Product Description

CARES Kids Fly Safe aviation restraint is designed specifically for aviation use for children age 1 and older who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds. These youngsters are old enough to be in their own seats, but are too small for the seat belt alone to protect them. Their bodies cannot withstand the jolts that are common in routine transportation, much less emergency situations, and they flail forward or slide beneath the seat belt if they are not held securely in place. Each year more and more young children fly. But until CARES Kids Fly Safe aviation restraint came along, what was missing was a convenient, hassle-free way to keep young flyers safe. Here's what makes CARES such an invaluable travel solution: CARES Kids Fly Safe aviation restraint is the first and only aviation Child Safety Device to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an alternative to a car seat. CARES Kids Fly Safe aviation restraint is an elegantly designed belt-and-buckle device that works in conjunction with the regular airplane seat belt and provides young travelers the same level of safety as a car seat. CARES Kids Fly Safe aviation restraint weighs just one pound and fits into a 6" stuff sack! It is easily portable, simple to install, adjustable to nearly every size airplane seat, and usable on any seat in the airplane, except in the emergency exit rows. Need your car seat on the other end of the trip? Just check it through as luggage and carry CARES Kids Fly Safe aviation restraint on board in your pocket! CARES is manufactured exclusively by AmSafe Aviation, the foremost manufacturer of aviation seatbelts and pilot restraints in the world. (Turn over your airplane seat belt buckle. Chances are it says AmSafe.) CARES is made of the same industrial-strength webbing as your own seat belt and is engineered to the highest aviation-safety standards. INCLUDES: Restraint, instruction card, instruction video on DVD, and travel bag.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #346 in Baby Product
• Brand: CARES
• Model: 4102533
• Dimensions: 6.00" h x 2.00" w x 9.00" l, 1.00 pounds

Features

• Safety harness designed specifically for aviation travel
• Compact - fits into 6" stuff sack - weighs just 1 pound
• Easy to install takes less than 1 minute
• Adjusts to fit almost every size airplane seat
• Designed for children 1 year and older weighing 22-44 pounds and up to 40" tall

From the Manufacturer
Now there is an easier, better way to fly safe with kids. Just carry a CARES in your pocket or purse, install it on the airplane seat in one minute, and turn any airplane seat into a safe airplane seat for your child. CARES (child aviation restraint system) is the first and only FAA approved harness type child safety device. CARES is an innovative restraint for kids 22-44 pounds that attaches directly to the back of the airplane seat and augments the regular seat belt. CARES weighs 1 pound, fits in a 6" stuff sack and is FAA certified for all phases of flight – taxiing, take off, turbulence and landing. CARES fits all size airplane seats and takes one minute to install. CARES takes the hassle out of flying with kids and keeps them as safe as a car seat.

Customer Reviews

Useful for shorter flights
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.

Good child flight harness
This is a great product for kids who are too big to travel in a carseat but may be too small to be firmly held by a lap belt alone. Certainly this product is lightweight and portable, a pleasure after lugging carseats onto airplanes. It installs quickly and easily. The only downsides are that when it is fastened firmly, it's hard for the child to lean over and sleep. I loosened it so my son could lean to the side with a couple pillows. Also when it is pulled tight, the main strap pulls away from the seat and may not be comfortable for the child's head. Sometimes you have to play with the installation. Overall, though, it's a great product. While it may seem a little bit like overkill, after one bout of severe turbulence on an airplane, you will appreciate its value to keep your kids safely strapped to their seats.

Not a great device
I bought two of these for my twin daughters (just turned three) for a flight to Jamaica. They certainly are easier to carry through an airport than a car seat, and easy to install, but the way the straps are situated, if you child falls asleep (as mine did) the strap/top buckle hit right around the neck if your child slides down or slumps at all, making the device quite dangerous. Our child literally had an indentation on her neck from this device. Several people sitting around us commented how dangerous the device could be to a sleeping child, including the flight attendant. (And yes, the device was correctly installed.)

If you choose to use the CARES harness, I would suggest only using it for take-off and landings, and use the regular lap belt during the flight.