CARES harness vs. car seat for flying

swoop24 · March 2011

Hi all -

DD and I will be flying next week and she'll have her own seat since she's 2. The last few flights we've taken she had her own seat as well, and we used a car seat. Anyone have experience using the CARES harness instead of a car seat? Since it will just be me, I'd rather not lug stroller, car seat, and carry on bags if possible.

One of my concerns is that DD is pretty small (25 pounds) and since that's the lower limit for the harness, I'm not sure how well it will work. We'll be visiting my mom who already has a car seat, so won't need one once we get to our destination.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

runnergirl2008 · March 2011

I've used it with my DS a few times and he's not yet 30 pounds. I have only one complaint. There is not strap between the legs so when he threw a fit he could just about get out of it. He never did but it was close. Other than that, it was awesome. The simplicity of having it over a huge carseat was great.

fromvatobk · March 2011

I've used both and prefer the CARES, easy to install, no worries on lugging the carseat through the plane aisle. I had heard about the concern with kids wriggling out the bottom so I bough an extra velcro strap separately that I was able to convert into a strap that fit between his legs. The only downside to the CARES was the my DS figured out how to undo the buckle before the end of the plane trip and tried to escape at one point. But I would use it again.

swoop24 · March 2011

Great - thanks so much for the info, esp about the strap. Perhaps I'll try to fashion one before we go. I think we'll try the harness - it's only a 2 hour flight so would probably be a good test run. Thanks again!

anna7602 · March 2011

I've tried using a car seat and a CARES harness on a plane and DD hates both. It was easier for her to squirm out of the CARES harness. Also, our flight attendant insisted the "correct" installation was in a way that impeded the person behind us from using his tray (something I doubted was correct, but couldn't research or argue once we were on the plane), so I ended up ditching it entirely after take-off. This last time (last month), we flew without anything as I didn't need a car seat at our destination and we had such a bad experience with the CARES harness last time. Not sure what I will do about an upcoming trip on an overnight international flight. I don't think DD will sleep all night in a car seat, she'll probably prefer to lay across the seat on my lap.

KarBear · March 2011

My DD just prefers to sit in her seat or on our lap once the seatbelt sign is off. She likes her freedom.

Carifly · March 2011

Escpecially since you don't need the caraway when you get there, I'd use the CARES harness. I have the same complaint about wishing there was a strap between the legs (she kept slouching and sliding out the bottom) and love the idea of adding something to help with that. But it is definitely better than carrying on the car seat or just using the regular seatbelt I think!

jessamommy2 · March 2011

my 2.5 yr old son is a squirmer and will want to jump out of the airline seat and run around! so we need to use a carseat! the only thing is he likes to kick the back of the seat in front of him so we have to take his shoes off and distract him ALOT with new toys, books, dvd, and suckers.. lol good luck!

swoop24 · March 2011

Thx for the additional thoughts, all. I'm admittedly a bit worried about DD's squirminess but am hoping this works. DD mostly likes flying and hopefully the fact that it's a relatively short flight will work in our favor. If all else fails I'll have my ipod touch with me, which is loaded with toddler apps and videos. And if not, well - I'll just hope that the 2 hours flies by and that no one sits by me! We usually fly Southwest and it's hilarious how many people pass up an aisle seat when they see mom and a toddler...

VTbride05 · March 2011

I debated this subject this fall when we traveled with our 2.5 year old (who is also small, under 25lbs). I ended up going with nothing and it really worked best. He laid on me, cuddled, and was just fine to sit in his seat with the seatbelt when he was told he had to. If you dont need a carseat at your destination just let her fly in the seat. GL!

keg · March 2011

fromvatobk:
I've used both and prefer the CARES, easy to install, no worries on lugging the carseat through the plane aisle. I had heard about the concern with kids wriggling out the bottom so I bough an extra velcro strap separately that I was able to convert into a strap that fit between his legs. The only downside to the CARES was the my DS figured out how to undo the buckle before the end of the plane trip and tried to escape at one point. But I would use it again.

Can you explain how you did this? This has been my concern with the CARES too and since I have two, if we're flying, I don't want to try and deal with two squirmy worms! We did carseats last flight and they didn't work as well as I hoped and it was just painful. :-)

GoodOman9206 · March 2011

We used the CARES product when we took DS on his first plane ride. We thought it was wonderful as it was easy to carry around and he enjoyed being able to sit in a 'big boy seat' like daddy. I would definately recommend it over lugging the carseat on the plane.

mlf625 · March 2011

DS absolutely HATED the cares harness and threw such a huge fit we ended up taking it off (he kept unbuckling the seat belt before the fit, too). My preference is to take the car seat using a GoGoKidz travelmate to pull it through the airport/onto the plane. I'm traveling solo with both kids next month and will be using that (and pushing a double stroller, fun!) because I think the car seat is just a much more comfortable place for DS since it's familiar and he knows once he's in it, he has to sit.

Elisa312 · March 2011

We have used the Cares Harness, and yes they do tend to slide down with no crotch strap.

Someone recommended to me to take a large square of that grippy stuff you use in the kitchen in your cabinets and drawers. It sticks to the leather seat and your kids butt stays put for the most part.

The stuff like this. You can get it at Walmart/Target.

https://www.amazon.com/Grip-Shelf-Drawer-Liner-Black/dp/B000KFSOFI

andrea922 · March 2011

anna7602:
I've tried using a car seat and a CARES harness on a plane and DD hates both. It was easier for her to squirm out of the CARES harness. Also, our flight attendant insisted the "correct" installation was in a way that impeded the person behind us from using his tray (something I doubted was correct, but couldn't research or argue once we were on the plane), so I ended up ditching it entirely after take-off. This last time (last month), we flew without anything as I didn't need a car seat at our destination and we had such a bad experience with the CARES harness last time. Not sure what I will do about an upcoming trip on an overnight international flight. I don't think DD will sleep all night in a car seat, she'll probably prefer to lay across the seat on my lap.

The FA was so wrong. The harness goes behind the tray table and the tray table can open and close without an issue with the harness installed correctly. We use one all the time, and travel internationally with our son often. He has never slipped out from it or tried to unbuckle it (he knows how), we have just told him if he wants to watch the ipad he has to leave it buckled, we aren't below bribery, especially on a 9 hour flight. He has slept with it on during overnight flights as well, towards the end of our last one he started freaking out cause he was trying to get comfortable so we undid it. And he is small, 27 lbs at 3 years.

ScoobyM · March 2011

We have used both a car seat and a CARES harness with our DD and definitely prefer the CARES. My DD is rather tall and in the car seat she is so close to the seat in front of her it is impossible to keep her from kicking it. Plus she can't fold up her legs or shift position really in the car seat. In the CARES she had a lot more room and could sit between DH and I, and it was easier to keep her from messing with the seat in front of her. She definitely tried to get out of it but she couldn't - I never thought about the leg strap idea, but she didn't wiggle down out of it. She did figure out how to unbuckle it but we managed to keep her in her seat most of the time.

CARES harness vs. car seat for flying

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