The End of Lapchild? What are your thoughts on the Lapchild?

Budget Travel Magazine recently reported on The National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation that all passengers, including children under the age of two, have their own seats on planes. This means infants would no longer be allowed to sit in their parents laps, and they would no longer fly for free.
Here is an excerpt from the story:

The NTSB released its official recommendation to FAA earlier this week, listing numerous occasions when airplane passenger injuries and fatalities could have been minimized by the use of restraint devices (i.e. seatbelts). Oddly enough, many of the examples listed involve passengers over the age of 2, who would not qualify as lapchildren.

What do you think?

• For the safety of everyone, should the lapchild be banned?  Yes or no?
• Should parents be required to buy seats for infants and toddlers, and secure them either in car seats (which often don’t fit in a cramped plane), or in an over-the-shoulder CARES restraint device (which are designed for kids weighing 22 to 44 pounds)?
• Should the airlines be forced to make some provisions for the safety of kids, perhaps even by offering special seatbelts for tiny travelers?

View more on this story here on Budget Travel Magazine.

My thoughts on the Lapchild

I prefer to have Madelyn in a car seat when flying.  I feel like she’s safer being strapped in via a 5-point harness than on my lap.  I’m not confident that I would be able to hold on to Madelyn and keep her from flying out of my arms, hitting her head, or falling, in the case that we hit severe turbulence.. or worse.  I’d rather save up and pay for an extra airplane ticket/seat than take the risk of Madelyn not being as safe as I think she could be during a flight.

Thank you to Lisa from Budget Travel Magazine for the heads up on this story.