Car Seat vs Cares Harness

[JoanneDisFan]

We are headed to the world Oct 15-22. DS will be almost 13 months old when we fly. As of right now we are planning on getting him his own seat. I was planning on using a car seat, but I've heard about the cares harness and wondered which would be better. He's a big boy and 20 lbs at 7 months old, so he will most likely meet the 22 lbs minimum weight on the cares. My other option is to buy a cheap cosco scerena car seat for travel and in our other car. Right now I'm using a Graco myride 65 and wouldn't want to lug it though the airport. Any advice?

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Bring the car seat...any FAA certified car seat. It's best if you put him in the seat he's most accustomed to,

We bought the PacBack to carry the seat though the airport. It works great.

We actually bought a CARES harness for my daughter, but never used it. We just installed the car seat, and by the time she was too big for that on the plane, just had her sit regularly in a seat.

 

[HolliePoppins]

We used the Cares harness and it worked great. It was so nice carrying a small drawstring bag(this comes with Cares) instead of a large carseat.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We used the Cares harness and it worked great. It was so nice carrying a small drawstring bag(this comes with Cares) instead of a large carseat.

How old was your child when you used the CARES harness? The OP will be traveling when the boy is not yet 13 months....

 

[kaytieeldr]

Are you going to need the car seat in Orlando? If not, and your son can and will sit up safely in the CARES harness I'd go with that.

 

[HolliePoppins]

How old was your child when you used the CARES harness? The OP will be traveling when the boy is not yet 13 months....

Our daughter was a couple of weeks away from turning two when we used it. To use cares a child must be at least one year old, at least 22lbs. and be able to sit front facing.

 

[NotUrsula]

Personally, I'd stick with a carseat at that age. That's prime squirm time, and a squirmer will get out of a CAReS in no time flat.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Personally, I'd stick with a carseat at that age. That's prime squirm time, and a squirmer will get out of a CAReS in no time flat.

Exactly.

I fly/have flown quite a bit with my children when they were babies, and we learned early on to buy a seat and have them in the seat they are used to.

As I said, I purchased the CARES, but ended up never using it. It's inferior to car seat in that it does not have a five point harness (no crotch strap), which means the kids can squirm out the bottom.

 

[GrumpyBa*D]

Car seat at that age!

 

[nytimez]

CARES is great -- if you don't need a car seat in Florida, go with CARES. FAA tests have found it to be as safe as a car seat... and it's a heckuva lot easier to carry around.

I used it from 15 months with no problems.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

We have no need of a car seat when we get to Florida. Using DME and Disney Transportation during our trip. Our flight is about 4 hours long and non stop. Leaving we leave 12:30 arrive 3:30, Coming home we leave 3:00 arrive 5:00. As of right now he does take an afternoon nap, so I'm not sure how that would affect things. He's also a big boy at 95%ile for height and 70%ile for weight.We will fly out the day before he turns 13 months and return a week later. I've heard some reviews that its not as good for very young children and wiggly kids. He's already full of energy even if he's not quite yet crawling at 7 months. The Cares harness also seems fairly expensive if I only use it once or twice.

 

[MegaDisney]

Car seat definitely, for a flight that long. Especially for the naps- he will fall asleep in the car seat far more easily than in your arms!