CARES Child Aviation Restraint System
by CARES
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List Price: Our Price: $63.93 You Save: $11.06 (15%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of CARES Child Aviation Restraint System
Customer Review: Useful for shorter flights
Summary: 3 Stars
We just bought the CARES restraint for our flight from Washington to Texas last month. We have the heaviest car seat ever made, I think, and I just wanted to check it, not struggle with it on the plane. The restraint did keep him in his seat, but I had two complaints.
First, I was disappointed that there was no strap between his legs to keep him from sliding down in his seat. I can see how one mother was concerned about strangulation, though I suspect if left to his own devices, my 2-year-old might have just finally managed to wriggle out of it altogether. In our case, I was frequently boosting him back up in his seat and had to keep a hand on him to keep him from wriggling back down during his fussiest moments. Now that I'm familiar with the problem, I may be able to rig a solution before we use it again.
My second concern was that the strap does go around the back of the child's seat, which means either you have to open the tray of the passenger behind you to install the strap, then close the tray back up, or in some cases (according to the instructions,) install the strap around the tray of the passenger behind you, rendering their tray useless and making it impossible to use the strap during the flight when that passenger would need their tray. Since I have this innate fear of annoying people, that would have really bothered me, but fortunately, since we are a family of five, we took up two rows anyway and I was able to make sure the baby was in front of one of us.
I would probably use it again for a four-hour flight like that one to avoid the hassle of maneuvering that car seat through the narrow aisles of a plane, but for longer flights I will probably stick with the car seat both for his sleeping comfort and my peace of mind.
Edited 11-12-10 to add: I never did use it again. I found it much less stressful to just buy the lightest, easiest-to-carry car seat I could find for traveling. We chose the 12.5 lb Cosco Scenera Convertible Car Seat from Target for under $50, and it's been fine - it just needs some extra head support for napping.
Customer Review: A great idea - well executed but a bit pricey
Summary: 4 Stars
We bought the CARES restraint system to fly with our 2 year old son from Boston to Washington DC on JetBlue. The trip went mostly well. Here are our initial impressions:
- The price is high but the construction quality is excellent and I imagine that the FAA approval process is costly.
- On JetBlue we were able to strap the restraint system on under the seat-back tray so we didn't inconvenience the folks behind us. JetBlue's web site acknowledges the CARES system and the flight crew had no concerns with it.
- Our son was initially upset about the restraint system and didn't like it. As others have pointed out, there's no strap between the legs so he would have slid out under the lap belt if we'd let him. After 5 minutes of parental restraint, some tears, and a happy meal toy, he settled down and was reasonably content with the straps. In retrospect we should have given him a chance to get used to the CARES system before the flight - maybe in a car seat (not while driving of course but just while parked so he could experience it beforehand). Introducing him to something new right after the excitement of boarding a plane wasn't a good idea. We also should have let him get settled a bit in the seat before we tried to strap him in. The return flight was a lot easier.
- Going through the airport (and the airplane) without lugging a car seat was wonderful!!
- CARES was great for a short trip but I doubt he could sleep in it. For long flights or red-eye trips we'd probably still lug the car seat.
- All in all I'd say that temperment is the key factor in deciding whether or not CARES will work for your child. Our son is reasonably easy going so he took to it pretty well. Even so, some rehersal in advance would have been a good idea.
- Possible Improvements: Lower price and a between-the-legs strap.
Customer Review: CARES for Safety
Summary: 5 Stars
When flying with my children I am always emotionally conflicted about how to keep them safe (being a mother comes with a lot of guilt...). On the one hand, it is physically impossible for me to carry a child, carry on baggage, and a car seat through an airport. Conversely, I find myself wishing I had a safe way to restrain my child when the airplane experiences scary, jolting turbulence. Shouldn't children aged 1-4 be as safe on an airplane as they are in a car?
I was relieved when I found a solution that is both easy to carry AND extremely safe.
CARES is a child aviation restraint that slides around the seat back and attaches to the lap belt to give young children the much-needed sternum strap that traditional car seats provide.
The CARES child flight safety device is the only FAA certified child restraint that is equal to the safety level of a car seat. CARES is manufactured by AmSafe, the leading maker of airplane seat belts and pilot restraints.
CARES is the ONLY alternative to a car seat that is permitted on planes.
CARES is designed for children between 22 and 44 lbs who sit in their own seat.
One thing I love about CARES is that it weighs only 1 lb and folds up very very small:
It comes with it's own 6" storage sack and an instructional DVD (although it only takes one minute to install the CARES harness on the plane seat, watching the instructional DVD might boost your confidence).
CARES has won numerous awards, including the Good Housekeeping 2008 Good Buy Award, the National Parenting Center 2007 Seal of Approval, and several others!
My preschooler thinks CARES is "cool", like a real pilot would wear! It actually did "remind" him to stay in his seat (he is "very active")!
Customer Review: Not impressed
Summary: 2 Stars
I recently used this product on a trans-Atlantic flight. I wasn't impressed. As others have noticed, with a young child the absence of a strap between the legs leaves them sliding down/squirming out in a way that's not possible with a carseat and that actually seemed easier with this harness on (holding the waist belt up with its shoulder straps) than with it off. But beyond that, the seats on the planes we flew on were curved (like a bucket seat in a vehicle) meaning that portion of this harness that goes around the seat, instead of lying flat, stuck out (relative to where the seat itself was). Just as it appears in the picture on this site, that strap sits basically at head height for the little one, so this seemed sort of uncomfortable for my son.
Another problem (relative to a carseat) is that on the planes we sat on, the plane seatbelt is very easy for a fidgety little one to unbuckle. This harness does nothing to prevent that, and its functionality depends heavily on the seatbelt being fastened, so ...
I felt this harness offered so little that I packed it in my checked luggage on the way back and used just the plane's seatbelt for my son. I'm glad I didn't actually buy this harness but simply rented one through Ebay.
My son is 2.5 years old, about 3 feet tall, and about 30 lbs.
Quick summary: harness didn't fit well on contoured seats in our plane, doesn't address ease with which small kids can unbuckle plane seatbelts (unlike carseats), and didn't seem to me to be worth fooling with. Use the plane seatbelt alone if you want to travel light, or pack a carseat.
Customer Review: Good product but I modified it
Summary: 4 Stars
I used this on my 3 1/2 yr old daughter. She is a good traveler and experienced with flying. I had used her car seat previously, but due to a medical issue I couldn't carry her car seat on and deal with hooking it up. This CARES system was a wonderful addition.
Like the other reviews, I did have problems with her sliding down in the seat. I didn't have an issue with the chest piece getting close to her neck, but I also had it adjusted pretty low on her chest. She found it comfortable, it was easy to put on and take off.
For the flight home, I added a strap (webbing similar to what the CARES system used - 1 1/2 in wide and 3 ft long). I got simple sliding buckles at the same hardware store as the webbing, so no sewing was needed. I made a loop around the strap that goes around the seat back, right between the shoulder straps (held together with one sliding buckle). My added strap then went down behind my daughter and up between her legs. I made another loop in the strap (held with the other sliding buckle) that the seat belt slid through. So I had the seat belt passing through one CARES shoulder strap, my added strap between her legs, and then the second CARES shoulder strap - then buckled. This made a HUGE difference and she didn't slide down as badly. This would work well for a wiggly child too. All in all, it was about $3.50 in added parts, all from the local hardware store.
I will happily use the CARES seat belt until my daughter is too old/big for it. I felt much more comfortable with her belted in securely.