[craigwatson]

Even in the UK babies have to come out of the buggie/car seat, etc.. and be carried through the scanner by the parent and then the you can collect it on the other side of the scanner. My baby has been to quite a few long haul destinations and I cant say I can think of one where my wife or myself didnt have to carry her through, as is only right.

The infant seatbelt is utterley pointless in my view, and seems to be dependant on the airlines policy/country regulations as to whether it is required or not.

“Again, I insisted that you cannot wake a 4 months old baby and that the baby will give me a hard time after” – then dont fly.

[HonestCrew]

An inspired comment there “The infant seatbelt is utterley pointless in my view.”

Infant seat belt is not utterly pointless. If it was pointless why would airlines have them?
Imagine an everything is fine then there is an almighty BANG!! Massive decompression, anything not tied down is blown all over the place, oxygen masks drop.
Without the infant belt the baby will most likely have smashed against the ceiling, ended up God knows where, little chance of survival.
If the parent somehow managed to keep hold of it, they then only have one hand to try to fit the fiddly oxygen masks, with the fiddly elastic straps to themselves and the baby. Vital time lost in getting oxygen back into the baby’s lungs.

Crash landing, the infant seat belt keeps the kiddy on the lap, should the aircraft end up on it’s side for example, it gives them better chance of survival and not at the bottom of wheelie bags, bodies and other debris.

Unexpected severe turbulence mid-flight, plane drops, baby smashes into ceiling with the weight of a bowling ball. (That example I have experienced and seen myself.)

Shall I go on?

Some country’s aviation authorities believe it is best not to have these belts. I am sure they have reasons why. If they can outweigh the reasons I have given above then stand on me.

[craigwatson]

Sorry maybe I didnt clarify. In my expeirence they are useless in that they do not tighten, do not fasten properly, and in general do not do the job they are designed for. Im all for infant seatbelts that are fit for purpose, of which the ones out there now are most definitely not!

As they stand now, they would be no help in a crash, are not required to be worn in the cruise so no help in CAT, and do not tighten snugly so in a decompression the infant would still be in danger.

Shall I go on?

[HonestCrew]

If used properly infant seat belts do the job they are designed to do, it’s all about the position of the buckle and even if the parent loosens the belt it will at least give the baby a chance of staying where it should rather than being flung off to it’s death.
If the buckle is in the wrong place, the belt can slip from tight to loose easily.

Airlines always have to think of the worst case scenario when it comes to safety, hence why the recommendation of keeping the seat belt fastened during the cruise. If the parent decides not to that’s their choice, but the seat belt will do it’s job protecting against unexpected turbulence.
Again, best to have a chance of being saved from injury rather than none at all.

Almost every aircraft I have been on has seat belts and infant seat belts made by Amsafe, a bit like almost every zip on your clothes is made by YYZ.

With a better design, you could be onto a winner Rodney!

[AdrianHenryAsia]

Infant seatbelts are a good idea – its a shame every airline is not forced to provide them. Coming back from the US last month in AA they didn’t have any – which I found quite disturbing for all of the reasons listed by HonestCrew. I find it hard to believe is this day and age there is no international standard agreed amongst airlines for infants.

There are also other huge differences between airlines about infants sleeping on the floor. BA strictly prohibit it on safety grounds even if the space is tucked out of the way. AA and other US carriers think its fine and encourage it!

I’ve now given up arguing and just buy our son a seat!

[Author]

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