Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because millions of lap babies fly annually and serious injuries to lap children are like being struck by lightning. If I had unlimited money I’d buy a seat, but I don’t. The $1000 a year we could have spent to buy seats for a lap child was put to other uses that had a statistically greater impact in his wellbeing, like buying healthy foods, a car seat that allows extended rearfacing, installing a fence in the backyard, etc.

There is ALWAYS more you could do to protect your child. Why not buy the safest vehicle on the market to drive him around? Isn’t your child’s life worth it? At some point you have to live your life and balance many competing factors.

You should be buying healthy foods regardless and they don't cost a fortune. There are plenty of affordable seats that allow extended RF- we had several and did it till age four. If you supervise your kids you don't need a fence. If you can afford multiple plane trips for $1000 a year, you can afford to buy your child a seat on a plane. Why take the risk? Plus its more comfortable for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:Because millions of lap babies fly annually and serious injuries to lap children are like being struck by lightning. If I had unlimited money I’d buy a seat, but I don’t. The $1000 a year we could have spent to buy seats for a lap child was put to other uses that had a statistically greater impact in his wellbeing, like buying healthy foods, a car seat that allows extended rearfacing, installing a fence in the backyard, etc.

There is ALWAYS more you could do to protect your child. Why not buy the safest vehicle on the market to drive him around? Isn’t your child’s life worth it? At some point you have to live your life and balance many competing factors.

Anonymous wrote:Because millions of lap babies fly annually and serious injuries to lap children are like being struck by lightning. If I had unlimited money I’d buy a seat, but I don’t. The $1000 a year we could have spent to buy seats for a lap child was put to other uses that had a statistically greater impact in his wellbeing, like buying healthy foods, a car seat that allows extended rearfacing, installing a fence in the backyard, etc.

There is ALWAYS more you could do to protect your child. Why not buy the safest vehicle on the market to drive him around? Isn’t your child’s life worth it? At some point you have to live your life and balance many competing factors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the odds are very, very long. This study showed that over a 3 year period, with 7573 reported medical emergencies, 10 results in infant death. That's about 3-4 per year. And those are not necessarily due to lap children. That's all deaths including unrelated medical issues. How many children fly annually? According to the CDC, in 2016, there were 3965 deaths of children under age 5. The risks of infant death on an airplane are significantly lower than many other issues, including deaths in traffic accidents (even in car seats), number of deaths from infants left in a hot car, deaths from household accidents, deaths from guns, and so on. You realize that putting your child in a car seat and driving out of your driveway is hundreds of times more dangerous than carrying your child in your lap on a plane?

There are far, far greater risks in this world for parents to consider than this very, very unlikely situation, but you go ahead and spend your money for the rare chance that your child will be killed on an airplane because it didn't have a seat. I'm glad that you can afford to throw a few hundred dollars away on this over-cautious mentality, but I chose other safety options and concerns when my children (now 7) were small.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/study-lap-infants-at-increased-risk-of-death-on-airline-flights-080414.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm

It’s not mutually exclusive. I choose to do everything to make sure my child is safe, including purchasing a seat. I don’t care if there’s only a small chance of its being an issue.

You realize that by this logic, you shouldn’t be driving your kid or really leaving the house st all, right? I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I call BS on the “I choose to do everything to keep my child safe” thing. You do not. All these decisions are calculated risks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because the odds are very, very long. This study showed that over a 3 year period, with 7573 reported medical emergencies, 10 results in infant death. That's about 3-4 per year. And those are not necessarily due to lap children. That's all deaths including unrelated medical issues. How many children fly annually? According to the CDC, in 2016, there were 3965 deaths of children under age 5. The risks of infant death on an airplane are significantly lower than many other issues, including deaths in traffic accidents (even in car seats), number of deaths from infants left in a hot car, deaths from household accidents, deaths from guns, and so on. You realize that putting your child in a car seat and driving out of your driveway is hundreds of times more dangerous than carrying your child in your lap on a plane?

There are far, far greater risks in this world for parents to consider than this very, very unlikely situation, but you go ahead and spend your money for the rare chance that your child will be killed on an airplane because it didn't have a seat. I'm glad that you can afford to throw a few hundred dollars away on this over-cautious mentality, but I chose other safety options and concerns when my children (now 7) were small.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/study-lap-infants-at-increased-risk-of-death-on-airline-flights-080414.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm

It’s not mutually exclusive. I choose to do everything to make sure my child is safe, including purchasing a seat. I don’t care if there’s only a small chance of its being an issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you buy a seat for an infant, they have to be in the seat for take off and landing. It can be a pain to drag a car seat thru an airport. And my babies always screamed the most on takeoff and landing, unless I was nursing them. Which isn’t allowed if you have a seat for them. I was offered an extra seat on southwest when the flight wasn’t full, and declined it for this reason.

I have also never heard of a baby getting hurt as a lap held infant. I’m sure it has happened, but it seems pretty rare.

Of course it’s rare, but why take the chance? My kid got upset too and it was a pain to drag the car seat through the airport, but we did it.

Guess what a lap infant becomes during bad turbulence or a crash? A projectile: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.consumeraffairs.com/amp/news/study-lap-infants-at-increased-risk-of-death-on-airline-flights-080414.html

I understand that lap held infant are at greater risk than those secured in car seats. But the absolute risk is still incredibly small. And the risk that my kid will scream her head off is 100% unless I’m able to hold and comfort her. It is much much riskier to drive in our car, and yet we choose to do that too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you buy a seat for an infant, they have to be in the seat for take off and landing. It can be a pain to drag a car seat thru an airport. And my babies always screamed the most on takeoff and landing, unless I was nursing them. Which isn’t allowed if you have a seat for them. I was offered an extra seat on southwest when the flight wasn’t full, and declined it for this reason.

I have also never heard of a baby getting hurt as a lap held infant. I’m sure it has happened, but it seems pretty rare.

Of course it’s rare, but why take the chance? My kid got upset too and it was a pain to drag the car seat through the airport, but we did it.

Guess what a lap infant becomes during bad turbulence or a crash? A projectile: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.consumeraffairs.com/amp/news/study-lap-infants-at-increased-risk-of-death-on-airline-flights-080414.html

Anonymous wrote:Because the odds are very, very long. This study showed that over a 3 year period, with 7573 reported medical emergencies, 10 results in infant death. That's about 3-4 per year. And those are not necessarily due to lap children. That's all deaths including unrelated medical issues. How many children fly annually? According to the CDC, in 2016, there were 3965 deaths of children under age 5. The risks of infant death on an airplane are significantly lower than many other issues, including deaths in traffic accidents (even in car seats), number of deaths from infants left in a hot car, deaths from household accidents, deaths from guns, and so on. You realize that putting your child in a car seat and driving out of your driveway is hundreds of times more dangerous than carrying your child in your lap on a plane?

There are far, far greater risks in this world for parents to consider than this very, very unlikely situation, but you go ahead and spend your money for the rare chance that your child will be killed on an airplane because it didn't have a seat. I'm glad that you can afford to throw a few hundred dollars away on this over-cautious mentality, but I chose other safety options and concerns when my children (now 7) were small.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/study-lap-infants-at-increased-risk-of-death-on-airline-flights-080414.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm

Anonymous wrote:If you buy a seat for an infant, they have to be in the seat for take off and landing. It can be a pain to drag a car seat thru an airport. And my babies always screamed the most on takeoff and landing, unless I was nursing them. Which isn’t allowed if you have a seat for them. I was offered an extra seat on southwest when the flight wasn’t full, and declined it for this reason.

I have also never heard of a baby getting hurt as a lap held infant. I’m sure it has happened, but it seems pretty rare.