My Fair Lap Baby

There are some strange conclusions being drawn about lap babies after the recent U.S. Airways flight 1549 that landed in the Hudson River. Check this stuff out-

From Car Seat Blog-

Yes, I know lap babies are technically “allowed” but that in itself doesn’t make it a good idea. In some states you’re technically “allowed” to marry your first cousin. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea, know what I mean?

From the L.A. Times Travel Blog-

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.

"Marry your first cousin?" "Unending heartache?"

Wow. Just... wow.

I'm going to apparently be really controversial here by sticking to facts and statistics. No fear. No paranoia. No guilt.

Here goes-

The odds of your unrestrained baby being injured in a car crash are extremely high - high enough that car seats are mandatory.

The odds of your unrestrained baby being injured in a plane crash are extremely LOW. Highly unlikely. The odds of a slow-speed plane crash where a baby having their own seat prevents injury? Even more unlikely.

U.S. Airways flight 1549 that landed in the Hudson River? There was a 9 month-old 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 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 air-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 their 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 family can handle the additional cost. But when looking at safety, it is always better to look at real world statistic and actual dangers - not worse-case scenario fear and paranoia.

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.