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Links? Its extremely rare for lap riding infants to die. The ones who do the cause is usually "unknown" (thought of suffocation if the parent falls asleep, which is not common with a child who is 18 months and can move if needed).
I can't imagine having a toddler strapped in a car seat for 10+ hours for an international flight.
To the OP, lap sitting is allowed up until 2 years. I never did get a special seat or moved because of a lap sitter, and I flew a lot. It isn't that bad, but I could see if would get very difficult for an extended period.
But you could imagine one sitting on your lap?? It doesn't mean they have to be strapped in - just that if there is sudden turbulence (hardly rare) you can strap them in to be safe.
But what you're suggesting is keeping a child in a car seat (which is not engineered for plane crashes btw) for 20 hours. That is kind of insane.
And most survivable crashes are not the international flights thousands of miles away from rescue over open ocean.
Seriously, it is almost torture to expect an infant or toddler to be strapped into a car seat for the duration of the types of flights you are talking about.
As for the person next to the screaming toddler strapped into a car seat for 20 hrs is that really better than being next to a child on their parents lap?
I didn't see anyone suggest they had to be strapped in for 20 hours anymore than adults do. And many car seats are FAA approved - they may not have been engineered for planes, but they will secure a child in the seat of a plane as well as a car, while a parent cannot hold a child on their lap when there is any significant force or turbulence at all.
Yes, CARES harness was what we used the last time we flew to Asia. It's so much more convenient vs lugging around the car seat. And my parents had a car seat ready on their car at destination.
Speaking of car seat/cares harness, although most carriers usually allow the use of it, there are some carriers that have these seats where they have airbag in the seat belt it self - and with those kind of seats, you're not allowed to install the car seat/cares harness. I know Cathay Pacific is one them - although this restriction is only mostly on their intra Asia flights where they have these kind of seats.
NK--let her worry about it. Don't send her anything or suggest anymore that she get anything. Just worry about having things comfortable for them on your end.
Traveling with an 18-month-old is already stressful without having to worry about pleasing your MIL as well. She's a competent and adult and can figure this out on her own.
I didn't see anyone suggest they had to be strapped in for 20 hours anymore than adults do. And many car seats are FAA approved - they may not have been engineered for planes, but they will secure a child in the seat of a plane as well as a car, while a parent cannot hold a child on their lap when there is any significant force or turbulence at all.
If they aren't strapped in for the duration of the flight, what is the point?
Turbulence has no warning so if you are letting them up to play in any form, than you are negating the safety. And unless you have a link showing that parents cannot hold children during turbulence I call BS. My daughter was sitting on my lap many times during our flights to and from Asia and during turbulence and was not launched about the plane. Additionally, we once hit a pocket of low air pressure and dropped 300 ft in a matter of seconds. There was not enough force to pull her off my lap let alone out of my arms.
Additionally, only US airlines are required to even allow carseats on planes for those under 2. Most of the international flights out of Asia are not US run and do not allow outside carseats in any case.
Why is it any more comfortable for an adult to use the seat belt than for the child to be restrained in an approved seat that fits him or her? Both child and adult can get up and move around when the seat belt light is off and the attendants say it is ok. Why do you think the child will be screaming in the car seat if s/he is appropriately entertained?
There are car safety restraints approved for airplanes.
As for the comfort level, if the child is not buckled into the car seat for the duration of the flight, then its safety for the reasons given during the thread i.e. turbulence is pointless. There is no warning for turbulence. Additionally, my daughter was still being breastfed at that age (particularly at take off and landing as her ped recommended) so any safety even at that point would have been moot.
And yes, I think 20+ hours buckled into a carseat would have made my daughter scream at 18mos old. She wanted to sit up, move around, play, etc. And the empty seat next to us (as was given to us on literally every single one of the dozens of flights we took to Asia before she was 5.) gave her an area to play and move around which would have not been the case were there a carseat strapped into the seat.
I was wondering if you had gotten them a car seat for while he is here?
Yes, my neighbors have come through with car seat, crib, stroller, toys, rocking horse, high chair and even a couple of hours free baby sitting if we want to go out as adults--but I doubt we will. I have terrific neighbors.
Suggest she try to get a bulkhead seat and request a bassinet. That is what we did for trans-pacific flights when they were under 2 years old. You can strap the child into the bassinet while they are sleeping. Most people avoid bulkhead seats because that is where young children are seated. Most trans-pacific flights are not full, so a mother an child have a good chance of getting the entire row of 4 to themselves, or at least an empty seat.
Good luck keeping any kid in a seat for more than 2 hours. There's a very good chance DIL will be walking around the plane carrying the child for at least 25% of the flight.
Everyone on board is much more likely to die in a crash than for there to be a crash that kills only lap children. The child is far more likely to die on the rides to and from the airport--even if properly secured in a car seat--than on the flight, regardless of whether it is running around, held in a lap, or strapped into a harness.
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