To thnk that airlines should not allow lap babies on flights?

Or just not have babies.

Carseats aren't always airline approved and with younger babies, it may not be safe for them to sit lying back in one for hours and hours.

Yabv intolerant. Children are part of life.

I definitely wouldn't say 'most' infant car seats are certified for air travel.

Not for long haul surely ?

In UK/Europe/USA (not sure where else these are the only places I’ve flown with my baby) you are given an additional belt to attach through yours onto baby. You are also normally automatically given a window seat for some reason, maybe safety. I agree you shouldn’t have to swap with anyone if you want an aisle seat and you booked it.

But you are being completely unreasonable to suggest babies shouldn’t be on flights! Parents with young children are allowed to go about their lives and babies are part of society believe it or not. You can always choose not to fly if the risk of being next to a baby is too much for you.

We put ours in a cat carrier, and then in the hold. Much easier, and they stay where you put them. Otherwise they crawl all over other people luggage, get in their suitcases and you can't find them at the other end.

As they get older will use larger dog crates.

I was once on a flight where a lady claimed she had booked a seat for her child, but the air hostess said that it wasn’t possible for the child to not be on her lap for safety reasons. I think she had somehow put a seat reservation in the booking system. It was a short flight. As others have said, you get a special seat belt for the child. Or at least we did when I had a 1 year old on my lap. I guess the rules will vary by country.

There arent many (are there any?) UK seats that you can use in a plane that can be secured by only a lap belt and are narrow enough to fit the seat dimensions. A lot of airlines specify forward facing seats too which rules out a rear facing infant carrier

You can only take certain car seats on flights - they need to be approved for use on a flight. Most people don't have these seats and even If you do it's not a given that all airlines will let you use them. If you are travelling with a small baby then I am not sure what the alternative is for most people - they can't sit in their own seat so they need to be on a lap.

There's an extra belt that attaches to the adult belt and goes round the baby. I'd be surprised if that wasn't standard on every commercial airline. Are you certain that wasn't there? You can't really see it once everyone is sitting down.

Yep the rules differ worldwide.

The US authorities I think still don't like infants on adults laps in lap belts (because reasons, including in some accidents infants have been injured by the adult jacknifing onto them).

UK/Europe take the opposite view.

Car seats are.probably seen almost universally as the safest option.

You put your baby in the hold? 🤣

Babies under 2 must be on a lap for take off and landing, that's the rules.

I agree that a long haul flight with a toddler on your lap is not the one, for you or the people around you - those people should be buying a seat. But short haul with a newborn is entirely different, having a baby on your lap for a couple of hours, no big deal.
Even if you bought a seat for a smaller baby it's not like they can sit in it, and most UK car seats are not airline approved, and then the rules are different for every airline it's a minefield. Smaller babies can get a bassinet I bulk head seats for long haul.

You should never have to give up your seat though, if you've paid for that seat you're entitled to it and the mum with baby should have booked an aisle if that's what she wanted.

Unless we were only travelling with hand luggage we normally put ours in the hold.

Most infant car seats are certified for air travel. Airlines often allow infants to ride on a caregiver's lap during flight. But the Federal Aviation Administration recommends that infants ride in properly secured safety seats.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/expert-answers/air-travel-with-infant/faq-20058539

I did an internal flight in America with a 9 month old and when I asked for a lap belt they said don’t have lap belts in America. So they probably don’t in South America either.

The baby isn’t the issue although they should have an additional strap to hold them in place. The issue is entitled people, whether they have babies or not, thinking they can have something that somebody else has.

Car seats often take up more than one seat and also don’t easily work plane seat belt unless they developed a special attachment. Also unless it’s a car seat with wheels, quite heavy to carry a baby + car seat when you get off the plane

Does OP really think this hasn’t been risk assessed a million times?!

Also not buying “this is just about safety”. Some people have a bizarre intolerance to children in public but dress it up as something else.

Actually OP you’re right, write to BA. I better they never once thought of a safer option and need some rando to promote them

Are you annoyed she wanted your seat or that she didn't pay for a seat for a baby who wouldn't have sat in it? You seem to be conflating the two issues.

You do know the OP at no point actually complained about the baby? Just that she didn’t think it was safe. This is hardly one of those “babies should be banned from flights because they cry” threads.

It really isnt

planes are not cars, accidents are different and a baby on the lap of a parent is much safer if a plane experiences a disaster than fannying on with a car seat

What a silly rage baity thread. The baby will have been restrained by an attachable lap belt or this is a breach of the safety rules. If there’s an accident so severe that the lap belt and being held by a parent won’t protect the baby then it’s unlikely an adult would survive either, planes aren’t exactly known for minor crashes 🙄.

Babies are people too and obviously should be allowed to travel. You’d absolutely hate me OP as we regularly fly with our baby in business class.