Airline regulations and safety for toddlers
On the Spot by L.A. Times Travel editor Catharine Hamm
Question: I have a question about the seat belt regulations for infants, or lap children. I have been on European airlines and U.S. airlines and received completely opposite instructions on how I should seat belt my son for takeoffs and landings. Some airlines insist that I use a lap belt that attaches to my own seat belt. Other airlines insist that I not use anything, not even put my own seat belt around my son. What are the regulations and what’s safest for my child?
–Candy Berenguer, Santa Clara, Calif.
Answer: Trying to sort out the safety regulations for flying kids makes contending with a toddler seem like child’s play.
What U.S. carriers and foreign carriers require is not the same thing. What the airlines allow and what is safest for your child are not the same thing. And what’s safest for your child and what’s financially practical also are not the same thing.
Airlines generally do allow a lap child — that is, a toddler younger than 2 — to share a seat with a parent.
In U.S. carriers, “the adult must have the seat belt around his/her waist and hold the child in his/her arms,” said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
But European and Australian carriers require a “supplementary loop belt,” said Steve Lott, head of corporate communication, North America, for the International Air Transport Assn.
“The loop belt provides an additional seat belt with stitched loops through which the adult seat belt is passed,” he said.
So, yes, you can have a lap child. Now the only question is whether you should.
Consider this: Do you really want a kid squirming on your lap for five hours? Let’s face it: Airline seats aren’t all that comfortable for one, never mind one plus a half.
But, more important, experts say the turbulence and unexpected jostling on a flight can pose a significant danger to your baby.
“It is nearly impossible for an adult to keep a lap child safe by holding onto them during a rough landing, turbulence or an emergency landing,” said Margie Leathers, a registered nurse and the manager of the Injury Prevention Program for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “The child will be tossed around the cabin or will be in the ‘crush zone’ between the adult’s body and the seat in front.”
The solution is to take a deep breath and buy the seat for your child, who then can be put in the proper restraint or carrier. If that sounds financially painful, well, at least you’re not Octo Mom Plus Six.
However many kids you have, you know you’d lay down your life for any one of them. For your toddler, that also may mean laying down your credit card for another seat — just to be safe. In the end, a temporary ouch is always better than an unending heartache.
Have a travel dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com
[Graphic: Mark Shaver / For The Times]
2 Comments on “Airline regulations and safety for toddlers”
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February 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
“A significant danger to your baby”?
I’m going to play devil’s advocate.
The odds of your baby being injured in a car crash are high enough that car seats are mandatory. But the odds of your baby being in a plane crash of any kind are incredibly minuscule. The odds of a slow-speed plane crash where their own seat makes a safety difference are even more remote.
The recent U.S. Air flight that landed in the Hudson River? There was a lap baby on-board who was perfectly fine.
As for turbulence, there’s always someone who swears they knew someone who knew someone who knew a flight attendant who saw a child hurt by turbulence or loss of cabin pressure. But I’ve looked for some real statistics or advisories on this and couldn’t find any. Google the term “baby injured by turbulence” and I could only find two incidents in the past TWENTY YEARS.
At least one European carrier won’t even ALLOW you purchase a seat for any child under 2 years-old. They insist the child ride in your lap.
If you can, buying a seat for your baby and installing your car seat in the plane is a great thing. But the reason to do so is not fear. Your child is already used to sitting for a long time in a car seat, so sitting in their familiar car seat can help calm the child and keep them from wanting to run around and annoy the other passengers on the plane.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with buying your infant a seat if it buys a parent peace of mind and the additional cost doesn’t hurt the family’s ability to travel.
But when looking at safety, it’s better to look at real world statistic and actual dangers - not worse-case scenario fear. Instead of being guilted into buying an extra plane ticket, most parents would be better off taking the child’s plane ticket money and putting it in a 529 savings plan for their college fund.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Great post - there is one other factor to consider. Some of the european carriers will not allow car seats to be installed rear-facing and may require that parents hold the child during takeoff and landing even if the child has a seat. Still others do not allow a child under the age of two to fly in their own seat. If you are traveling abroad, it is important to check with your carrier to find out what the policy is on the route you will fly.