Originally Posted by MPH1980

Absolutely - but *someone* has to move.

Either the person sat next to the parent or the person sat next to the 4 year old (assuming it's a full plane).

To be so presumptive as to say "I'm not moving at all" as our poster has done does nothing but delay the plane.

It's a bit like when you get on those small planes and they look at the first 4 rows and say "we need people at the back to balance it out" - if no one moves, the plane doesn't go. Being pig headed about it doesn't help anyone.

There are plenty of reasons why a family might be split up other than bad planning - seat shifters, IRROPS, missed connections etc - as well as 'family didn't plan'. It still doesn't change the fact that if the flight is full, someone has to move so a 4 year old can be looked after.