Car seat or CARES harness for 16 month old for plane

[momtowidget]

I am not totally sure this is the right place to put this. We have a Disney World/Disney Cruise vacation planned for this November. Our youngest will be 16 months and she is small for her age, not yet 20 lbs. We bought her a seat on the plane (flying Southwest) and I am debating on whether I should bring a car seat for the plane or get one of those CARES harnesses I've seen.

We are staying onsite at POR and will be using Disney's Magical Express from the airport and then the transportation from the hotel to Port Canaveral for our cruise portion of the trip, then the transportation from Port Canaveral to the airport at the end of the cruise, so I should have no need for a car seat for her during the trip.

 

[amwildwood]

Does she meet the requirements to use the harness? If not, I would probably use an faa approved car seat - maybe one that isn't your most expensive in case it's damaged later in transit. Using your car seat is probably your safest option, but not very practical.

We used CARES when my DD was 2.5 yrs old on southwest. It worked ok, but she slid under it sometimes. The last time we flew over the summer at 3 yrs, we just used the lap belt. Not the safest option, but flying is safer than driving statistically. And having a separate seat for your child is safer than a lap child (in turbulence, accident, etc). The FAA didn't want to discourage flying by making babies buy a seat since its safer than driving, but studies and stats show it's not as safe as a kid harnessed in their own seat.

We rented a harness off of eBay - that part worked well.

 

[Ladcassidy]

We started using the CARES harness when DD was 17 months. She's almost 6 now and still uses it on every flight. We have used it on every plane and seat configuration. Highly recommend it.

 

[souris]

The weight guidelines for the Cares is 22-44lbs. I will personally take a carseat for DD1. She is used to it and is calm in it on long trips. I would be afraid to put her in something new... she might want out and to wander around on the plane... not too relaxing! However, is she is in a forward facing carseat already the Cares might not be too much for her to get used to.

 

[momtowidget]

Thanks. I am mostly concerned about having to deal with a car seat while traveling to/from the cruise and in the cruise cabin since I know they are smaller than a hotel room, though we did book one of the deluxe oceanview with verandah ones.

 

[lauti]

Well, if she's only 20lbs she can't use the CARES given the weight minimum, so I'd think you have to bring a car seat. I wouldn't worry about storing it, you will find somewhere for it.

 

[momtowidget]

yes, I would only use it if she made it to the minimum 22 lbs by November. I was just curious if anyone had good feedback on it

 

[MrsNick]

My DD is more comfortable in her car seat than in the Cares harness. She, too sort of slid down under the harness as mentioned by a PP. She is slightly smaller than average but she was 3 years old and about 30 lbs. The other reason is that the airplane seat is really designed for an adult and the places that the seat curved made it impossible for her to get comfortable. We flew several times with DD in he car seat and she was comfortable, happy and even fell asleep on many plane rides. Also, once she was strapped in, she was good to go and didn't feel like she wanted to squirm or wander off.

We won't need a car seat during our next vacation and I am still undecided as to whether we will bring the car seat to use on the plane or leave it home and bring the Cares harness. I would love to be able to leave the car seat home and avoid the hassle of dragging it through the airport, through security, installing it and uninstalling it on the plane (not to mention getting it out of and back into our car). On the other hand DD would be much more comfortable in the car seat. Just not an easy decision.

 

[amwildwood]

Just not an easy decision.

Exactly this. One thing we have done to save space/time is to bring a portable car seat on the plane (carry on luggage, not for aircraft use) that we need for a rental car. It's made by safety 1st. http://safety1st.djgusa.com/en/djgu...go-hybrid-trade;-booster-car-seat-22256ahe--1

It's a a hybrid carseat and booster than folds into a bag. It's not as good for side protection as a britax frontier or the like, but has a five pt harness. We used it for our three yr old in a rental over the summer- while on the plane used the lap belt.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Exactly this. One thing we have done to save space/time is to bring a portable car seat on the plane (carry on luggage, not for aircraft use) that we need for a rental car. It's made by safety 1st. http://safety1st.djgusa.com/en/djgu...go-hybrid-trade;-booster-car-seat-22256ahe--1

It's a a hybrid carseat and booster than folds into a bag. It's not as good for side protection as a britax frontier or the like, but has a five pt harness. We used it for our three yr old in a rental over the summer- while on the plane used the lap belt.

Good information, but this doesn't answer the OP's question. The booster seat you mention cannot be used on a plane. She wants to know if her child is large enough for a CARES harness os should she bring her regular car seat to use on the plane.

 

[eangel12]

Bring the car seat!! We debates when my son was 21 months and took the car seat. He slept on the day down and the way back!!

 

[imabeimabe]

We have Cares and I love it! No bulky seat to drag around.