So you’ve planned the big trip: the luggage is picked out, you know what outfits the kids will be wearing, you know what snacks everyone will be eating on the plane, but you don’t know what to do about carseats. Traveling with kids isn’t easy. So many things can go wrong. But with a little planning, your trip can be a breeze and when you settle into your seat on the plane, you’ll wonder why you spent so much time obsessing and worrying about the trip in the first place.
Last May, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a Safety Alert urging parents to buy separate airplane seats for all children and to use appropriate child safety restraints for those kids. Unfortunately, children under age 2 are permitted to ride as “lap babies” for free on planes. Everything else on the plane—tray tables, beverage carts, coffee pots—are required to be secured during takeoff and landing and whenever the pilot has the seatbelt sign on. However, these lap babies are only secured by their parents’ arms. In severe turbulence, which cannot be predicted (can you see an air pocket in the sky?), unbuckled passengers and flight attendants have been thrown against the ceiling and injured, sometimes severely. In survivable crashes or runway incidents, unbuckled children become projectiles, just like in your vehicle, but at much higher speeds. There is a device, the Baby B’Air, that tethers a lap baby to the parent’s seatbelt, but it is not approved for takeoff or landing. In an emergency, a parent using the Baby B’Air will be asked to put the child on the ground, wrapped in a blanket, so the parent can assume the brace position.
Let’s review a simplified equation that every child passenger safety technician has tattooed to the backs of their eyelids: force = weight x speed . If your child weighs 25 lbs. and your plane is traveling at 150 mph, your child exerts a force of 3750 lbs. Can your arms secure 3750 lbs. of weight in a crash situation? No, hence the need for your child’s carseat to do the restraining.
Granted, these are extreme forces, but the main reason we restrain in a plane is for security against turbulence. There are survivable crashes and runway incidents, but they are few and far between. You don’t want your child flying against the ceiling of the plane and getting a severe concussion or worse. Think about your sanity (and that of the passengers around you)! Your arms and lap will be free and your child will be restrained, just like in the car, further reinforcing to your child that whenever any vehicle is in motion, he is buckled up. You will also have a good restraint to use at your destination. If you need more convincing, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA advocates the use of child restraints for children under the age of 2 during takeoff, landing, and turbulence as well, though as I mentioned before, how can you predict turbulence? Just keep your child buckled all the time.
Some facts:
- According to the FAA, about 58 people per year are injured by turbulence, but that number can go up drastically depending on how many people in the aircraft are actually buckled up during the turbulent event. Some of the worst turbulence I’ve experienced was when we were over the Pacific Ocean going to New Zealand. Since we were so high up, I expected a smooth flight, but it was terrible—even worse than going over the Rockies.
- Most aviation accidents are survivable. The National Transportation and Safety Board reports more than 80 percent of all commercial airline accidents are survivable. In fact, you are 15 times more likely to be involved in a fatal automobile accident than a fatal commercial airline accident.
- The FAA mandates that “No operator may prohibit a child (an individual who has not reached his or her 18th birthday) from using an approved CRS when the parent or guardian purchases a seat for the child, the child is accompanied by a parent or guardian and the child is within the weight limits for the CRS.”
How should you position the carseat in the airplane? Just like you would in a vehicle. If it’s rear-facing in a vehicle, rear-face it in the plane; however, if your child is over age 1 and over 20 lbs., be prepared for the possibility that you may need to install the seat forward-facing (if it’s a convertible). Since turbulence is an up and down force vs. the forward force of a typical crash, installing a convertible carseat forward-facing for a toddler likely won’t make a difference other than in comfort. Some of the larger convertibles are difficult to install rear-facing on airplanes with tighter pitches (distances between airplane seats) and may interfere with the recline of the seat in front, but an offer to buy a drink or snack may smooth over any hard feelings over not being able to recline the seatback. Still, it may be easier to just install the convertible on the plane forward-facing if your child is over age 1 and weighs more than 20 lbs.
But what if your child is over age 2 and is big enough to use the plane’s seatbelt without a restraint? How do you know if your child is big enough to go without a restraint on the plane? Well, generally when a child is around 40 lbs., he’s big enough to use the plane’s seatbelt, especially if the seatbelt is anchored forward of the bight. What’s that you say? That’s tech talk meaning that the seatbelt comes out of the plane seat a few inches in front of the crack of the seat. The seat belt will sit low across his thighs, just like it does on you. This is all a good thing if your child is over age 4 and mature enough to use a booster because you can carry on a backless booster and use it at your destination. But what do you do if your child still needs a harnessed seat because he’s wiggly or flops over when he sleeps in the car? What if he’s floppy on the plane and slides under the seatbelt?
You can still use an FAA-approved harnessed carseat on the plane, even if your child is over 40 lbs., if your seat has a higher weight harness. The label will have red lettering on it as shown below; make sure you know where it is on the seat so you can find it quickly to show airline personnel should they ask to see it. My experience with one airline was that the gate personnel asked to see the sticker, then the flight attendant at the plane doorway asked to see it too. A flight attendant also got overly worried when we brought a backless booster on board as a carry-on, thinking we were going to use it during the flight, but I reassured her it was going under the seat in front of my son. There’s also a specialty harness made exclusively for airplane use called the CARES harness. I reviewed it and while it doesn’t have a crotch strap to keep a child from intentionally sliding under the lap belt, the harness does a good job of restraining a child on a plane.
See Part 2 of this blog to help guide you with seat selection should you decide to purchase a carseat for travel.
I am wondering what the actual risks are of flying with a “lap baby” or a toddler without a car seat. Have there actually been crashes or turbulence incidents in which these children have been seriously injured or died when other people on the plane have not? I understand the hypothetical physics-based risk of an unsecured child in a plane crash. But plane crashes are very rare, and serious crashes tend to kill everyone on board. So I don’t know what the marginal advantage is of dragging two huge car seats all the way through the airport every time we fly.
Hi Jenny, as you mentioned, a major plane crash is not only very rare, but likely not survivable for passengers regardless of their restraint use. The risk mitigated by restraints is for turbulence and for incidents on the ground. For many, you’ll also need the carseat in the vehicle at the other side of the flight, at least if you are renting or riding in anything other than perhaps a full size bus. I don’t have the relevant statistics, but perhaps someone else more familiar with this topic can provide something!
Here is an article about carseat on airplanes. There are links to other web pages, with instances where lap babies were seriously injured or even died, and one where a child in a car seat was the only survivor after a crash landing.
http://thecarseatlady.com/airplanes/
I particularly recommend you read this one:
http://ashsd.afacwa.org/docs/Jan%20Lohr%20NTSB%20Brief.pdf
@Louis, thanks! It’s one of those equations where we have to decide what the “average” parent can take in when we’re trying to educate them on the benefits of rear-facing vs. forward-facing, keeping the harness tight, etc. Speed x mass is quick and dirty and something people will quickly understand, even if it’s somewhat off-base, before their eyes glaze over, lol.
It *is* an interesting discussion to know the full deceleration formula and how it applies in a crash. The timing is very important to the overall force.
Speed x mass isn’t force, it’s momentum. And you can’t multiply pounds x mph to get it. You have to use the same units. Slugs x ft/s gets you lbs-force/sec (the slug is the std English mass unit – it’s lbs-f divided by the acceleration of gravity which is 32.2 ft-lbs/s).
20 lbs-mass baby = 20/32.2 = .62 slugs
Then 150 mph = 220 ft/s.
So
(.62)220 = 136.4 lbs/sec
The force then depends on how long the baby accelerates or accelerates for in seconds. As the time gets smaller the force goes up. Hit a wall and you deaccelerate quickly.
You don’t need to be a physics major for this – this is very basic high school physics. But I had to clarify that you can’t just multiple lbs by miles per hour to get force.
mass x velocity (“weight” x speed) = momentum, not force. Your units would have been lbs-miles per hour? Good idea, bad math.
@Joshua, You are right, but we are not solving for an exact number here. Instead, as mentioned in the blog, (weight x speed) is a common tool taught to child passenger safety technicians. Though very simplistic, in some cases, it may provide a rough estimate of the forces involved at typical values observed in crashes. Health educators, as a rule, are not as well versed in calculus or physics as those in technical fields. The product of mass and the derivative that is the momentary change in velocity divided by the relevant momentary time period is not nearly as simple to teach or understand in a 1-week class that does not have time to discuss mathematics. Plus, that relevant momentary time period is often a rough estimate anyway, making it such that the estimate of force may be in the ball park at least. The exact force applied to an occupant in a crash is not really relevant anyway, as we are not doing crash reconstruction, biomedical research or something that requires any amount of accuracy or precision.
@Rachel, no. First, the airlines won’t let you. Second, it’s an unsecured item, so if there’s any turbulence or a hard stop/landing/survivable crash, it’ll go flying.
Is it safe to have a carseat on your lap or by your feet if you didn’t get an extra seat?
Is it safe to have a carseat on your lap or on the floor between your feet if you didn’t get an extra seat?
Just wondering if the previous poster could comment on the fit of the Marathon 70 in an airplane seat? I’m planning a trip in the next couple of months and noticed that the Marathon is 2.5 inches wider than the standard airplane seat.
Here’s a link that may interest you if you’re flying in Europe: http://www.easa.europa.eu/communications/flying-with-small-children.php. It’s not terribly in depth and has a link to some Euro seats that are approved by the German Airline Association that are accepted by its member airlines.
I’ve been trying to find out if my Britax Marathon 70 convertible car seat will fit in a coach seat, and can’t seem to get a straight answer. The seat does say it’s airline compatible, but then the dimensions are wider than most airline seats. I even called the airline to see if they knew if it would fit and I can’t get an answer from them either. Do you know if this particular seat will fit in an economy seat. We are flying American and LAN Argentinean. Thanks so much.
Great post. As a Flight Attendant I am a HUGE advocate of putting all children that should be in a carseat, into a carseat. I have dealt with the aftermath of babies who have become projectiles during turbulence. Because, let’s face it, on a five hour flight you wouldn’t be holding your child tightly to your body the entire time. I have also experienced a rejected take off. This is essentially when the captain has to hit the brakes at a really high speed because for whatever reason we can not take off (once was another aircraft mistakingly took a wrong turn and almost went on to our runway so you never know what could happen on taxi). This means that you are thrust forward at a high amount of g-force. Thank goodness there were no babies on board that day because even if you could hold your child they would likely be seriously injured by your body when you are thrown forward. There were numerous injuries but luckily nothing serious.
I know this has already been commented on but the brace position for lap held infants has changed you do hold them. Many years ago they thought that if you wrapped the infant and put them against the bulkhead or under a seat they wouldn’t become projectiles and would therefore be safer. *rolls eyes* Boy we’ve come a long way eh? Haha.
Thoroughly enjoyed your post.
Flight Attendant, 18 years
There are actually two “menaces” in the air. One is take-off and landing, which can mean a strong forward thrust. The other is turbulence, which can really be in any direction, can be strong but is not usually. It’s not predictable.
Since the forces on take-off and landing ARE the same as in a car so it DOES make a difference if the child is rear or forward facing. They are much safer rfing.
What I did, when the pitch was tight, was turn the seat around once in the air. I only recommend this as a last-ditch attempt, if someone can’t recline their seat or whatever. During the “cruise portion” of the flight, the issue of which direction the seat isn’t as important.
Hope that was clear. Often, putting a family member in front does the trick, or someone else who is traveling in your party.
hth!
Former Flight Attendant, 13 years, 2 companies
Huh. I should have looked on the card yesterday to see since I just flew. Talk about a horrible flight–sooo many lap babies and so much turbulence thanks to the summer weather and mountains. I don’t get airsick, but I was pretty green getting off the plane yesterday.
I was told by a FA that they no longer have you put babies on the ground. The card on that plane actually showed how to HOLD lap babies in the crash position.
That’s a good analogy, Carseatponcho. My dd asked me about those passengers on the plane yesterday and said, “they weren’t buckled up, were they?” I told her, “Nope, because if they were, they wouldn’t have been thrown around.” To be fair, people have to go to the bathroom and the FAs have to do their jobs, but yikes!
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I’m on my state’s CPS task force and I have to say that on my last flight to our meeting, I nearly hyperventilated when a woman with a 16(?) mo sat down next to me and BUCKLED her into the center seat. I suppose it was better than her mom holding her in her armes, but a 22-23 lb. toddler buckled into an airplane seatbelt made my eyes bug out. She didn’t have a carseat with her–I guess she was visiting a relative and was going home. We were lucky it was a smooth flight because of course, she didn’t stay in the belt.
Great post. Lap babies are legal, cheaper and societally encouraged, but I’m glad we never took the chance.
Recently, I compared flying with your baby on your lap to riding a roller coaster with a baby on your lap: http://carseatponcho.blogspot.com/2010/06/cbs-nhtsa-babies-should-have-own-seats.html
Very timely blog topic considering the busier summer travel season and the news about a very turbulent trans-U.S. flight that happened last night: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/21/flight.turbulence/index.html?hpt=C1 I hope there were no lap babies on board that flight, yikes.
Great article, Heather! (I remember back when DD was about three weeks old I promised I’d write an article on flying with car seats. Must have been my postpartum hormones talking…)
Regarding the 58 injuries per year: An article I read today said that the FAA estimates about 60 injuries due to turbulence per year WHEN EVERYONE IS BUCKLED. I would assume the number would be much higher when people are NOT buckled. Heck, there were almost that many injured just in the two well publicized incidents this year. That doesn’t count the little dips that didn’t make the paper. (By “little dips” I mean minor turbulence…not as a pejorative term for people who don’t buckle up!)
Fantastic article. I was so happy to have Laine’s seat on board for our trip this month, and noted the differences with the kids on board who were not restrained. One was in the aisle across from me, and I told his mother he was a risk to me and my children. She opted to buckle him into her belt with her. 🙁 She’d have killed him.
Otherwise, I saw three lap babies on the flights, and maybe it was just temperament, but mine in her seat was a lot calmer for most of the flight than the others, and I felt a lot less frazzled than the other parents looked (even when there were two parents and one kid, and I was one parent with two kids).
I had parents ask me the other day if kids would scream because they were in their carseat on the plane. I had to reassure the parents that generally, kids know the carseat means you sit there until Mom or Dad lets you out, and they’re far more comfortable in their seats than they would be squeezed onto a lap for hours or in a big seat with too much space. Piper hasn’t slept much at all on planes since we stopped traveling with her Radian. And when she has she’s flopped and tossed and turned. A far cry from the seven hours straight she slept in her Radian on the way back from China.
We flew last week with my three toddlers (three year old, and 2yo twins). We installed and used their CRs on the plane(s). I can tell you, it’s a giant pain to truck three convertible seats through the airport and then onto the plane, but having the kids restrained and in a seat that was familiar to them was priceless. I felt so sorry for all of the parents with toddlers (whether in laps or not) whose kids were busy and EVERYWHERE. We had four calm, uneventful flights. They played with small toys, read books, took naps, and snacked, just like they do in the car.
Great post!
What brand car seat, looking for 2ND car seat for flying in 2 weeks, thank you
Wendy, we have updated lists here: https://carseatblog.com/25408/recommended-carseats-for-airplane-travel/ and https://carseatblog.com/32940/travel-carseats-the-ultimate-guide-to-what-you-want-to-take-on-a-plane/ .
I have a plan fly in a few days with my twins. They are 2 years old and weight 22 lb.We will bring their car seat on the plane( Recarro pro ride.)We bought the 1st row seat so have more space. The question is how to buckle with they car seat. The plane only lap belt. How to secure their car seat.
Thanks
Hi Julie. Great job taking the carseats! You can install any carseat using the lap-only belt. The only problem with a bulkhead seat is that they may have airbags in the seat belts and Recaro doesn’t allow installation with inflatable seat belts. These belts are very thick and will be difficult to work with; you may be able to ask the flight attendants for alternative belts if you can’t change seats. Ask at check-in.