Taking the Kids: Flying with babies and toddlers safely

It’s simple economics why parents don’t use safety seats on planes. “The last three flights we didn’t buy a seat because of the cost, even though I read it was safer in a safety seat,” said Meghan McCloskey, mom of a toddler who lives in Denver. “We thought we should take advantage while he’s still free.”

Especially with a young baby who is nursing, it can be easier to keep the baby on your lap, suggested Melissa Miller, who lives in Boise, Idaho. Now that her daughter is two, she is grappling with whether to bring a safety seat on their next flight, especially if she can borrow one on arrival from family or friends.

McCloskey added like other new parents, she and her husband have been “overwhelmed” by the logistics of traveling with all the baby gear “so a separate safety seat seemed like yet one more thing to schlep.”

Dr. Hoffman notes that young children are used to being in a safety seat in a car and will be more comfortable than in a large (for them) plane seat.

Experts suggest that young children are used to being in a safety seat in a car and that can work to parents’ advantage on a flight.

Even when parents opt to purchase a seat, they don’t necessarily bring a safety seat on board. New Hampshire mom Jamie Schaer bought a ticket for her son Robbie on a cross-country flight because he was nearly two and the flight was long. But she didn’t bring a safety seat on board and she held him on her lap for takeoff and landing. “No one said anything about a safety seat,” she said.

Being seated with the seat belt fastened is the most effective way to prevent a turbulence-related injury, the NTSB says. However, unexpected turbulence can occur when passengers have been given permission to move about the cabin.

One passenger among those injured on a flight to Honolulu last year reported she had flown into the ceiling of a restroom and slammed into the ground on the Hawaiian Airlines flight. She was quoted as saying it was “the most terrifying experience I’ve been through in my whole 40 years of life.”

Over the span of two days in December, that flight to Honolulu and a flight to Houston resulted in injuries to 41 people, according to the AP.

There were injuries last summer on a flight to Nashville and injuries to crew members on three separate flights to Detroit, Miami and Columbus, the NTSB reported.

If you are going to use a safety seat, make sure it’s approved by the U.S. government and has “This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft” printed on it or is approved by a foreign government and bears the required label or marking. The FAA prohibits booster seats. The website HaveBabyWillTravel reviews safety seats for air travel.

An alternative is AmSafe’s Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES) ($83.95) which is FAA certified for children who are up to 40 inches tall and weigh between 22 and 44 pounds — the only child safety device that is certified by the FAA as a car seat alternative. It weighs less than a pound, comes with a stuff sack, and is used with the airline seatbelt. However, the AAP’s Dr. Hoffman noted that the device goes over the seat, which might impede the use of a seat tray for the passenger behind. “I’ve been on planes where the passenger wouldn’t let parents use it,” he said.

Still, the schlep factor remains a huge deterrent as is the price of another plane ticket. Melissa Miller noted that once the airline broke their checked car seat and another time, their rental car was stolen with the car seat inside. “It’s a liability regardless of what we do,” she said.

“Parents have a lot of questions about this,” observed Dr. Hoffman. “How concerned are you … everyone will have a different perspective.”

========

(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia and The Kid’s Guide to Camping are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)