Originally Posted by
maytrix
I think its worse to imply that a child is just as safe in a lap as they are in a car seat. Sure, on an uneventful flight that would be true. We could say the same for driving in a car - child on a lap in an uneventful car ride is just as safe as in a car seat.
Simple fact is that a child in a car seat on a plane is safer then if they are in a lap in the event of some sort of survivable incident. Planes go off runways, land in the hudson river, have bad enough turbulence to injure flight attendants, and even have a baby thrown from their mothers arms.
I don't think anyone is arguing that it is safer for a child to be in his or her own seat in the unlikely event of an accident or extreme turbulence. But it's misleading and wrong to tell parents that it is either dangerous or unloving to take a child as a lap child. Yes, there is anecdotal evidence that kids can be thrown around the cabin in extremely unusual situations, but there is no evidence that this decision is comparatively more dangerous than many other decision we make for our children every day.
Sure, it is safer to keep kids at home than to take them out of the house in a car, but nearly every parent decides it is worth the risk of riding in a car to experience the world beyond the home. It is inappropriate to judge parents for making a similar decision regarding flying on an airplane.