The most common injuries were burns (39%), contusions (30%), lacerations (21%) and closed head injuries (8%). The most frequent causes of injury were hot soup or beverages that were spilled on a child (36%), particularly those sitting in an aisle seat, and falls from the seat by unrestrained or lap children (25%).Feb 24, 2017

In-flight injuries often involve children sitting on laps or in aisle seats ...

www.aappublications.org/news/2017/02/24/Airplane022417

FAA: Turbulence injuries jolt twice as many flights in 2016

The FAA urges passengers to listen to flight attendants and use an approved child-safety seat for children under 2 years old. The FAA also urges airlines to include turbulence in weather briefings, and to have pilots and dispatchers relay reports about turbulence.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...ies/100740982/

The most likely cause of injury is burns from hot drinks, according to data presented Monday at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference. That accounted for 39 percent of injuries. Meal service was the most likely time. Sometimes the drinks splashed while they were being passed from person to person. Other times, rambunctious kids bumped tray tables, spilling scalding coffee everywhere.
Younger children were much more likely to be injured than older children, according to Rotta. Infants held on laps were the most likely to be hurt — they made up 35.8 percent of the cases. Some of the injuries happened during turbulence, but some happened when babies simply fell off their parents' laps.

"People who have children are very much in tune with the fact that you cannot hold your child in your lap in a car," Rotta says. "Somehow, that wisdom doesn't apply to planes. Nobody thinks twice about it."

Alarmingly, five infants in the dataset died with symptoms consistent with sudden infant death syndrome. Co-sleeping, when parents let children sleep on top of them or with them, can put a baby at risk for SIDS or suffocation if there is soft bedding or an adult rolls over or changes positions. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents avoid sleeping with infants, particularly in chairs and couches. This study shows that "the dangers of co-sleeping are present on airplanes, too," says Rotta.

Rotta suggests booking an extra seat for infants under age 2 if parents can afford it, and putting them in a bassinet or a car seat approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/25/499172561/for-babies-on-a-plane-hot-drinks-and-co-sleeping-pose-a-risk
FAA