Anyone flown with LO as a lap child?

Rolos_girl · April 2011

Ugh, we have already bought our tickets and were going to have LO on our lap. I actually originally preferred that. Then I read this article............

https://www.cpsafety.com/articles/airplanetravel.aspx

Basically goes on to say how kids have died from being tossed in the cabin of the plane (severe turbulance) or have died in survivable crashed from being crushed from their parents......

Ugh, so naturally I am freaking out. I know I can ask of there is an open seat so LO can be in her car seat, but if there isn't, then she has to be in our laps :-(

Is this something I really should be worried about, or am I over reacting and worrying too much?

SusieQ1982 · April 2011

Yup, my son has flown 6 times already as a lap child. He LOVES to fly and asks me every day if we can go on a plane. I wish I could afford to take him every day!

OT but I must brag that he's an angel and sits quietly on my lap, never cries (the pressure doesn't bother him at all), and reads books or plays with his toys. Sometimes he looks at other passengers and plays peekaboo with them (people are frequently kind enough to play back) but he doesn't bother anyone.

I wouldn't worry too much. My husband and I both fly maybe 15-20 times a year and we've never been on a flight that had turbulence anywhere near that severe.

LoriJ11 · April 2011

I have flown a bunch of times and always with DD on my lap. If there is an open seat then we get her one but it has been fine so far.

lemonJAM · April 2011

Yes, it was PITA and it made me nervous, but I tend to be nervous about things.

Traycee1242 · April 2011

I have NEVER heard of a news story of a child or baby being killed because of turbulence.. have you? It would be all over the news... maybe in another country? Or a private plane?

FWIW my father and brother are commercial airline pilots. There are a million statistics about how much safer airline travel is compared to being in car, on a bike, etc. My favorite is: More people die in a year getting kicked in the head by a mule than on airplanes (and that's including private & single engine planes)

It's a total waste of money to buy a seat for a lap child, IMO.

sasa625 · April 2011

We flew with DD when she was 13 months old and had her on our laps... it was fine! She was obsessed with the tray table (we got the disposable placemats and stuck them on so she could eat her snacks off of it ) and that kept her occupied for awhile. She also enjoyed waving to all the people. She was pretty well-behaved, although she wouldn't fall asleep in our arms (which we figured.... that's just not her).

She would never sit on our laps for an entire flight now, but she did ok back then. I wouldn't worry too much about the safety issue... it is very highly unlikely that you will encounter any issues such as the ones you have read about!!

gardeniagirl · April 2011

I've flown 3 times with DD as a lap child. The last time was just last week and the Delta rep told me that when they have a passenger registered with a lap child, they will often try to put that person where there is an empty seat next to them, if possible. Also, you can ask sometimes to change to the bulkhead seat at the gate if they flight isn't crowded, which has more leg room for your LO to stretch his legs. Your toddler might object to being in his car seat for the duration of your flight - I know mine would (especially if it's over 1 hour.) There was a little turbulence on our recent flight - I held on to her tight and we were okay. Really we all take our chances every time we fly, drive in a car, go on a train - even cross the street! Try not to worry too much and have a good trip!

C-Charm · April 2011

DD has flown 6 times in my lap. Five of those times I've wrapped her on my front and we both were able to get in a nap.

shopgirl78 · April 2011

Yep, both of my older two. they survived and we do a little hopper plane from our small town to the larger airport first.

Emilia0101 · April 2011

It was great but not horrible either. I wouldn't worry about the hype of the turbulance it really was not bad at all.

Wed notdead! · April 2011

DS flew as a lap child with my parents this month. My mom said there was turbulence and he was scared, BUT she made it seem "fun" like if he was riding a horse or something and after 2 minutes, he LOVED it and laughed every time there was turbulence.

While we're always going to worry about stuff like that article, I don't think we need to be too concerned about it.

cherokeemomma87 · April 2011

I have flown with DS since he was 3 months old when he was that young I put him in a carrier and strapped him to me which worked out great. Now he is 19 months and we just flew with him a couple weeks ago and it went fine, we bring an umbrella stroller and gate check it so its easy to get him through the airport. He can get kinda cranky on long flights but I bring plenty of books bottles and snacks so its not ever that bad. That article is a bunch of BS, in an emergency situation you do whatever you feel is going to keep your kid safe. I had a flight attendant tell me to take DS out of the sling I had him in when he was 3 mo (just turned 3mo) because it wasnt FAA reated (there is only one that is and its $$$$$). So I took him out for take off and then put him back in because I felt it was better for him to be strapped to me incase anything went wrong.

cstw · April 2011

If you are THAt concerned, buy a ticket and ask the airlines to move seats. Otherwise, buy a travel vest that secures to the belt. It may make you feel safer. They sell them at onestepahead.com.

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