unfortunately, this is not very new....10 years ago, I was travelling alone with my 3 kids, 2, 4, 6 yo and we go all dispatched all around the plane. The flight intendant wash their hands saying that you need to see with the other passagers, and some other passagers simply don't care. You can be seated very far from your children which means that you eventually end up with the child on you laps the whole flight (and how can one do with 3 ?).
And no matter reserving the seats online first. American companies very often change them (I still don't understand why...).
You can just say nothing : You ticket is paid and you need to go, they just don't care about your situation.
Now, if you have children old enough (around 8 for example), reserve for them the first row of economics and reserve for you the last row of business, so you hare just one row in front of them, then, you have to pay the fare of unaccompanied children (meaning full price ticket)...because you are not in the same cabine.
So, if they do split you all over the craft, 20 rows apart, it's al normal, but if you choose to have a little more comfort and have business class for adults kids are just the next row, this is not possible....
Ok, rant of the day over :) And yes, family, be careful of that and secure you seats whenever it's possible.
Many airlines won't reserve the bulkhead for infants any more and often exclude babies specifically from these seats.
The new trend is to relegate children to the rear of the plane, even if this means splitting families up, and creating baby zones, there are reports of children as young as 2 being seated alone at the rear of the plane inspite of parents requests to be seated next to their child. Seems many airlines are taking a new tack with children on board, especially those in the US.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204517204577042111627445348.html
see article's interactive map of what to expect.
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