CARES airplane harness...thoughts?

[Joanna]

A friend has asked me about the CARES airplane harness. I have no experience with these at all. Her daughter is 15 months old and their destination (grandparents) already have a car seat, so she is looking for alternatives for the plane ride.

Does anyone have any experiences with these? Thoughts?

Here is a link to the product.

Thanks!

[rgphib]

I have been looking at these online...I think it is a great idea. I was thinking about getting one in the future for when we have a car seat at both places.

Would love to hear others thoughts too!

[Imachickadee75]

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mine! My experience is that my son thought he was in his car seat and was MUCH more manageable.

There are a few drawbacks:
1. I have found that on some planes with recessed tray tables the tray will not close with the strap behind it. This was less of a problem when my son was short b/c it actually could go beneath the tray. But because the system is threaded through the lap belt it is impossible to remove without taking off the lap belt. This means that puting it over the tray table behind you is extermely inconvienent as well as dangerous because you have to unbuckle your child to take it off the tray table behind you. This is most easily solved by sitting in the last row.

2. Also, there is no crotch strap to keep the child from sliding down. This was a problem with my super skinny boy but the manufacturer said they could not find a safe way to make a crotch strap work. Our prob has resolved as he's gotten bigger.

However, beyond that, I love it. When they first came out I had a few run in's with FA's but haven't had any problems in the last year or so. In fact, most comment that my child is the safest passenger on the plane. It's light and compact to travel with. I add two little car seat pillows to the bag and strap them on for maximum nap comfort! (Jason always seems to fall asleep on approach! Talk about total confidence!) It fits mainline as well as regional seats with no trouble -including first class seats! The cost is a little prohibitive but since we traveled 15 times in Zack's first year, it has more than paid for itself.

Let me know if you have any specific questions!