Flight attendants want to ban parents from putting babies on laps during flights
A flight attendant has urged people not to carry their babies on their laps when flying.
Long flights with uncomfortable seats can be hard work for the hardiest of flyers, let alone children.
The noise of the engine and the fluctuating air pressure in the cabin can be really upsetting for young ones who may be simply overwhelmed by how intense the situation is.
It is therefore very tempting to pick an upset little one up and hold them on your lap during a flight.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, this is allowed most of the time during a flight, but kids under the age of two "need to be secured whenever the seat belt sign is on".
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It can be very tempting to carry your tot when on a plane (Getty Images)They can sit on their parents' lap with the use of a seat belt loop provided by the airline to secure them there, or by using a car type seat.
In the US the rules are slightly different, with parents able to hold their kids on their laps without the use of a seatbelt throughout the whole flight - and flight attendants are warning that this could be dangerous.
Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA told The Washington Post: "The G-forces are not something even the most loving mother or father can guard against and hold their child. It’s just physically impossible."
While the child is more likely to be bucked up when a patch of turbulence is hit in the UK, increased levels of turbulence and the inability of pilots to always avoid rough patches mean children may still be at risk.
Two tragic incidents have inspired Sara to push hard for a law change in the US.
One took place in 1989, when a United Flight 232 crash landed which saw three of children suffer injuries and one die. The second was a crash in 1994 when a little girl died standing on her mum's lap.
It may be safer to buckle a baby up instead (Getty Images/Image Source)“The safest possible thing is for everybody to be restrained,” said Ben Hoffman, president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In the UK a seat must be booked for all people on a flight, regardless of age.
In the US "a seat and an individual safety belt are required for each passenger and crew member excluding infants, who are in other than a recumbent position".
While parents in the UK may have the urge to hold their child, especially if they've been allocated seats away from one another, Sara says they should resist this impulse and buckle the young one up instead.
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It is important to know your rights when it comes to seating when flying with a child, as it is not a legal requirement for the airline to sit you together, which can be distressing if only discovered at take-off.
"The seating of children close by their parents or guardians should be the aim of airline seat allocation procedures for family groups and large parties of children," the Civil Aviation Authority writes.
"Young children and infants who are accompanied by adults should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult.
"Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from accompanying adults. This is because the speed of an emergency evacuation may be affected by adults trying to reach their children.
"Whenever a number of infants and children are travelling together the airline should make every effort to ensure that they can be readily supervised by the responsible accompanying adults."
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