Flying with a Child:
Safety Tips Every Parent Should Know

Would you ever drive your car with your toddler sitting in the front seat next to you restrained by just a lap belt? Or with your infant on your lap? Of course you wouldn't. Yet, millions of children travel each year this way-in the air.

The Federal Aviation Administration recommends that children under 40 pounds should travel by air strapped into an approved car seat. But, for many reasons, children don't. Children under the age of 2 can travel in a parent's lap and fly for free. With ticket prices soaring, the economics of travel can mean a parent's taking a safety risk so the child can get a free flight. Parents must pay for a ticket for a child over 2, but the child is basically treated as an adult-restrained by the seat belt during take-off and landing and whenever the seatbelt sign is lit.

Problems arise when planes hit a patch of turbulence. Turbulence can occur with no warning to pilots and passengers. The force of turbulence can be so strong that passengers that are not restrained can be tossed about the cabin-hitting the ceiling or other hard surfaces like seat backs or loose luggage. Even though a parent may be holding the infant, turbulence can be so strong a force that a child can literally be ripped from a parent's arms and severely injured-even killed.

Also, while the risk of being in a plane crash are small, crashes or emergency landings do occur. Again, a child in a car seat has added protection. A parent trying to hold onto a baby in a plane crash would again be subjected to forces that would most probably tear the child out of the parent's grasp. One crash procedure is to place a baby on the floor wrapped in a blanket and held between a parent's legs (leg muscles being stronger than arm muscles and the floor being safer than higher up.) But leg muscles are no match for the forces affecting passengers in a speeding plane, and in crashes, planes may turn upside down or break apart. A child strapped into his car seat has a much better chance of survival.

Another factor to consider is that infants and toddlers are creatures of habit. Strap a child into his car seat and he knows what to expect. He is used to sitting still. He may even fall asleep ( the fervent wish of every traveling parent!). A toddler in a regular plane seat with just a lap belt is a toddler eager to move and ready to whine and cry when he is forced to keep his belt buckled. And, most airlines now suggest that passengers keep their seat belts buckled throughout the flight.

When booking your ticket, ask the airline representative or your travel agent about the type of plane you will be flying. Seat sizes differ and you want to make sure that your car seat will fit the plane's seats. A car seat wider than 16 inches across may not fit into a plane seat, so it pays to ask and to measure your car seat. Make sure you book your seats together. You may want to fly at off-peak times so that you can be assured of an empty seat next to you. And you may want a non-stop flight. The more take-offs and landings the plane has to make, the greater the (slight) risk. Also, changing planes, with car seat in tow, can be very stressful.

You can make using a car seat on a plane easier. Some car seat manufacturers are making it more convenient for parents to use their car seats on planes. Car seats that are part of a travel system-stroller and infant carrier, too-are easier to lug through an airport. Using a fold-up luggage carrier for your car seat can be a big help through long airport passages. Restricting the amount of carry-on luggage you bring-perhaps just a large diaper bag-can also help you juggle baby, car seat, and stroller. And take advantage of pre-boarding. Some airlines no longer pre-board, so if you wait and expect to hear the announcement, you may not only be disappointed, but stuck in the middle of a rush of passengers. Ask the gate agent if you can pre-board whether the airline allows it or not. In almost all cases, you will be permitted and that will give you valuable time to strap in your car seat. You can also check your stroller at the gate so that you can use it up to the last minute, but not have to try to fit it in the overhead bins. If two adults are traveling with a child, let one pre-board and the other keep the child running around and busy until all passengers must be on the plane.

Also be careful of carry-on luggage. Luggage in the overhead bins can shift during flight. Bins have been known to popand rain luggage down on the poor passengers sitting underneath. Make sure what you put overhead is light and be very careful whenng bins during and after the flight. Also, try not to put the child in the aisle seat. And pay attention to the safety video or safety demonstration given by the flight attendants. Though you may have heard the procedures a hundred times before, traveling with a child or infant means a different set of responsibilities and procedures, ones that you may not know.

Yes, using a car seat means added expense and added hassle. But, you are responsible for protecting your child. If you would never dream of letting your child be in a car without a car seat, why would you consider air travel any different? Granted, the risks are smaller, but the risks are still real. Is taking that small chance worth the risk?