Ryanair seating policy for kids

[Jonas25]

Checked in for flight and found I am sitting 1 row back from my 5-year old and opposite sides of the aisle. I had assumed Ryanair would have to sit an accompanying adult next to a minor but I have now read that they are forcing you to reserve a seat if travelling with a minor. I was not 'forced' to reserve a seat and actually did not know anything about this new policy until after check in and a quick Google. How do I stand legally?

What I mean is surely refusing seat swapping on the basis of weight balancing makes no sense

If it's Male>Male or Female>Female or Child>Child you are correct but if it's not a symmetric swap there's still a very small potential for a problem.

As a result to keep it simple for the crew the rule is often codified in the airline's operations manual as a blanket ".....no passenger movement"...

HTH