seats. Here are the FAA's own words on the matter: "Did you know the safest place for your little one during turbulence or an emergency is an approved child restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap? ... FAA strongly urges parents and guardians to secure children in an appropriate restraint based on weight and size. Keeping a child in a CRS or device during the flight is the smart and right thing to do."
For many years, other experts have strongly concurred:
• As far back as the 1980s, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated: "An unrestrained passenger of any age faces a higher risk of death or injury in a survivable crash or severe turbulence than passengers who are strapped into safety seats or belts."
• The Association of Flight Attendants noted in 2004: "AFA does not believe that allowing a child under two to be held on the lap affords the child the same protections as the other passengers. For that reason AFA has advocated for the use of child restraints during takeoff, landing, and turbulence for 15 years. After all, per the Federal Aviation Regulations, everything onboard an airplane must be secured or properly stowed for takeoff, landing, and often during flight, except children under two years old."
• In 2001, the National Air Disaster Alliance called on the U.S. Department of Transportation, the FAA, and President Bush to approve an Emergency Order to "protect our children" on commercial flights. NADA pointed out: "Child restraint seats have been required since 1982 for children traveling in cars, traveling at 50-60 mph, a fraction of the 500-mph flight speed; and child restraint seats have long been required for all children on military flights."
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