I do take offense at that statement. Of course I care about my first and only born child son. I love him dearly and take care of him / raise him the best I can. You could also put your child in a bubble kept inside your house at all times, with no exposure to the outside world, in a baby/child proof home and I guarantee you that child will successfully make it to age 18. Somewhere between that extreme and downright neglect, there exists a fine balance in which you could successfully raise a child. Nothing will ever be a perfect system. It's all about risk analysis and handling what you think is best. I ask you to show me an airliner accident in which BIAs died and adults lived. I would be interested to see that because I have not come across any cases. Yes, turbulence and other bumps in the air do happen. I'd like to see a case where infants were killed on a plane because of that. I won't deny that there are cases in which adults and infants are hurt (some seriously) due to turbulence.
But all that I throw in my own personal risk matrix and go from there. Cars are a different story and even though the law requires child restraint devices, I do it moreso for the safety aspect of it when you consider 30,000+ deaths on the roads each year. No to mention, car accidents are usually devastating if speed is involved (as opposed to a fender bender). As SteveC already mentioned, your child is far more at risk in a car even with a car seat then he EVER will be as a BIA in a plane without a seat. Yet, I'm sure you take your child in a car to go about your daily life.
Do not accuse me of not caring about my child. Who are you to judge? How would you feel if I judge you like this........ Your husband is a pilot like I am. My wife stays at home and raises the child. From your screen name, it sounds like you work in a HR job and therefore either leave your child(ren) in daycare or at family relatives/friends. You may do this M-F or a few days a week. But either way, your child goes on for periods without one parent present to watch him. How many children die in day care centers every years from accidents? How much at risk are you putting your child by transporting him in a car to take him somewhere and drop him off while you work? And since you stated that I don't care about my baby because I'd fly with him as BIA, would it also be fair to say that a woman doesn't care about her baby if she decides to work even after having that child? Sounds like leaving behind responsibility which she knew was coming? Do you think that's a fair judgment? Of course not. Every one is different. Every person's risk matrix is different. For the record, I let my wife choose and she wanted to stay home with the baby. I would NEVER allow my baby to be taken care of in some day care by strangers who could not love him as much as my wife and I do. I think there's more risk involved in a daycare that than flying as a BIA and annual fatality rates at daycares prove it.
In conclusion, please do not judge me as a parent or question how much I love my child because I disagreed with your risk matrix about flying with a baby as BIA versus a car seat.
