""The FAA believes that unrestrained babies in airplanes are safer than restrained babies in cars. The NTSB does not. The AAP wavers, but appears to side with the NTSB currently."
Ah, the Government. So many agencies, so little time to come to consensus on anything.
Those who know me know I don't fly well. Do. not. like. it. Thankyouverymuch. But I do fly and I don't want my daughter saddled with my stupid phobias, so I'll have to grin and fake it from now on.
She's taken one flight already and did splendidly. All smiles, nursed at take off and landing, per many's suggestion. But she was a lap baby. She's happy to be a lap baby and frankly, not a lover of the carseat, but her mom is a lover of science and wonders now why she decided to ignore the laws of physics and their continued application at 30,000 feet.
But the laws of physics apply throughout the physical world. I know this. The world knows this. The FAA and NTSB know this. And yet, we still allow lap babies, arming millions of parent travelers each year with gurgling, babbling, cute balls of baby projectile weaponry, aimed at their fellow passengers and flight crews.
So, long story short, I just bought a $300 ticket to Vegas for my seven month old. Oy.
Now I just need to figure out if the car seat will fit . . . .
P.S. Useful link: http://otoh.org/opal/carseat.html Do you own googling to verify the facts, etc. Not other countries forbid lab babies. Why don't we?
P.P.S. This is another interesting, true post from the same site.
So, I used to have this vest thingy that the baby would wear that had a strap that you threaded your own seat belt through for lap babies. I think that I gave it away, but I will check. http://babybair.com/
ReplyDeleteI also have still, I think, this: http://www.kidsflysafe.com/ for older kids. We did the carseat on the seat when Anya was 1.5 and we went to Chicago. It was pure hell. It was impossible to get the seat installed and even worse trying to remove it after the flight. It also put her substantially closer to the seat in front of her so she kicked the back of the seat the whole flight. It sucked. A lot.
The strap-baby-to-you isn't allowed at take off or landing (and according to some sites/carriers/country's), not at all anymore. The CARES system is okay, but since my kid can't sit up yet, not workable for us.
ReplyDeleteI'm not looking forward to using the car seat - hauling it through the terminal alone is annoying when one of the benefits of the ergo, etc, is that you can ditch the car seat/bucket/stroller/etc.
Also, I apologize in advance to the fellow travelers who will listen to her squawk as she is lately NOT A FAN of being in the car seat.