Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Legal Isn't a Synonym for "Good Idea!"

Well, I was in the middle of working on a Botkin Sisters post when I read a new Titus 2 update that blew my mind.   The second son - Christopher - wrote a blog post about tips for flying with small children. 

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of flying - and adding our one toddler to our family makes flying sound less appealing so my mind was blown to find that Christopher and his wife traveled to see her family with their five children who range from age 6 to a small infant.

As I was skimming the post, I noticed he talked about dragging two car seats on the plane so that if there were open seats the lap babies (notice the plural) could use the car seats - but if not two of the other kids could use them.   I was completely lost, so I googled "flying and lap babies" and just about dropped my laptop in horror.

In the US and Canada, parents can choose to either purchase a seat for a child under the age of 2 OR hold that child on their lap during the flight.   

Folks, we stopped letting parents hold children under the age of 2 when riding in cars for a good reason: during car accidents, infants and toddlers restrained only by their parents' arms become flying projectiles.   The survival rate for unrestrained infants and toddlers in car accidents is horrific; the forces applied when the kiddlet comes to a stop by crashing into the ground or another object does massive and often terminal damage.

Airplane accidents are much less frequent than car accidents - but the forces involved are far greater.  Most commercially available car seats are also approved for protection for flying so presumably the Maxwells already own car seats for their youngest ones.   I can think of two reasons that a family wouldn't bring car seats for all their kids.  First is the hassle of moving four car seats onto a plane.  Bluntly, I'd splurge by spending the $20.00 to rent a baggage cart at the each of the airports.  The other option I can think is that there is a FAA approved restraint system for kids who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds called CARES that costs around $80.00 per harness - but the harness fits in an adult's pocket or a kid's backpack after using it.  If the Maxwells plan on flying frequently and having a lot of kids, two carseats plus 3 CARES should do the trick for safely restraining all their kiddos. 

Now, there's a picture of Anna Marie Maxwell wearing her youngest daughter in an Ergo baby carrier on the plane.  While babywearing is a comfortable way to manage some infants,  the baby receives no protection during an accident from the Ergo.  The baby may not fly free in an accident - but their head is likely to hit the seat in front and the bone structure of her mother's chest repeatedly leading to potentially fatal head and neck injuries.

The other reason to do "lap babies" is financial since the family has to pay for two extra seats.  The total cost of those two seats, though, isn't that much.  Using "Google Flights", I compared the cost of tickets from Kansas City, KS to Olympia, WA for 2 adults, three children and two infants in seats compared to 2 adults, three children and two lap babies.  The "lap babies" saved the family about $500 by dropping the total package price to around $1,200 dollars from around $1,700. 

Five hundred dollars is a lot of money for any family - but doubly so for a CP/QF family.  On the other hand, $500 is a tiny price to pay to protect the lives of their two youngest babies if there is an accident. 

8 comments:

  1. Welp, that's horrifying. Why is it still legal?

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    1. I have no idea. It's not legal in the EU. My best guess is that it was grandfathered in somehow in the US - but it really shouldn't be legal.

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    2. It is very much legal in the EU though. Kids under 24 months travel in a parent's lap - with a special belt attached to the adults belt.

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    3. @Sarabe: The US has some devices like that for sale, but none of the ones in the US market have passed FAA testing. The commercial ones here essentially tether the kid's hips to the parent which is great at stopping the kid from flying free, but don't have enough restraint on the upper body to prevent the kid's head from hitting the seat in front before having their head thrown back into the parent's chest.

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  2. These people constantly portray themselves as the ultimate guardians of children's' well-being, then look at the stuff they pull.

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    1. Honestly, I don't know if they really thought the issue through. For as much as CP/QF adherents complain about government interference, they are as likely as the rest of us to fall into the "well, it's allowed so it must be safe" fallacy. Even the car seats seemed to be there more as a way that the two littlest Maxwells could sit in an empty airplane seat rather as a form of safety equipment.

      I'd buy a seat for each kid even if it wasn't a safety issue simply because the thought of holding a squirmy toddler for a few hours on my lap sounds horrible.

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  3. I'm not sure a car accident and a plane accident can be compared. It's rare that anyone survives an airplane crash so the same restraints aren't in place. On airplane travel (for instance) we don't wear seatbelt the whole time (only take off and landing).
    During the flight there are a LOT of flying projectiles (drinks/ laptops/ everything people have dragged out).
    And I do know a lot of people who can only afford to travel with their kids if there are lap kids. I would be curious to know though if there's data on lap children being injured during flights.

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    1. I hear what you're saying and respectfully disagree.

      First, airplane crashes are actually pretty survivable with a 95% survival rate since 1983 (1). The first step to surviving an accident in any moving vehicle is making sure that the occupants are only exposed to forces within a survivable range. The issue with lap babies is that the lack of a harness restraint makes them face a much higher force of impact than a baby in a car seat. Harness restraints allow the force of coming to a stop to be spread over a long time frame since the restraint tethers the person to the airplane. Without the restraints, the person receives the same amount of force in a very short period which causes more severe injuries.

      Yup, turbulence and a crash would set a whole lot of items flying free - but few things that fit on an adult's lap weigh the 8 pounds of a newborn infant let alone the 20 pounds of my toddler.

      Airplanes are different than cars in that most accidents that damage the plane happen during take-off and landing which is why people are required to wear seatbelts. For accidents in midair, there is usually enough time for passengers to replace their seatbelts before the plane "lands" in a crash. (If not...well, the accident probably isn't survivable in the first place). Lap babies, however, have no form of restraint available in a crash.

      No one collects data on lap baby survival rates compared to other age groups or types of restraints - which is a shame. (3)

      Here are my sources:

      1)https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/03/14/if-my-airplane-crashes-what-are-my-chances-of-survival/#3f7a3aa739b3

      2)http://kidsflysafe.com/cares-overview/what-experts-say/

      3) https://www.consumerreports.org/airline-travel/why-you-should-never-fly-with-baby-on-your-lap/

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