Also, a used a non-ring sling, Nurture Baby I think, and I had great success with that as well. The Boppy helped him nurse more comfortably, and then I could rock him in the sling to sleep and still be able to get some shut-eye myself.

The only time I refuse to breastfeed my children on the airplane is for safety reasons. Those being…

TAKE OFF
LANDING
AND ANY TIME THE SEATBELT SIGN IS ON

during these times my children are safely strapped into their carseats which are safely strapped into the airplane seats. Just like every other passenger on the plane.

As a mom and a flight attendant I am continually shocked how often young children travel on airplanes without the protection of a car seat or a fabulous new product out now called Cares. And I think the FAA is doing the general public a disservice by not requiring that all people regardless of age be strapped into a seat.

I have been known to, on many occasions, politely educate parents on the perils of holding/breastfeeding children during take off and suggest they use their carseat. Pacifiers are great for sucking on and releiving ear discomfort. Neither of my children have experienced adverse effects from the pressure change during take off or landing. In fact they are usually both sleeping peacefully and safely in their carseats. On our most recent flight my oldest child used a new airplane seat harness called cares which eliminated the need for his carseat. It worked great.

Airplanes taxi at a rate of approximately 25 mph, airplanes take off and land at speeds between 125-190 mph. Incidents at these speeds are survivable for passengers wearing seatbelts. However if something happens and the pilots need to slam on the brakes at these high speeds there is no way you will be able to hold onto your child. The same goes for turbulence inflight. The number one cause for flight attendant injury is turbulence, because we aren’t wearing seatbelts during the flight. When you are holding your child they have no protection from turbulence. Your child can bounce from the ceiling to the floor to the ceiling in seconds. I’ve been told that Boeing engieneers refer to lap held children as “projectiles”.

One mom/flight attendant hoping to make air travel safer for small children.

Two great products for traveling with small children

wheels that attatch to your carseat
http://www.gogobabyz.com/index.html

harness straps that attatch to the airplane seat to keep your child more secure and eliminate the need for the carseat
http://kidsflysafe.com/

I worked for Alaska Airlines (a sweet little NW airline) and I just can’t imagine it getting this far, but we’ve all heard stories or flown with those power trip , evil Flight Attendants.

I guess I’m just sharing the worst case scenario.

I think your post is great (well your whole blog is really good).

If they threaten you: I really hope that it would never get to this point, but if you end up being threatened with something ridiculous, like a breach of security or something where they could take more drastic measures (like handcuffing you or something ), I think I would probably do whatever they were requesting, e.g. moving to another seat or covering up. I wouldn’t use their dirty blanket, I would use my own sweater or receiving blanket or something, but I would go along with what they were asking. And then I would sue their ass/file a complaint when I got back home.