You may download this page but you may not link it inside frames, repost it, or sell it without permission. Here's a letter I received from a reader. I feel it is important to answer her question here. I am a mother of three, and it always bothers me when I hear the emergency announcements on airplanes telling us to grab our own oxygen masks before we assist our children.
Children seem so much more vulnerable than adults.
Obviously, if a parent loses useful consciousness, she won't be able to take care of her child. A doctor explained to me that if children lose consciousness, they normally have three to seven minutes in which they can be revived without lasting side effects. So, on an airplane, when the parent generally has 18 seconds to figure it all out, the math makes sense for the parent to put on her mask first and then attend to her child. So, arrive at your flight with a good night's sleep under your belt. In the event of a catastrophic occurrence, this could mean a few extra seconds of useful consciousness.