The entire idea of having an allocated plane seat for a child, is that the kid is in the seat, when they're supposed to be.
If you have the choice of a screaming child belted in their seat so they are safe during the flight, or an unrestrained kid, who risks serious injury or death if anything goes wrong, I'd rather be the parent dealing with dirty looks from other passengers thinking I'm a bad parent for not being able to stop my kid crying (and sometimes you can't and it's not like you can leave a plane in mid-flight like leaving a resturant when the kid loses it) while they are safe in their seat.
FWIW I remember reading that in one of the recent US airplane crashes, they didn't have an accurate death tally, because some of the dead were children or babies that didn't have a seat (I think some states still let parents fly with the kid sitting on their lap, which would save money, but creeps me out with the safety issues).
I've seen babies flying, where they'd sit on their parent's lap with an extra belt that went around the baby's middle and through the parent's belt. I'm not sure how much benefit that would bring, though - it would stop the kid flying through the air, yes, but at the cost of some significant internal injuries.
Kids cry for no reason or for frustration or because you are restraining them when they don't want to be restrained or for a host of other reason and sometimes there is little or nothing you can do to stop them. I don't think the fact that this child was crying and wouldn't stop is any reason to suggest that she was ill or that the parents were bad parents. It can also be difficult to restrain a child in an airplane seat if they are struggling in earnest against it.
All that said, children 2 and over must be in their seats with the seatbelt on during takeoff and landing and if the family wouldn't or couldn't do that then the airline acted properly to remove them.
Children under 2 can either sit on an adults lap with a belt that goes around their waist and through the adults belt (would be good in turbulence but not a crash) or they can sit in a car seat fitted in a seat of their own.
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If you have the choice of a screaming child belted in their seat so they are safe during the flight, or an unrestrained kid, who risks serious injury or death if anything goes wrong, I'd rather be the parent dealing with dirty looks from other passengers thinking I'm a bad parent for not being able to stop my kid crying (and sometimes you can't and it's not like you can leave a plane in mid-flight like leaving a resturant when the kid loses it) while they are safe in their seat.
FWIW I remember reading that in one of the recent US airplane crashes, they didn't have an accurate death tally, because some of the dead were children or babies that didn't have a seat (I think some states still let parents fly with the kid sitting on their lap, which would save money, but creeps me out with the safety issues).
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All that said, children 2 and over must be in their seats with the seatbelt on during takeoff and landing and if the family wouldn't or couldn't do that then the airline acted properly to remove them.
Children under 2 can either sit on an adults lap with a belt that goes around their waist and through the adults belt (would be good in turbulence but not a crash) or they can sit in a car seat fitted in a seat of their own.
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