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On An Airplane Next To A Fat Guy

By request:


What would happen to your child during an aborted takeoff, when you're traveling down the runway at 120 mph and then suddenly stop? What would happen during sudden turbulence? In these situations, you will not be able to hold on to your child tightly enough to keep him safe--the G-forces are simply too strong.

Flight attendant Jan Lohr recounts a flight "when sudden and severe turbulence caused two lap children to be hospitalized. They had sustained injuries when they flew over a dozen rows and landed near a bulkhead. Garment bags in an overhead closet subsequently fell on the infants." While working as a flight attendant, Ms. Lohr survived a plane crash caused by an engine explosion that severed all the hydraulic lines on a flight from Denver to Chicago. She recounts what happened to 22-month old Evan, a lap-child who did not survive the impact, in a statement for the NTSB Advocacy Briefing on Child Restraints on Aircraft.

If you think that a car seat won't protect your child in a crash, think again! Some crashes are survivable. In 2007, a 3-year old was the only survivor of a horrible plane crash - rescuers found her hanging upside down in her car seat in the rubble of the aircraft with only minor injuries.

Professional and Industry Recommendations
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids ride in child safety seats on airplanes, based on studies which show preventable deaths and injuries have occurred in lap children:
"Occupant protection policies for children younger than 2 years on aircraft are inconsistent with all other national policies on safe transportation. Children younger than 2 years are not required to be restrained or secured on aircraft during takeoff, landing, and conditions of turbulence. They are permitted to be held on the lap of an adult. Preventable injuries and deaths have occurred in children younger than 2 years who were unrestrained in aircraft during survivable crashes and conditions of turbulence. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a mandatory federal requirement for restraint use for children on aircraft. The Academy further recommends that parents ensure that a seat is available for all children during aircraft transport and follow current recommendations for restraint use for all children. Physicians play a significant role in counseling families, advocating for public policy mandates, and encouraging technologic research that will improve protection of children in aircraft."

The FAA also recommends that children sit in child safety seats or devices during air travel:

"Did you know the safest place for your little one during turbulence or an emergency is in an approved child restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap?...FAA strongly urges parents and guardians to secure children in an appropriate restraint based on weight and size. Keeping a child in a CRS or device during the flight is the smart and right thing to do."

"Turbulence can happen with little or no warning. And when it does, the safest place for your child is in a CRS (child restraint system), not in an adult's lap. Your arms just aren't capable of holding your child securely, especially when turbulence is unexpected. Keeping your child in a CRS for the duration of the flight is the smart and right thing to do so that everyone in your family arrives safely at your destination."
 
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Yeah. I read what you had up there. I think you should put that stuff back up there.
 
Have you ever been kicked from the seat behind you? Once is free. Twice gets a quick glance over the shoulder. 3 times gets a request to control the child.

You sound like a fun guy. You're talking about a 15 month old.
 
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Thanks for posting that, chic. The only reason airlines allow babies under 2 to lapsit is because they'd lose a ton of business from families. It's definitely not the safest or most comfortable option. If you can afford to buy another seat (or roll the dice on a Southwest flight), use a car seat.
 
Have you ever been kicked from the seat behind you? Once is free. Twice gets a quick glance over the shoulder. 3 times gets a request to control the child.

What do you do the 4th time? Punch the baby?
 
Kinda surprised at the support for the little kids in this debate - must be a lot of parents on the board. I agree with toogs. If your kid is too young to keep himself from kicking a seat or be quiet he shouldn't be on the plane. It's inconsiderate to everyone else on the plane. I can't really think of any reason that anyone would HAVE to take their young kid on a plane - either drive or have your relatives come visit you (which seems like the prudent thing to do so you don't have to travel with your young child to wherever they are).

I feel the same way about taking child out in public anywhere where they would need to behave themselves anyway. My wife and I don't have kids yet, but we've already decided we aren't taking them anywhere until they are old enough to act appropriately. If you want to go out, get a babysitter.
 
Kinda surprised at the support for the little kids in this debate - must be a lot of parents on the board. I agree with toogs. If your kid is too young to keep himself from kicking a seat or be quiet he shouldn't be on the plane. It's inconsiderate to everyone else on the plane. I can't really think of any reason that anyone would HAVE to take their young kid on a plane - either drive or have your relatives come visit you (which seems like the prudent thing to do so you don't have to travel with your young child to wherever they are).

This is just a ridiculous thing to say. I know it's tough to understand before you have kids, but there are a lot of reasons it's not feasible to only drive places or make people come to you.

I feel the same way about taking child out in public anywhere where they would need to behave themselves anyway. My wife and I don't have kids yet, but we've already decided we aren't taking them anywhere until they are old enough to act appropriately. If you want to go out, get a babysitter.
And this is exactly how you get kids who can't handle being in public. We have taken E to 4 baseball games, a hockey game, a basketball game, out to dinner lots of times, on 2 plane rides, etc. He is a really easy calm baby so we haven't had any meltdowns/crying but if you lock your kid away until they are 5 or 6, they will have no idea how to act in a restaurant. It's way easier to get them to be well-adapted to being out in public if you actually take them there.
 
Kinda surprised at the support for the little kids in this debate - must be a lot of parents on the board. I agree with toogs. If your kid is too young to keep himself from kicking a seat or be quiet he shouldn't be on the plane. It's inconsiderate to everyone else on the plane. I can't really think of any reason that anyone would HAVE to take their young kid on a plane - either drive or have your relatives come visit you (which seems like the prudent thing to do so you don't have to travel with your young child to wherever they are).

I feel the same way about taking child out in public anywhere where they would need to behave themselves anyway. My wife and I don't have kids yet, but we've already decided we aren't taking them anywhere until they are old enough to act appropriately. If you want to go out, get a babysitter.
Damn I wish more folks understood this.
 
I believe the children our are future. Treat them well and let them lead the way.
 
When I was a kid, if I had been kicking someone's seat and a stranger turned around and told my parent to make me stop, I'd be scared to death and would stop. Don't see what the problem with that is
 
As the Christmas travel season approaches, I wish all you airline travellers "friendly skies". Long lines, extra procedures, bulky packages, delayed flights, obese seatmates, and cranky babies make a stressful journey. May you be spared! Safe flights, all!
 
What do you do the 4th time? Punch the baby?

2hogsg8.jpg
 
I can't believe there are people defending wearing sweatpants in public. smh
 
Chic, all I can do is laugh at these childless fools. Maybe one day they'll learn.

How on earth do you know if your child is "old enough" to act appropriately in public if you don't take them out in public? Here's a small hint. Your best times to take your kid out in public are early on. After that, it's going to be a crapshoot. And if you don't take them out when they're a crapshoot, they're going to be dumb 5 year olds who don't have basic social skills or general knowledge of anything outside of your house.

And the bit about not flying is ridiculous. The lifestyle bit is bad enough, but take all of those parents off your flight and imagine the markup if airlines couldn't rely on parents buying tickets. They'd be screwed.
 
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Chic, all I can do is laugh at these childless fools. Maybe one day they'll learn.

How on earth do you know if your child is "old enough" to act appropriately in public if you don't take them out in public? Here's a small hint. Your best times to take your kid out in public are early on. After that, it's going to be a crapshoot. And if you don't take them out when they're a crapshoot, they're going to be dumb 5 year olds who don't have basic social skills or general knowledge of anything outside of your house.

And the bit about not flying is ridiculous. The lifestyle bit is bad enough, but take all of those parents off your flight and imagine the markup if airlines couldn't rely on parents buying tickets. They'd be screwed.

Agree with most of your post. I wasn't saying don't bring children on a flight, but if you do, you better be able to control your kids. Obviously you, Chic, etc have a good handle on being a parent. It's the parents that freak out if someone asks them to have their child stop kicking the back of the seat. If someone asked my parent to do this when I was a kid I would have been mortified and in big trouble with my parents. I flew a lot when I was a kid and I always had strangers complementing my parents on how I acted. They laid down the law pretty early on and taught me the right way to act in a public setting. Where there occasions when I acted up, of course, but you can be sure I heard about it right away from my parents and shaped up pretty quick. There are times when it seems like people are practically begging parents to control their kids and the parents don't care that their child is running around terrorizing everyone else in a shared space.

The issue with lackluster parents applies to flying, but could really be applied to a whole bunch of other situation, restaurants, malls, really any public place now a days.

I'd love to see numbers on the bolded part of your post. I might try and research that when I have a little more time this afternoon. Around holiday times there are a ton of parents on flights, but during other times in the year, especially during the week there are hardly any parents on flights. I don't know if families are single-handily subsidizing the airline industry.
 
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You guys are just foolish. If you sit in coach, you get to sit with the unwashed masses (which includes kids). First class has rules about age for this reason. If you are such a fucking tool that you are going to yell at someone's 15 month old for kicking your seat, I hope die alone sucking your thumb. Get a life or a job that affords you the luxury of a first class ticket.
 
TSA should be legally allowed to hand out Xanax, Valium, or Ambien. Problem solved.
 
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