Originally Posted by
jp-mco
As long as 'next to' is not the next row that would be acceptable. A seat on a different row could be 6ft away - how would I be expected to a) monitor my child's behaviour and b) help them in an emergency if I'm that far away! Parents shouldn't have to pay £100 extra per seat, per flight to ensure this happens. BA are very good at ensuring this happens when an infant is on the booking but a child that's 2 years and 1 day old is not ready to sit on their own.
In 99%* of cases, "next to" means the next seat along, same row, same block. Very, very occasionally it could be two seats separated by the aisle, but from observation that doesn't happen often, and if it does it would be for older children.
* another CWS invented statistic but it's probably understated.