CARES harness for airplane?

[Avonlady1001]

I am probably the only one that the harness didn't work well for. I used it for a just turned 3 year old. At that time she was 27lbs and 36inches and it fit fine. I had no problems with her sliding or anything like that. However since the seatbelt is used for the harness the problem I had is that dd could easily unbuckle the seatbelt. It would have been a much easier flight for us had we just used our carseat. Now at age 4 we tried again and it worked well since dd didn't play with the seatbelt. Next time we fly though I think she will be okay with just the seatbelt so my harness days are over.

This is the same problem I had w/ my 3y/o. She unbuckled it constantly...I tried to cover it w/ her blanket, but she just kept playing w/ it. And she would slide out the bottom - On purpose! It was pretty stressful, but it was the first time using it. I didn't bother with it on the way home...just used the seatbelt. May or may not use it next time we fly...I was thinking of selling it. LOL

 

[Avonlady1001]

We had a TERRIBLE time with this on our last flight to MCO! We bought 3 tickets, me, DH, and DS 21 months at the time. We upgraded to business class (AirTran) and when we got on the plane we wrestled the CARES harness onto the bigger seat, tight fit, but it fit. THEN a flight attendant came up and said after checking their manual, we weren't allowed to use it! He was under 2 years old so we could hold him - but not only did we have to hold him for takeoff/landing, but becasue he was under 2 he couldn't sit in a seat during the flight without a carseat!

I was F U R I O U S!

I wanted my money back for the seat and the upgrade, but they only gave us the money back for the seat and gave us a credit for the upgrade on our flight back (I told DH demand the money back, but he didn't). So we call 24 hours prior to departure to discuss options, don't want to upgrade one ticket then get to MCO and not be able to upgrade all of us "oh no problem, the flights really open in business class, you won't have a problem upgrading when you get there"..... WRONG! (and we get there really early thanks to DH)

We pack the CARES harness and bring his carseat expecting to upgrade to business class and guess what... it's full! Now we have a carseat, which we could have checked, in coach, where we could have used the harness, which is packed!

They gave us 3 rount trip tickets, good for a year, with upgrades. We were able to use 2 - the third one we wanted to use for this Oct trip but the flights that we could use it on were crappy - besides, we still can't use his CARES on business class, so what's the point of having all three tickets upgraded?

Anyway.... that's my rant. Check with your airline about whether you can use the CARES harness in business class!!!

I have traveled with DS in his CARES harness when he was 14 months old and he did great! Didn't slide down, didn't fuss at all, fell asleep soon after takeoff.

Here he is - sorry the pic isn't great, but taking a picture in a tight space like that is hard!

D4D

It's FAA approved! There shouldn't have been a problem...no different than a car seat. Did you show the attendant the label? Can't believe they wouldn't let you use it!

 

[MrsBenjamin]

Captain Literal here.

We had issues with "sliding" too.... may I ask exactly what you did with the shelf liner? Was it the adhesive kind or is there some other kind I don't know about?

If it was the adhesive kind, did you actually adhere it to the seat?

I swear I'm not as dumb as I sound in this post.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

It's FAA approved! There shouldn't have been a problem...no different than a car seat. Did you show the attendant the label? Can't believe they wouldn't let you use it!

Believe me, I told them that! We went round and round about it - they said according to their flight manual, it couldn't be used in business class. And I kept saying "Why not? We got it around the seat, it fits fine, he's all buckled in! And how was I supposed to know this in advance!? It's not posted on your website anywhere!" I swear I was this close to being on the news - "Irate lady escorted from plane with husband and toddler."

I e-mailed the CARES sight to check with them, and if I have to I'll contact the FAA to get an official ruling.

D4D

 

[Dannielle_1]

Captain Literal here.

We had issues with "sliding" too.... may I ask exactly what you did with the shelf liner? Was it the adhesive kind or is there some other kind I don't know about?

If it was the adhesive kind, did you actually adhere it to the seat?

I swear I'm not as dumb as I sound in this post.

Not adhesive. Kind of rubbery/foamy which "sticks" to the seat and DS "stuck" to it.

I bought mine at the dollar store, but its available at super stores too. I just cut a piece to about 18" (approx. width of airplane seat.)

see here:
http://www.amazon.com/Griptex-Wonde...?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1221530429&sr=1-10