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Northern California Babies
WDYT about getting your under 2 year old a seat on a flight
We are going away in a couple of months and I only purchased 2 tickets. It is not an exceptionally long flight, I think 3 or 4 hours, and it is at the crack of dawn so he should sleep. Now DH though sent me a quote with how this one pilot was saying how dangerous it is. If it were a cheap flight I wouldn't care but our tickets were over $400. He was saying how I always talk about safety first but sweet mother that's a lot of money.
Anyone willing to tell me what you did and show me the light if you want that it is worth the money.
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Re: WDYT about getting your under 2 year old a seat on a flight
I would buy the seat for the convience factor alone. I can't imagine traveling with logan again and not getting him his own seat, but then again we were those people on the plane last time with a crazy toddler. As for the safety.... hum... not sure! but 3-4 hours is still a long flight to me!
I've heard this same thing recently. I heard that the only reason they let babies/toddlers travel w/o a seat is that if they didn't, more people would drive... and it's more dangerous to drive than fly.
With that said, the chance of something happening is still very low. It's a total judgement call. I could see myself going either way...
Buy it.
Yes there's the convenience factor. But also, to quote an email from a friend of mine who pilots for American:
"Oh... and MAD PROPS to you for buying Bunny his own seat.
"Lap children" make my blood boil. A car that does 60 mph requires a child seat, but a plane doing 400 mph doesn't?
We're doing about 150 mph by the time we begin rotation off the runway on takeoff. About the same on landing. A sudden, violent stop by intent or accident would make anything anyone is holding a projectile.
Book.
Blackberry.
Baby.
Good on you.
Were all parents willing to value their children more than the cost of a plane ticket."
I flew one time to LA with C on my lap and he slept the whole flight. I wouldn't do it again because, duh, he's now almost 2.5 and more than 30lbs.
When we flew to the Philippines in June, I insisted he get his own seat and it cost as much as ours, and they were not cheap. The flight was two segments for a total of almost 20 hours in the air. It was safer for him to be in his own seat, and that's where I wanted him to stay for the whole flight.
When all was said and done, he was in his own seat for take-offs and landings, but did spend about 4 hours in my lap clinging to me. It sucked. But overall he was far safer and I was saner, with him in his own seat. It's spendy but I wouldn't compromise his safety for money if I can help it.
we flew from SF to DC w/ dd on my lap both ways. she was napped alot on the way there and we could keep her occupied. on the way home, she slept all but 45 mins of the flight. even if we had bought a seat for her, i would have felt it was wasted money as she was wanting to be held the entire flight there and back so a seat for her would have imo been useless and a waste of money.
ironically, for a cheap flight (SF to Burbank) i'd totally get her a seat. i'm more scared of something happening on a southwest flight b/t nor cal and so cal than i am w/ a MAJOR (Delta/America) carrier transcontinental.
I think you're going to get such varied WDYT advice re: this question.
If it were me, I'd buy the ticket. We recently took a weekend trip out of town and there was fairly bad turbulence the last 30 minutes of the flight and during landing. To be honest, it was pretty stressful to try and hold on tightly to a squirmy toddler while being tossed around. I know some people make the argument that if there is a major airplane catastrophe (i.e., a crash), why bother with a seat, it'll make no difference, but I worry more about injuries during turbulence than the likelihood of a major event. When she was itty bitty, I didn't worry so much b/c I would wear her in my beco.
also, try calling the airline. Some give a discount for children's tickets (although in my experience, it isn't much, I think southwe.st is 10%).
good luck!
I'd start buying a ticket as soon as I thought they can safely sit in a chair on their own. While I don't consider riding in airplanes to be the same magnitude of dangerous as riding in cars (ie. head on collisions in airplanes are rare and if that were to happen, heaven forbid, a seatbelt ain't gonna make a difference), I do think its a matter of safety and injury prevention that would make it worth it in my mind. At least i would think of some backup plans: What would do if there was major turbulence? What would do if those little oxygen masks thingies deploy and you were one short? Convience and comfort are also totally worth it in my mind. Actually on my last trip (2 hours only) I sat next to a family with a ~1 year old boy who pretty much squirmed and kicked the whole time - I felt bad for the mom. It was a late night flight and they kept telling me he should've been sleeping.
Oh, and for what it's worth, each airline has their own position on what you should do with a lap child. I've worn mine when smaller in the baby bjorn on one airline and was told I HAD to hold her and could not wear her on another. I also have a belt attachment that I purchased for relatively cheap that laches onto your seat belt so should anything happen during the flight they are attached to me.
And Emmie---just because I don't buy my child a seat doesn't mean I don't value their life.
You could make this same argument about driving. Does that mean that meeting a friend for coffee across the city is worth more to you than your child's life? Because doing that is more dangerous (statistically) than the child flying w/o their own seat. It's all a trade off.
We flew when my son was 8 weeks old and also when he was a little over a year, he was a lap baby both times.
8 weeks was no problem. One year, I said I would never fly without getting him his own seat again. Kid would not sit still, so it would have been nice to have a seat/carseat to strap him into and for him to have his own space.
On our first flight, DS napped the whole time and it was his regular nap time. He likes the sensation of vibration I think and the noise shuts him down. On our crazy flight in June/July, it was a nighttime flight, supposed to leave at 10:30 pm. I expected him to sleep most of the way. WE didn't leave until 2:30 am and he did fall asleep as soon as the wheels were up, but he didn't stay asleep and he was cranky most of the flight. It sucked. On the way back, we had another night flight and he did in fact sleep as expected in his very own seat for the vast majority of our 17 hour flight.
It's why I bought the safest car seat possible, why I drive conservatively, and why - yes - I prefer to walk.
You do the best you can with what you've got. In any situation I am going to make it the safest I can for my child. If it means forking over $400 extra, then so be it.
I've flown many times with my boys - usually by myself with no other adult traveling with us to help me out. I have never bought them a seat until they were over 2 and I HAD to buy them a seat. It's just too darn expensive and I'm that cheap. We're flying tomorrow and I've been complaining for months about how lousy it is that I have to buy a ticket for my younger one now that he is 2. I say milk it as long as you can until he turns 2 and you have to start paying up. I've honestly never felt my under 2 year old was "unsafe" on a plane because he didn't have his own seat.
We're flying next month on a 5 hour flight and we got a seat our 9 month old. Both boys will be in their carseats in their own seats. My mom was a flight attendant for 35 years so I know the horror stories about unexpected turbulance, rough landings, etc. and don't feel it's worth the risk.
Wow who woulda thunk this would be such a controversial post!
Me personally I didnt buy JLK or Jonathan tickets when we have flown and they were under 2. Could something bad have happened...yup. But I refuse to live my life terrified of the what ifs....reading statistics on what could go wrong. I just do my best to keep my kids healthy and happy.
Look we all do what we think is best for our child...So to make a judgement that I put a price tag on my child is just lame and quite frankly insulting. I dont think anybody likes to be judged as a parent...but to hint that love is tied to money is ridiculous. My love is much purer and simple than that.
br
if you are concerned then and can swing it buy a ticket, like most thing with parenting you are going to get varied opinions. Evaluate and base the decision on YOUR gut feeling/research etc.., not what others may think.
Personally I have yet to buy a seat for my son and won't until he is two. We've done everything from short haul to the 10+ hours to London all with him in our "laps". We travel so frequently (business/family on other coast) that at this point in time it is not possible for us to spend on an extra seat until we have to. Yes we have FF miles but unless all of us were traveling on the same reservation number and using miles is it worth it because of all the restrictions with miles and the "what-if's" regarding plane size change, cancelled flights etc...