Mr. Tours and I travelled with a lap held 1 yr 11 mo old to Hawaii from Louisville. Yes, we needed her birth certificate to prove age at the airport. As it was a domestic flight, it was free. I have also travelled several times with a lap held infant at younger ages (3 mos- 18 mos). In some cases the child ended up with an empty seat, but in some she was actually on the lap the whole time.

I was a flight attendant for 5 years and saw many, many, lap held infants travel without incident. Yes, there is a higher risk of injury to the child in your lap vs. being in the car seat. However, how many hours could you keep the child strapped in the seat?? My children were fine in the seat for napping, but no way would they tolerate 10 hours in the seat without a lot of crying. To keep the peace, the toddler is going to need to be walked around the cabin, bounced and played with. Otherwise, other pax will be subjected to the load objections most babies will voice to being strapped down in a seat hour after hour.

On flyertalk, I have noticed an almost hysterical response to lap held children, with some posters stating that any increased risk (seat vs. lap) is utterly unacceptable. Most of us face much higher risks in our own homes to our children (if you have stairs, a toilet or a bathtub, your child is at a greater risk than as a lap help infant).

Only you can decide it the cost of an additional ticket is outweighed by the greater difficulty in traveling without a guaranteed seat. Me, I would gladly hold a child on my lap for 10 hours to save two weeks pay!