I wasn't sure it was true, even when they were telling me this stuff!! However, I am puzzled about the 3 out of the 4 lapbelt babies surviving. Earlier, VSLHRCSA said
In the US and Canada, infant seatbelts are banned as they are a safety hazard
and
I used to fly for Air 2000 which shared aircraft with its then partner Canada 3000. We would often use Canadian registered 757s on charter flights from the UK. A lot of the time, passengers would fly out to, say, PMI on a UK registered 757 and be given an infant seatbelt. On their return flight, they would be on the Canadian 757. When they would ask for the infant seatbelt, we would have to explain that on this particular aircraft it was illegal to issue them
If this is the case, how could it be that the infants with lapbelts survived, as it would seem that the use of lapbelts is banned? For what it is worth, when my son was an infant (1990!), we flew from Charlotte, NC to LGW on Piedmont. We were given a "cot" (essentially a cardboard box) to put him in, and allocated a bulkhead seat. We were then instructed to place him on the floor in front of us, pressed against the bulkhead. We were shocked and asked if there was no means of securing him, but were told this was the correct procedure!
After this experience, we pretty much always booked a seat and strapped in the car seat, which seems a reasonable solution to me overall.