CARES Airplane Harness for Toddlers

If you don't need to take a car seat on the airplane, or you've decided to check your child's car seat as luggage, the CARES toddler airline harness allows you to keep your child safe on the airplane while traveling lighter. Accommodating children over 1 year old and weighing 22-44 pounds, the CARES harness is easy to use and rolls up incredibly small so you can easily stash it in your carry-on bag.

The lap belt on airplane seats is designed for adults, and doesn't really fit toddlers well enough to be safe. While most car seats can be used on a plane, there are some instances where you may not want to carry a car seat through the airport, but still want your toddler to be properly restrained on the airplane. Enter the CARES harness, which consists of several lengths of seatbelt webbing that, through loops and metal pieces, fits around the airplane seat and through the regular airplane lap belt to form a 5-point harness that keeps little ones safer in case of turbulence or other air mishaps. The harness is much easier to carry and install than a car seat when you're in a cramped airplane cabin.

Using the CARES airplane harness is very easy. You just have to slide the large belt around the airplane seat, loop the ends through the airplane seat belt, and then buckle your child and tighten all of the harness pieces. It doesn't take long to have a toddler buckled and ready to go with the CARES harness. There is one style of airplane seat that does not work well with the CARES harness, because the harness wrapping around the seatback doesn't allow the tray table behind the child to be put up for takeoff and landing. I've only found this to be a problem on one airline that I fly regularly. It's a good idea to do some research into the type of plane you'll be on to make sure that your child can be properly restrained.

I used this harness with my child when I traveled to locations where I knew that a good car seat was waiting for my child on the other end. I, personally, am not comfortable checking my child's car seat as luggage in many situations, because the rough treatment can cause damage to the car seat shell, which can affect the safety of the car seat in a crash. I would urge parents who want to check car seats as luggage to also invest in a sturdy padded car seat bag to give the car seat some added protection against rough handling. Another option, if possible, is to have someone at your destination purchase an inexpensive car seat or booster that is appropriate for your child.

Another important safety note is that the CARES harness is not approved for use in any vehicle other than an airplane. Do not use this product in a car as a replacement for a suitable car seat.

Overall, I think the CARES harness is a well-designed product that can be very useful for parents, especially those who travel often with a toddler and want to streamline their on-board gear.