electriclady
New member
(cross-posted to Baby Bargains car seat forum)
Okay, deep breath. Here's what happened:
DH, DD and I were flying from NYC to Milwaukee yesterday on Midwest Airlines. DD is 18 months old but still fits in her Safeseat 1--she is 22lbs and 31in (and is leggy, so still has 2-3 inches of seat above the top of her head). We flew with her in this seat on JetBlue a month ago and had no problems.
As I was getting DD settled and her carseat buckled in, a flight attendant came up and said, "Oh no no no, you have to turn her around, she can't sit like that." I explained that this carseat is a rear-facing only seat and that this is how we use it in the car (which I know is the argument other people have used with success in the past). She told me that DD was not allowed to have her feet touching the back of the airplane seat--and when I explained again that this carseat is safe even when the child's legs are longer than the seat (which DD's have been since she was like 5 months old, come ON!), she just said, "That's in a car, planes are different." She didn't believe me that the carseat was FAA approved--I had to unbuckle it and take DD out and show her the label.
When DH asked her what our options were, she actually suggested that my 22-lb 18-month-old sit IN THE SEAT BY HERSELF WITH ONLY A SEATBELT. !!!!!!
I asked her to please show me the printed regulation that says infants are not allowed to have their feet touching the seat (another argument that I know has worked for others here in the past). She went back to get the "book" and I saw her paging through it, trying to find the rule. She couldn't, of course. Then she went and got another flight attendant, who explained to me that if we were in a crash, my child would get "crushed" because "the seat back would come forward on her." She told me that I would need to hold DD in my lap for takeoff and landing, but I could put her in the carseat during the flight "and we'll put pillows around it to make it more secure" . I finally gave in because the only apparent alternative was to get kicked off the flight, but I asked again if I could see the written regulation when they had a chance. FA#2 said yes, but then FA#1 said to her, "Actually, I don't think it's written down." !!!!!
So I held her in my lap, but was fuming--I mean, come on, how was that in ANY way safer than her being in a carseat? Assuming what the flight attendants said was true, and the seat backs do fly forward in a crash, I'd rather have her legs get "crushed" than me getting flung forward on top of her, or her flying out of my arms and getting a head injury. (Not that I have to convince any of you!)
So. I went on the Midwest website and printed out their carseat rules (which, of course, mention nothing about feet touching seats). I'm going to call customer service and write a very strongly worded letter to the airline (I got the FAs names, of course). But here's my question: Is there anything I could have done differently in the moment to convince them? Or are we just all basically at the mercy of whatever crazy old wives' tales fly around flight attendant school?
I am so furious about this. I can't believe that I was forced to compromise my child's safety because flight attendants don't know what they're talking about.
***
Another question (not posted on Baby Bargains): Does anyone have specific information about this supposed "crushing" by seat back--sites where I can find info to print out in case I have this argument on the return flight? I have to believe that in a true crash scenario my daughter would be more likely to be crushed by me if sitting in my lap than by a seat back--at least she'd have the shell of the car seat around her.
Okay, deep breath. Here's what happened:
DH, DD and I were flying from NYC to Milwaukee yesterday on Midwest Airlines. DD is 18 months old but still fits in her Safeseat 1--she is 22lbs and 31in (and is leggy, so still has 2-3 inches of seat above the top of her head). We flew with her in this seat on JetBlue a month ago and had no problems.
As I was getting DD settled and her carseat buckled in, a flight attendant came up and said, "Oh no no no, you have to turn her around, she can't sit like that." I explained that this carseat is a rear-facing only seat and that this is how we use it in the car (which I know is the argument other people have used with success in the past). She told me that DD was not allowed to have her feet touching the back of the airplane seat--and when I explained again that this carseat is safe even when the child's legs are longer than the seat (which DD's have been since she was like 5 months old, come ON!), she just said, "That's in a car, planes are different." She didn't believe me that the carseat was FAA approved--I had to unbuckle it and take DD out and show her the label.
When DH asked her what our options were, she actually suggested that my 22-lb 18-month-old sit IN THE SEAT BY HERSELF WITH ONLY A SEATBELT. !!!!!!
I asked her to please show me the printed regulation that says infants are not allowed to have their feet touching the seat (another argument that I know has worked for others here in the past). She went back to get the "book" and I saw her paging through it, trying to find the rule. She couldn't, of course. Then she went and got another flight attendant, who explained to me that if we were in a crash, my child would get "crushed" because "the seat back would come forward on her." She told me that I would need to hold DD in my lap for takeoff and landing, but I could put her in the carseat during the flight "and we'll put pillows around it to make it more secure" . I finally gave in because the only apparent alternative was to get kicked off the flight, but I asked again if I could see the written regulation when they had a chance. FA#2 said yes, but then FA#1 said to her, "Actually, I don't think it's written down." !!!!!
So I held her in my lap, but was fuming--I mean, come on, how was that in ANY way safer than her being in a carseat? Assuming what the flight attendants said was true, and the seat backs do fly forward in a crash, I'd rather have her legs get "crushed" than me getting flung forward on top of her, or her flying out of my arms and getting a head injury. (Not that I have to convince any of you!)
So. I went on the Midwest website and printed out their carseat rules (which, of course, mention nothing about feet touching seats). I'm going to call customer service and write a very strongly worded letter to the airline (I got the FAs names, of course). But here's my question: Is there anything I could have done differently in the moment to convince them? Or are we just all basically at the mercy of whatever crazy old wives' tales fly around flight attendant school?
I am so furious about this. I can't believe that I was forced to compromise my child's safety because flight attendants don't know what they're talking about.
***
Another question (not posted on Baby Bargains): Does anyone have specific information about this supposed "crushing" by seat back--sites where I can find info to print out in case I have this argument on the return flight? I have to believe that in a true crash scenario my daughter would be more likely to be crushed by me if sitting in my lap than by a seat back--at least she'd have the shell of the car seat around her.
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