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

[Frannyhy]

I’ve not flown for a few years, so I don’t know if lap kids are allowed by all airlines. I’m in South America at the moment, on a big trip.

My flight between cities was delayed yesterday due to bad weather. There were a lot of hot, tired people by the time we got on.

I was in the aisle seat and a woman with a baby arrived and indicated she was in the same row. I got up for her and she said something I didn’t understand and waited. Finally, she reluctantly sat in the middle seat with the baby on her lap. Her partner appeared from the other end of the plane and gave her some baby stuff.

She started complaining to the cabin crew, pointing at my seat. By now I understood she wanted to be in the aisle. I said no, and one of the cabin crew said to me in English, “Don’t worry we haven’t got time for this, we’re already an hour late. It’s only a 90 minutes flight so she can manage.”

I’m left wondering why lap babies are allowed on flights. He wasn’t restrained so if anything had happened, it would have meant he probably would have been seriously injured or worse.

I was on a cheap flight so I don’t care that I had to sit next to a wriggling baby. I just ignored him and read my book.

But I do think allowing babies on laps should be stopped. It’s fucking dangerous.

When we've flown we would book a seat as it often wasn't much more that the admin fee of adding her as a lap baby and it was nice to have the extra space.

Im sure we had to call them though as we couldn't do it online - its been a few years though, we might have had to add a child and get them to change it to an infant but double check with them.

Yes, obviously you should be excluded from flying once you have a baby 🙄 Or what exactly are you proposing?
Edit: I’m flying with my baby to see his grandparents in a few weeks. Hope we don’t end up sitting next to each other 😘

Would they actually sit in their own seat? I doubt mine would have, so I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure it’s out of the norm. If you genuinely think you would benefit, you could try ringing.

No, very unlikely to sit in her own seat but now i'm worried that people will judge me 😅

Not even for 90 minutes so the parents could share the care of their tiny baby?

Honestly, don’t worry. They’d only find something else to judge you for anyway. Just enjoy your holiday.

Yes, that is the joke the poster was making

Not sure why people are piling on the OP. I think asking about the system for 'restraining' during take off and landing is valid. I didn't know about special seat belts for infants so have been interested in the answers given.

The OP also says they weren't fussed about a 'wriggly' baby being next to them so why are people getting arsey and assuming the worst.

Ignore people like OP, your 14-month old won’t be able to sit on their own seat, and that really wouldn’t be safe because adult seat belts won’t fit them. Keep them safe on your lap with the baby belt, there’s a reason why it’s being done that way. Enjoy your flight and don’t let other passengers make you feel bad because you’re flying with a baby. I fly often due to family abroad on both sides, there’s always the odd one rolling their eyes, but 99% of people are lovely.

The problem is with parents feeling entitled to your seat because they didn't plan properly.

A part of me does agree. I’ve flown with babies under 2 and it’s incredibly stressful. It is free of charge to take a baby under 2 on a flight, and it’s full price to pay for a seat for them so I can see why many don’t. But I do think it would be a more comfortable experience for all concerned if babies needed a purchased seat, plus car seat, for the flight.

It does create a hassle though in needing to bring your own car seat, which I appreciate solo parent travellers would struggle with, on top of luggage.

It’s not free of charge, you have to pay taxes. Also would not be happy for my baby to be strapped into the car seat for extended periods, it’s not good for their spine and parents shouldn’t be doing it.

If it was important that mum and dad sat together on a 90 minute flight, then they would have paid for a seat reservation like OP did. They didn't pay, so clearly it wasn't a priority for them.

I actually agree with OP that unrestrained babies on laps aren't safe, or considerate to neighbouring passengers. I'd like mandatory seats for babies, with an extra, mandatory charge made, that covers a safe baby seat supplied by the airline and seat reservations for the neighbouring seat(s) for the accompanying adults. Would be a much more pleasant, and safer, flight for everyone.

They are required to be restrained (meaning wearing a seat belt attached to the parent’s seat belt while seated on their lap) during take-off and landing, as well as during turbulence, just like all other passengers.
Babies and toddlers are treated like any other passenger, not differently. You were not required to change your seat; if an aisle seat was preferred, the parent should have been selected in advance. Other than that, it is unclear what your issue is with a baby sitting on their parent’s lap.
A baby not wearing a seat belt during the flight poses no greater risk than any other passenger not wearing a seat belt at that time. In any case, the baby would have been wearing a seat belt during take-off and landing, you may simply not have noticed.

What safer restraint is there for a baby on a plane than being on a parents lap with a seat belt around them and the embrace of a parent to cushion them?

A car seat would not be safe as it doesn’t have attachments to the plane and could be thrown around the cabin in the event of turbulence or a crash. Car seats ate designed for cars, planes are totally different in terms of the physics involved.

I think it would be much more unpleasant for everyone actually. My baby, and I think a lot of babies, would scream for the whole take off and landing.

I always breastfeed them to stop their ears popping and hurting.

flew up to Canada a few months ago (4.5 hour flight) had a mum and baby beside me. I was the aisle seat that I always book because (TMI) a bowel resection has made it in recent years of travel, that I bloat and get gassy. I like the aisle and I book very close to the back of plane , so I can access bathroom quickly , never passed gas in front of anyone in my life...(except husband says i do fart in my sleep sometimes...asshole for telling me that lol) She politely asked if i would like to change seats with her as she may need a diaper change. I told her sorry no.. I book the aisle seat as that is what I need. She was lovely.. so was the little one. I held the little one while she had cup of coffee.. I held the little one while she used the toilet.. I only moved for her baby once...when we both looked at each other ...started laughing and I got up..she got out and went and changed the stink bomb. MUCH MUCH better than a few men I have been sat beside over the last few years...that manspread...fart .. and snore really loud lol. Yup I will take a baby anyday. And yes on the airline I travel often... there is a restraint that they give to parents with baby on lap to attach to the parents seatbelt.

I agree. Parents arms are not strong enough to hold a baby in severe turbulence and they risk the baby becoming a projectile. They should be in a travel seat, securely strapped in.

They’re strapped in with the parent for take off/land/turbulance. Everyone is free to remove seatbelts at other times including adults so flying is just as dangerous for adults?

Don't they usually provide a bassinet for babes in arms? I think you need to book certain seats that will fit them, so you may have to pay a bit more, but it seems a reasonable solution. Sometimes babies have to fly; if a holiday isn't an acceptable reason, what if people are emigrating or have an emergency?

As PPs have said, it sounds like the baby wasn't the problem, the woman trying to get your seat was.

Why should the cost be reduced?

On the way back from Turkey I sat next to a woman with a baby in her arms with the 'restraint'. She was in the aisle seat.

She fell asleep and the baby ended up falling into the aisle.

So no I don't think these belts are safe enough. If you are looking to travel with a baby, it makes sense to get a car seat that is airline approved so it's safest for all. And those saying babies shouldn't be in a car seat for that lone, yes. True. But it's only for landing and take off they must be strapped in.

I have flown long haul with a car seat. It was actually quite difficult to find one that met the requirements for air travel. On each leg of the journey I was told that we couldn't use the car seat. I had to fight my corner by producing documentation that I had printed from the airlines website and from the car seat manufacturers website. They don't make it easy.

As others have said, you would usually have to phone up (we do the whole booking over the phone rather than call to amend after booking online). Not all staff are knowledgeable about the process though so it can be pretty painful trying to get it sorted.

We have always booked a seat for our infants except once when we travelled with a ten week old, I just carried her. The seat gives us extra space, somewhere for them to sleep, and also the extra footwell space is very handy for them to sit in and play. We've never done less than 4.5 hours, so it may not be worth it for a shorter flight, depends on you and the child.

We sometimes use something called a CARES device, it's a kind of harness that goes over the back of the seat and then you thread it through the adult seatbelt to make it like a four point harness. The airlines don't provide them, you have to take your own. They're okay, I think I bought it when I was quite anxious about my child being contained by just the adult seatbelt, I'm not sure I'd bother in future but it's an option.

We've also used a carseat once, this was long haul to the USA with Delta. There aren't a lot of airline approved seats though, and most UK airlines say it needs to be airline approved and also forward facing, which I just don't think exists unfortunately, so we haven't taken the carseat since.

Our kids are pretty well behaved (in my opinion anyway), the flights can be hard work but I always tell myself that however the kids are, it doesn't make it any quicker, you'll still get there at the same time and it'll be over soon. I'd rather not do the flights but we have family abroad where there is no other option.

We've always found that people around us have been very kind, and if they were annoyed at all then they hid it well!

I actually thought lap babies had to be on the middle seat. That's where I have been every time I had one. It's to do with where the spare oxygen mask is kept, so if you have 2x DC under 2, you have to be in separate rows, you can't sit together.

It's only European airlines which do the additional belt thing. North American (and apparently South American) airlines don't use this. Arguably the additional belt is entirely pointless for the baby because it would not protect them from injury. The main point of it is to prevent them being flung around the cabin and injuring someone else (grim thought).