Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 11:26     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


I don't understand the logic here. If your family can't afford the very safest mode of transportation (a carseat in a plane) they should go for a far less safe mode (a car) rather than an ever so slightly less safe mode? In other words, if a family is low income then their children's safety doesn't matter?

The second part is equally ridiculous. Lots of people relocate for work in circumstances where there isn't an employer paying for the move.

The reality is, that families juggle priorities for their kids all the time. Safety is a hugely important one, but it's not the only one, and things can have both long term and short term safety ramifications.

I let my daughter play soccer, even though it means driving her there, on potentially unsafe roads, and letting her play a sport with a concussion rate almost as high as football, and exposing her to the sun which can potentially cause skin cancer, when I could simply have her stay home in my basement/tornado shelter watching TV. Why do I do that? Because I believe, in the long term health benefits of being socially connected, and physically active, and because I believe in doing what you love.

Similarly, a family can decide that the best thing, overall, for their child is to know the culture of their origins, and be connected to distant family, or to see the world, or to have parents who earn a decent living and can afford a safe neighborhood with decent schools, and that any of these goals can be facilitated by a plan that includes airplane travel. If airplane travel without a carseat is what's in the budget, then a family might make that choice, and feel confident that they're acting in the best interest of their child.


Thank you!
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 11:14     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


I don't understand the logic here. If your family can't afford the very safest mode of transportation (a carseat in a plane) they should go for a far less safe mode (a car) rather than an ever so slightly less safe mode? In other words, if a family is low income then their children's safety doesn't matter?

The second part is equally ridiculous. Lots of people relocate for work in circumstances where there isn't an employer paying for the move.

The reality is, that families juggle priorities for their kids all the time. Safety is a hugely important one, but it's not the only one, and things can have both long term and short term safety ramifications.

I let my daughter play soccer, even though it means driving her there, on potentially unsafe roads, and letting her play a sport with a concussion rate almost as high as football, and exposing her to the sun which can potentially cause skin cancer, when I could simply have her stay home in my basement/tornado shelter watching TV. Why do I do that? Because I believe, in the long term health benefits of being socially connected, and physically active, and because I believe in doing what you love.

Similarly, a family can decide that the best thing, overall, for their child is to know the culture of their origins, and be connected to distant family, or to see the world, or to have parents who earn a decent living and can afford a safe neighborhood with decent schools, and that any of these goals can be facilitated by a plan that includes airplane travel. If airplane travel without a carseat is what's in the budget, then a family might make that choice, and feel confident that they're acting in the best interest of their child.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 10:55     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


When you regularly fly internationally - long haul - it's too expensive. Life is full of risks. That one we're willing to take.


Then stop flying internationally so much. Parenting is full of sacrifices--maybe for you one of those sacrifices should be your fabulous jet-setter lifestyle.


Ha ha ... so don't see my mom, dad, brothers, nieces, nephews, etc. in Australia! Thanks, but keep your advice to yourself!
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 10:40     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


When you regularly fly internationally - long haul - it's too expensive. Life is full of risks. That one we're willing to take.


Then stop flying internationally so much. Parenting is full of sacrifices--maybe for you one of those sacrifices should be your fabulous jet-setter lifestyle.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 10:31     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


When you regularly fly internationally - long haul - it's too expensive. Life is full of risks. That one we're willing to take.


We fly long haul internationally regularly. No way, am I having a lap baby through that -- plus, you still get charged a % of the ticket even for lap babies.


Well, obviously, we have different financial situations!
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 10:29     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


When you regularly fly internationally - long haul - it's too expensive. Life is full of risks. That one we're willing to take.


We fly long haul internationally regularly. No way, am I having a lap baby through that -- plus, you still get charged a % of the ticket even for lap babies.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 10:05     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.


When you regularly fly internationally - long haul - it's too expensive. Life is full of risks. That one we're willing to take.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 09:27     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Anonymous wrote:Given how survivable the Asiana crash was, does it change your mind about buying a seat for your under 2 year old and strapping DC into a car seat on the plane?


Were the lap children killed? Why would a crash were lap children weren't killed influence someone to buy a seat? This crash showed that lap children are safe on laps even in the event of a crash.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 09:18     Subject: Re:Lap children and Asiana crash


Because statistically, it never happens. Every trip in a car WITH a car seat is thousands more times dangerous than flying in a plane without a car seat.

-- signed, a mom who saved thousands on unnecessary plane tickets.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 08:58     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
The only reason the FAA does not require carseats is that they did an analysis and determined that requiring the purchase of an extra seat would make some people drive rather than fly, and driving (even with a carseat) is more dangerous than flying. Otherwise, the FAA would have required it.

I find it really hard to understand how families who presumably take other safety precautions just completely throw them to the wind because of a few hundred bucks. This was important enough to me that I recently decided to skip a trip altogether because it was too expensive with a seat for the LO.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 08:49     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
I would never have considered carrying my child on my lap. Ask pilots and flight attendants, and they will always tell you to please buy a seat for your child. Ever been in clear air turbulence? I've seen flight attendants get thrown up and break a limb. What chance does a small child have?

Drive, pay for a seat, or stay home. If you are being relocated for work, your employer will pay for a seat for all members of your family.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 08:29     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Were any lap children killed? I thought it was just 2 teenagers. Does anyone know if there were any lap children on the flight?
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 01:30     Subject: Re:Lap children and Asiana crash
Me neither.
-signed a mom who traveled with her 23 month old on her lap last month and saved 700 dollars on a ticket.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 00:28     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
No not at all
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2013 00:27     Subject: Lap children and Asiana crash
Given how survivable the Asiana crash was, does it change your mind about buying a seat for your under 2 year old and strapping DC into a car seat on the plane?