Is this safe for babies on a flight?

http://www.zulily.com/p/airplane-baby-seat-110993-6708058.html?pos=11&e=1&fromEvent=110993&

I am guessing no, but it does have a harness.

I was wondering how we feel about the seatbelt holder, that's cool!

The only non-car seat device approved on airplanes is the CARES. Everything else can't be used during taxi, takeoff, or landing, and is likely no better than holding them in arms, and potentially worse.

ketchupqueen said:

The only non-car seat device approved on airplanes is the CARES. Everything else can't be used during taxi, takeoff, or landing, and is likely no better than holding them in arms, and potentially worse.

Click to expand...

I think this one in particular falls into the "potentially worse" category. The baby might have a harness (who knows if it can actually withstand any forces), but all that means is that baby is contained in the sling right in front of the caregiver... who only has a lap belt, not a L/S belt. If there is a crash or malfunction or anything that causes the parent's body to move forward, their upper body isn't restrained and is going to slam right into the baby. Ouch.

I have to appreciate the innovative spirit that went into designing this thing but, ... NO!!!

In an ideal world, yeah, skies would always be smooth, and mommies would be able to nurse their babies during takeoff and landing to protect their ears from the pressure change and not have to worry about rejected takeoffs and squirrelly landings on slippery runways... And at altitude they could buckle their cooing baby into one of these little hammocks and let them sleep.

But in the world I live in, there is turbulence and occasional loss of altitude and there are sudden stops and skids, and even if a flight is perfectly smooth you might end up in that one obnoxious seat where the little hook is loose and your tray table keeps slamming down into your lap. Which, if you're just sitting there reading a book or napping is annoying. But if you were depending on that tray table to support your up-to-25-pound infant, well, clearly that is dangerous.

It looks like, if the tray table were to open unexpectedly (as mine kept doing on my last flight), the top of the baby's "seat" would fall towards the floor and the bottom of the tray table would smack the baby in the face. I haven't seen one of these in person so haven't seen clearly how it is attached, and I can't find any instructions online, but to me it just looks scary.

The other scary thing is that the availability of this sort of contraption could lull parents into thinking they've found a safe, lightweight alternative to traveling with their carseat (or at least a CARES harness, for the segment of the population for whom that is useful) -- and traveling with the carseat needs to become standard practice.

And yes, this would fall into the "potentially worse" category. Because cruise in non turbulent conditions, which is the only time this thing is allowed to be used, is the safest part of the flight. A baby probably has more chance of being injured through the use of this device (by the tray table failing or who knows what else...) than they do of being injured while sitting on a parent's lap at cruise altitude in smooth conditions.