CARES or carseat for flying?

[luvmy2babies]

I'm taking my family down in October and it's our first time bringing a toddler. My youngest will be 14 months at time of travel. At first, I was going to have him be a lap baby but then I thought I might prefer him to have his own seat so that we won't have a stranger sitting with us. That's when I saw that the FAA approves of the CARES restraint. However, after posting on a local moms buy/sell/trade FB page, I was informed that my son would actually be better off in a rear-facing car seat and that the CARES restraint is not a good choice. I've seen pictures online of toddlers using them on planes and it just seems so much simpler than lugging a big car seat along with all of our other stuff, especially when we'll be using Disney buses/taxis for the whole trip. Can anyone help me decide which way to go? I don't see what the big deal is if I use the CARES, it's a 2.5 hr flight down and back (leaving from PA). The person who gave me the info seemed very knowledgeable on the subject, but I would like to know what kinds of experiences other families may have had using the restraint vs. a car seat...Thanks in advance!

As to our experience car seat vs harness I loved having the harness. Now that being said, I travel alone with two children so naturally I’m going to prefer carrying the harness to lugging a car seat and dealing with two children. Then there’s the fact that the harness could be used on the middle seat as opposed to the car seat which has to go by the window. For us it meant my older child could finally get the window seat and I got out of the middle to the aisle seat. Plus I didn’t have to constantly remind my son to keep his feet down so he wouldn’t kick the seat in front of him. He wasn't kicking, just likes to swing his legs sometimes.

At 14 months though your child may be two small for the harness. You'll need to double check. There’s a minimum height and weight and though I can’t recall what it is, my son didn’t reach it until he was 2. We used his car seat on his two flights prior to that. Got on early with ECBI with Southwest and went to the back of the plane so I could get it hooked in without too many people around.

A note on the installation, you move the tray table before putting the harness around the seat. We got on early because I had done ECBI and no one was there when I got on; so I just moved the tray and put it back after I had the strap where I wanted it. The harness does not fasten the person’s tray to your child’s seat. When it was time to undo it, I just let the person know I was going to move his tray for a moment and he actually helped me slide it off.

 

[Aladora]

I'm taking my family down in October and it's our first time bringing a toddler. My youngest will be 14 months at time of travel. At first, I was going to have him be a lap baby but then I thought I might prefer him to have his own seat so that we won't have a stranger sitting with us. That's when I saw that the FAA approves of the CARES restraint. However, after posting on a local moms buy/sell/trade FB page, I was informed that my son would actually be better off in a rear-facing car seat and that the CARES restraint is not a good choice. I've seen pictures online of toddlers using them on planes and it just seems so much simpler than lugging a big car seat along with all of our other stuff, especially when we'll be using Disney buses/taxis for the whole trip. Can anyone help me decide which way to go? I don't see what the big deal is if I use the CARES, it's a 2.5 hr flight down and back (leaving from PA). The person who gave me the info seemed very knowledgeable on the subject, but I would like to know what kinds of experiences other families may have had using the restraint vs. a car seat...Thanks in advance!

I've used both. When my son was 13 months old we used his car seat. When we flew when he was 3 years old we used a CARES harness. By the time he was 5 we just had him using the regular seat belt.

I really liked the CARES harness and would not hesitate to use it again but not with a child as young as yours. At that age I would bring a car seat to use.

 

[Ladcassidy]

We have used the CARES harness for DD7 on many trips, starting when she was 18 months. She still uses it for each flight, as that is her "normal." The first time we pulled it out years ago, a flight attendant said "Wow, I've heard of those!" Now, they are commonplace. The strap sits under the seat-back lap tray of the person behind you, and on a couple of different aircraft, the material has caused the tray not to latch closed very well. But we always let the person in that seat know that we are installing a child's seat belt during the boarding process, and no one has complained about it.

 

[mcjaco]

I'm vacillating on the CARES harness for a trip to Hawaii this summer for my just turned 3 year old boys. I will not lug car seats on a plane anymore after this past trip to Disney with them, and I brought the two cheapo light weight ones we have, instead of the monster Graco ones. It was a PITA to carry them through the airport, over the airplane seats, and the kids legs were that much closer to the seat in front of them. Just not a fun way to start and end a vacation.

They are really good in seats, and I think we're just going to use the seat belt on the two flights out to Hawaii, as I don't see the value in the CARES harness, and they'll likely want it off in some fashion shortly after take off. Then I only have to fear the shape of the rental car seats at the end of the journey......

 

[Ladcassidy]

As a follow up to my prior post, we have used and continue to use the CARES harness for the safety it provides. DD7 also still uses a five-point harness in the car, so wearing one on the airplane is not much of a stretch.

 

[Samaria]

You don't have to bring car seat but for peace of mind if you are already paying for her seat id say bring a car seat for safety reasons. Eventhough it is not required for them to have car seats on the plane it is safer for both kids to be in it and everyone else. Might be one more thing you don't want to carry but will be worth it she might be used to sitting in her car seat anyways and be more comfortable.

 

[lorenni]

This will be our first time to fly and have to buy DD her own seat. She will be 25 months when we do fly. Do I have to take a car seat or CARES for her?

We don't fly much.So I just don't see myself paying $70 for a CARES for this one time. I really don't want to tote her carseat around the airport either.

However if it is needed I will certainly end up forking over the money for one.

We've been using a CARES harness since DS was big enough for it and plan to continue using it until he grows out of it. Any flight attendant will tell you that in the vent of serious turbulence small children fly through the air. Wasn't it last year that a child bounced off the ceiling of a plane during turbulence?

It also keeps him still. He's used to it and doesn't question it. And it goes UNDER the tray table of the seat so it absolutely does not inconvenience anyone else.

Ours was less than $100. Money well spent.

 

[luvmy2babies]

If you don't fly often they are available for rent on ebay. I rented one for my son. You let them know when you need it (your trip dates) and you have a certain number of days after you return to ship it back.

 

[kboo]

As a frequent flyer (both business and with the kids) and someone that has toted a car seat onto the plane (one time) for our DD when she was just 14 months, I say go without. I've watched many others struggle trying to get them down the isle and into the seat. It's even worse when you don't have any status with the airline and are boarding late in the process trying not to hit anyone that's already on the plane. Not every flight offers early boarding for families. This is even more true for when flying to Orlando from some airports. In our case, our DD wouldn't sit in it the entire time so we ended up holding her in our lap anyway.

If you need a car seat or booster when you arrive in Orlando for a rental car, most rental companies for a per day fee which is more than worth not having to hassle with it.

Let her enjoy flying like 'Big' person by using the normal seat belt. Your flight will be much more enjoyable.

At first I thought I had written this post! I've also only used a car seat once (never again! augh!) and then used the CARES harness ever since. Agree with all of the points above.

The harness fits under the tray table and so it really doesn't affect the person sitting behind you AT ALL. I have never had a passenger or flight attendant have a problem with this. Also have rented cars and rented car seats with them - while they are not necessarily what I would have chosen to BUY, they have always been clean and easy to install, and again, well worth not having to lug the car seat.

Also, I've had good luck with my DD (now 3.5, she's been using the CARES harness since she was 2) listening to the "rules" by the flight attendant and captain, in large part because we talked about it a lot beforehand, so she knew what was up. Also the CARES harness has a height limit, I think it's 40" or 42" ... either way, we may not be using the harness on our next trip... !

 

[DSNY4ever]

We used our cares harness on a trip to WDW and multiple flights in Europe, we have lent it to many friends too. Try asking on Facebook (if you have it) if anyone would let you borrow it. We never had a problem using it, DS behaved better with it on.