Flying with 2 year old--CARES or car seat?

[jsantini]

We are going to Disney right after my son turns 2. In the past, he's always flown as a lap baby. Now I'm wondering if I should get a CARES harness or bring a car seat. Someone told me I can also use the seatbelt on the plane, but I imagine it's way too big (ironic I'm worried about this since he's flown many times as a lap baby, I know).

Anyway, I'm curious to hear what others with 2 year olds have done. Installing the car seat on two planes there and 2 back seems really stressful and we don't need one at our destination. Also, my son doesn't enjoy sitting in the car seat, so it's not a calming advantage for him. However, I've heard the CARES harness is really too big for 2 year olds.

Advice?

 

[disney world dreamer]

the seat belts adjust on the plane.
just use the seat belt.

 

[myrtleturtle]

I would say it depends on the size of your child. We are taking our almost 3 year old twins and they are still not big enough for the CARES harness. We fly about 4 times a year and always take our car seats. It's a familiar place for them to sit, they can see out the window, and they almost always fall asleep in them. Again, because of size, no way would I put them in a seat with just the belt. They are too wiggly and it would not be secure.

If your child is big enough for the harness, you can rent them from people on eBay. It is cheaper than buying them if you don't fly often.

 

[msmama]

I tried the car seat once (my son was 18 months) and it was a disaster. He ended up on my lap with an empty car seat sitting next to us.

After that I bought a cares and we used that until I started forgetting it, he was about 4 probably.

I would say any cares or regular seatbelt would be fine. For us, more than security, the cares reminded him that he couldn't get up and move any time he wanted. It's not super tight or anything, but he knew it was there. I also liked it on the off chance that if he fell asleep it would support him better.

 

[pixiegoose]

Car seat. CARES doesn't fit most kids until the they reach the upper limits of the weight limit. We're bringing our 2 year old's car seat in December- no way do I trust her to sit in just the plane's seat belt. This will be my 5 year old's first time riding in just the seat belt- she's finally old enough and mature enough. I'm looking forward to only dragging along/installing/uninstalling one car seat instead of 2 (both kids have ALWAYS ridden in their car seats on the plane- they're not given a choice, just like the car)! But if we were going to be renting a car instead of using Disney transportation, both kids would be in car seats on the plane.

 

[jlwhitney]

We flew with our then 20 month old last September and bought her a seat and she just used the seat belt. She was either in one of our laps or buckled in.

No way will I drag a car seat on a plane when I have no use for it once on the ground.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Depends on the size of your 2 year old. Our 2 year old is as big as the average 3 year old so we could use the CARES harness. However got our flight next month we are just using the seatbelt. That is what works for our family.

 

[Ladcassidy]

DD started using her CARES harness at 18 months, and still does at 7 years. She's never flown without it.

 

[abinormal]

The harness won't make the lap belt any smaller, so if it's too big at it's tightest setting it won't help that. Depends on the size of the child and whether they'll sit without trying to submarine out.

 

[TheSpooph]

We used the CARES harness with our DD when she was a little more than 2. It fit fine and it helped her know to stay in place in the seat. We use it until Her last trip when she was 5. Now she sits still and the lap belt was sufficient.

 

[mcjaco]

If you need to bring the car seat with you for a rental car, bring the car seat. If you're not, just go with the lap belt.

CARES sounds like a good idea, but some flight attendants don't know what it is, and can cause all sorts of agony on using it. Then you also have to strap it around the seat, which means disrupting the person behind you. IMHO, it's a pain in the posterior.

 

[JediBonas]

This is our third year going and our third year using CARES. Kiddos were 1 (turning 2) the first year, 2 (turning 3) the second year and will be 4 this year. I love the CARES harnesses. We have huge heavy carseats (Diono) and lugging those around with two toddlers just wasn't going to happen.

 

[Twice_as_Nice]

LOVE our CARES we don't travel without it. We've had it for 2 kids now and they have all been great with it. I like that it offers more security for little ones than the regular seat belts, which are too big, and it makes it harder for them to move around when they get antsy. We have never had a problem with strapping it we just kindly explain to the person behind what we are doing and they are fine. Also we've never had a problem with a flight attendant not knowing what it is most comment on how awesome they think they are.

We use a small square of the foamy sticky drawer liner you can get in the dollar store for under the bum to help keep their bums in place since there is no crotch strap. We used ours from 2 years on with both our small guys. Both kids fell asleep on the planes for most of the trip no problem with the harness.

 

[fitgirl36]

We used the CARES harness with our DD starting right before she was 2 until she was 3 then started using the regular seat belt. She's on the taller side for her age though. It was annoying to have to put it on around the seat and bother the person behind us, but not a big deal. No one ever minded.

 

[Baklava]

If cares fits, I'd be tempted to go for that. If not, definitely the car seat.

 

[DopeyDame]

The seat belt won't be too big for your child - it can sinch all the way up to the actual seat. That said, most 2 year olds aren't mature enough to sit still, not wiggle out of the seat belt, and not unbuckle it. That's one reason why a carseat can be so helpful - no matter how much of a tantrum the child is throwing, you can secure them in the carseat if needed. We were delayed on a flight once because the mom behind us couldn't get their toddler to sit and keep the buckle latched. Not cool.
CARES is a good option, but again, it depends on your child being able to sit upright and not undo the buckle.

 

[kohlby]

I used the CARES harness when my youngest was 2. It was wonderful and super duper easy! He didn't love flying and there was no way I would have been able to keep him in his seat otherwise. A car seat probably would have been better but I couldn't lug that as I was flying by myself with 3 kids when I flew then. (Ages 2, 5, and 8 so I needed something easy!) Keep in mind that some say the CARES harness still has their child slipping in the seat. I brought one of those jar gripper things to put under his behind just in case. It wasn't an issue on the planes we were on however as those seats weren't slippery and I purposely avoided putting him in more slippery pants.

As for child size, the CARES harness fit my child easily at 2. He was a little above average in size, but nothing that abnormal - though his torso is long so that helped. He would have outgrown the CARES harness easily by 4.