Taking a 1 year old baby - infant or pay for seat as child ?

Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

What would you do?

"paul williams" wrote in message
om...
Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

What would you do?

Stay home, rather than subject other passengers to the boisterous, jumping
up and down infant.

Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

The industry term is "lap child". They're free on US domestic
flights, typicallly $100 on international ones, but the kid isn't
entitled to a seat. If there is an empty seat next to you, you can
use it for the infant, but if the plane's full, you have a problem.

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

Sure. They will be happy to sell you a seat at the child fare for
your baby. If you take along an infant seat, make sure it has a
sticker that says it's FAA approved or they'll make you check it.

Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

The industry term is "lap child". They're free on US domestic
flights, typicallly $100 on international ones, but the kid isn't
entitled to a seat. If there is an empty seat next to you, you can
use it for the infant, but if the plane's full, you have a problem.

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

Sure. They will be happy to sell you a seat at the child fare for
your baby. If you take along an infant seat, make sure it has a
sticker that says it's FAA approved or they'll make you check it.

Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

The industry term is "lap child". They're free on US domestic
flights, typicallly $100 on international ones, but the kid isn't
entitled to a seat. If there is an empty seat next to you, you can
use it for the infant, but if the plane's full, you have a problem.

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

Sure. They will be happy to sell you a seat at the child fare for
your baby. If you take along an infant seat, make sure it has a
sticker that says it's FAA approved or they'll make you check it.

(paul williams) wrote in message . com...
Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

Yes, that is correct.

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

You MAY get a bulkhead seat with a skycot in front of you, so that you
can put the child down to sleep for at least part of the journey. But
this is not guaranteed ...

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

Perfectly acceptable, if your wallet can stand it.

What would you do?

I saved the money, but since we were two adults and a baby we could at
least take turns in holding the child. Really, it is your choice,
just so long as you take care to avoid inconveniencing anyone else.

(paul williams) wrote in message . com...
Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

Yes, that is correct.

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

You MAY get a bulkhead seat with a skycot in front of you, so that you
can put the child down to sleep for at least part of the journey. But
this is not guaranteed ...

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

Perfectly acceptable, if your wallet can stand it.

What would you do?

I saved the money, but since we were two adults and a baby we could at
least take turns in holding the child. Really, it is your choice,
just so long as you take care to avoid inconveniencing anyone else.

While severe turbulence is unlikely I think that you should consider the
consequence for an unrestrained infant. If you can afford it the child
should be in some kind of safe restraint. The room is less important
than the safety.

paul williams wrote:

Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

What would you do?

While severe turbulence is unlikely I think that you should consider the
consequence for an unrestrained infant. If you can afford it the child
should be in some kind of safe restraint. The room is less important
than the safety.

paul williams wrote:

Am I right in saying that a passenger registered/paid for as an infant
does not get a plane seat and is expected to sit on the parents lap?

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

Alternatively, is it acceptable to pay for your infant as a child seat
(I know it costs more!) to get the extra room ?

What would you do?

On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 11:20:07 +0000, PTRAVEL wrote:


"paul williams" wrote in message
om...

Seems a bit awkward to me - a boisterous 1 year old jumping up and
down for 8 hours !!! Or do the airlines provide extra facilities for
these cases ?

Stay home, rather than subject other passengers to the boisterous, jumping
up and down infant.

I would just try and bit a tad nicer. I would say that if you don't
expect to be able to control your child, and if it sounds OK to you that
your child will behave as a "boisterous, jumping up and down infant," then
indeed the decent thing for you to do is to stay home.

OTOH, if you are an effective parent and indeed you are able to control
your child, then I see nothing wrong with taking him/her with you.

Yesterday on a FRA-YUL flight, we had a perhaps 2-3 years old boy who
kept running up and down the aisle from economy, all the way to the front
galley for about half an hour. At some point he was even joined by a
second child. I am not sure whether eventually a crew member told the
parents that this was not appropriate or whether the kids just got tired.

But I must say that I find it somewhat offensive when seeing these late
baby boomer parents who apparently expect the whole word to agree with
them that their misbehaving spoiled brat is so cute. That sort of
education or rather lack thereoff is certainly not to the ultimate benefit
of the spoiled brat either.