Parents don’t appreciate that the use of safety seats can be — and has been — a matter of life and death. There have been cases where young children survived air crashes because they were restrained in safety seats and others in which children died when sitting in the lap of a parent who survived.

Take the case of the United Airlines DC-10 that crashed in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989. The parents of the four lap-held children were told to put their children on the cabin floor and hold them in that position while the adults assumed “the protective brace position,” But three of the parents reported to investigators they were unable to hold on to their babies and a 23-month-old died.

Five years later a USAir Flight crashed in Charlotte, N.C. Among the 37 who were killed was a nine-month-old baby held by her mother, who survived. NTSB investigators believed the baby might not have sustained fatal injuries if she had been properly restrained in a child restraint system.

The NTSB has been arguing for more than 15 years that each passenger should have their own seat, but the NTSB can only make recommendations. www.ntsb.gov/children.

It is up to the FAA to take action and so far, all they have done is “strongly urge” parents to use a safety seat approved for air as well as auto travel.

Meanwhile, it is up to you. Yes, that means you would have to buy a seat for your baby. Tell all your friends they should too. If you don’t want to lug your safety seat to the gate, check out www.kidsflysafe.com , which makes CARES, the Child Aviation Restraint System, an FAA-approved, harness-type safety device — designed by a grandmother — that fits into a six-inch stuff sac and adjusts to fit airplane seats. It is designed for kids weighing 26 to-44 pounds (typically one to four years old).

I know in this economy it is tough to justify buying an extra plane ticket when you don’t have to, but isn’t your child’s safety worth it?

Thanks to the always handy random.org, the winning entry for the CARES Harness is entry #156. That entry belongs to Paul...Paul, I am excited for you to have more safe flying adventures for your god daughter. For everyone else, you can still purchase your own CARES harness (or ask for it for it from Santa). It is selling directly from Kids Fly Safe for $74.95 Since this item is first and foremost a safety item (and not a comfort item), I would strongly recommend getting a child’s size neck pillow to go along with it so that your little one can sleep more comfortably in the harness. There are plenty of different child neck pillows for sale on Amazon in the $10 – $15 range. For the full “comfort package” you can also add car seat strap covers for the straps for less than $10. All in all I highly recommend young traveling families consider getting this harness.

For the last two years, my wife and I have had the pleasure of taking our daughter, now 4 years old, with us on flights across the country and around the world. Here is some of what we have learned:

* Buy a seat restraint. Since children older than 2 must have their own seat, parents are left to provide a safe and comfortable arrangement. While you could bring an approved car seat, I have had great success with the Cares harness, which is simple, compact and FAA-certified. In addition to safety, the idea is that in a harness, children feel they are in a familiar place (like their car seat), and they'll more easily adapt to the airplane environment.
* Order the child's meal. If you're lucky enough to be on a flight with meal service, be sure to contact the airline well in advance to order a children's meal.
* Try for an empty seat. When traveling with just my daughter, I'll always reserve the window and aisle seats, leaving a middle seat open. At best, we have an empty seat between us, and at worst, we make someone's day by offering them the window or aisle. This makes our seatmate happy and takes away a little of the apprehension other travelers might have about being seated next to a toddler.

I CARES and You Should Too!

The process of traveling with little ones simply feels daunting at times. We have traveled a lot as a family and installing the car seat on an airplane is one of the tasks we dread most. As a child safety advocate and nationally Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, I am a firm believer in car seat safety in vehicles and even on airplanes. On the other hand, I am a parent and empathize with anyone who has to carry on and install a car seat on an airplane. Car seats are heavy and depending on the aircraft, they are not always easy to install. I can recall one flight in which couldn’t properly install our car seat because the seat was too small. The airline industry is also using smaller planes in order to fill every seat and save money, making it more difficult to install a big bulky car seat. Let’s not even get into the difficulty of trying to monitor an active toddler while you struggle to install a car seat. Thankfully, there is a solution!

CARES is a child restraint system designed to keep children age 1 or older weighing between 22 to 44 pounds safe during flights, yet convenient for parents. CARES weighs just 1 pound and is incredibly easy to install, even for the super uncoordinated person like me

Top Five Carry-on Essentials for a toddler or preschool flier

1. Snacks: Think on the healthy side; save the sugar treat for your destination. Your kids need to maintain a steady blood sugar level. Think of some things they enjoy at home—carrot sticks, granola bars. I actually pack veggies frozen so they stay good throughout the day.

2. Disposable place mats and wipes: You can find these at most grocery stores or online. They fit the tray table and your child can eat and play without worrying about the germs.

3. Empty water bottles, like Sigg or Kleenkanteen: You can fill them up at a water fountain once beyond security.

4. Activities: Think of quiet activities your kids like to do at home. DVD players, paper dolls, activity books, paper and triangle crayons (so they don't roll off the table) are a few ideas. Make sure you bring a variety!

5. A CARES harness: This is an acronym for Child Aviation Restraint System. It's a one pound device that becomes a seat belt harness for kids 22-44lbs. It straps around a regular airplane seat and easily packs into your carry-on.

Rarely do safety and convenience come hand in hand. But, this is exactly the case with the FAA approved CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System). My husband and I recently traveled to London and France with our rambunctious, 22 month old son. And – though we had some reservations – we took full advantage of the fact that we did not have to buy a seat for our son. We simply placed a bet that we would be able to get an extra seat on the plane anyway – and we were right, for both international flights. (Yay!)

For past flights – one international and several domestic – we have lugged a car seat onto the plane so our child would be safe and secure. And it was a nightmare – just another thing to carry amongst the 5000 other things that go with a traveling toddler. And – in this case – there was the added concern that we might not even get to use it if we weren’t lucky enough to get a spare seat.

CInstead, we carried on the CARES safety belt which weighed about one pound and packed easily into our carry-on. It literally takes less than a minute to set it up. And, when we received word that a free seat was available for our son, we pulled out the CARES and – voila! – our kid was safe, comfortable and secure in his seat. For most of the flight to London, he slept and the CARES kept him stationary and prevented any jolts that might have disrupted his (very precious) sleep.

For the hour he was awake, the CARES kept him in place in exactly the same manner as a car seat – in other words, it kept him from kicking the seat in front of him, running pell-mell through the aisle, etc. Significantly, the CARES seemed as safe as a car seat – it is FAA approved and buckles across both the waist and the shoulders.

It's Summer and everyone is travelling for family vacations, camps, and so forth. That's why I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about child safety on airplanes. It's mind boggling to me how children under the age of 2 are allowed to ride an airplane on the laps of their parents. It's equally astounding that children over 2 are only required to wear a lap belt on an airplane. Can you image allowing a child under the age of 4 to ride in a car with only a lap belt? What happens if there is heavy turbulence during a flight? As much as you think you'd be able to hold on to your child, you just don't know. Many parents opt to take a carseat on the plane to really secure their child, but although this is smart--it is NOT convenient. I highly recommend that every parent who's planning on flying with their kids own CARES.

CARES is an elegantly designed belt-and-buckle device that works in conjunction with the regular airplane seat belt and provides kids the same level of safety as a car seat. We used CARES on our trip to Los Angeles a few months ago and it was so easy to use! You just attach it to the back of your child's airplane seat and onto the lap belt to form a harness. It literally installed in seconds and kept Lucas safe during the entire flight. Not to mention that it is VERY LIGHT, weighing in at one pound. It will fit in a purse or carry-on--so convenient!

The issue of child safety in Relation to air travel is somewhat under investigated. But recent regulations in the USA mean children under two now have to have their own seat. Previously, they could travel on the parent or guardian’s lap. But critics of the old system say the laws of physics don’t change for a child – they are liable to the same risks as adults.

CARES is a new baby seat specially designed to enable children under two to sit safely in their own seat. It is the only harness style child restraint for airplanes to be certified by the FAA. It can handle children up to 44 pounds and is easy to use. It also doesn’t mean you have to carry around a heavy seat – this one is very light indeed. Important on a long journey.

Made from the same material as normal seatbelts, the CAREs system is very strong indeed and is made by AmSafe Aviation.

This seems to be a very important step towards making air travel safer for younger travellers. These kind of inventions are what the airline industry needs in order to further improve its image as regards health and safety.

I finally came across the CARES system while I was elbow deep in a bag of sweet potato chips. It's the only child safety device, outside of a car seat, that the FAA approves. Sold! Well, I was sold after reading 40 reviews on Amazon and finishing the bag of chips.

Flying with a child can be harrowing, and it's even more painful if the people beside and behind you are angry because you took an hour to install your child safety seat. On the flight, there were a couple of people behind me, and they didn't seem to mind as I installed the CARES harness.

Smith knew the drill, as I had practiced putting him in the harness with the help of our padded dining room chairs. It was a fun game—just don't leave the kid there while you answer the phone.

Smith stayed in his harness for the duration of the flight. I loosened it while he napped on my lap, but that was also after they let people up to flounce about the cabin...

The CARES system is amazing. I highly recommend using it when you have to fly across the country with your child. I also recommend it for any traveler with a child that weighs 22-44 pounds. It's incredibly light and easy to install, and you don't have to lug a big car seat around the plane. If, like me, you have a hard time walking down the aisle without running into people (in planes, theaters, grocery stores or even at weddings), the CARES system will save precious First Class elbows from your clumsy ways.

We had a boat load of luggage with us for our two week travel with two kids. We had three checked bags, 3 carry-on bags, two car seats, and a stroller. One really nice thing about taking our CARES system was being able to fly sans the car seats. They installed so easily and made traveling so much easier! *A full review to come in the following weeks.

Tip #10: Finally, among unusual new travel products is something called “CARES” (Child Aviation Restraint System), a harnesslike seat belt for children under the age of 3 who also weigh less than 40 pounds. It’s an alternative to the child seat, and weighs only 1 pound. Visit www.kidsflysafe.com for details.

Once we found out we were going on a Wish trip to Disney we immediately started worrying about how Kade would do flying. The biggest concern was that of him sitting up in the seat, according to FAA regulations he is "too old" to sit in a car seat on the plane or ride in Annette's lap.

This is where our "friends we have never met" came into play. Thanks to the suggestion of fellow mito kid's mom, we found a harness called a Cares Harness. This harness turns a normal airplane seat belt into a 5 point harness to better support a child in flight. After what Owen's mom told us about using the harness with Owen, and looking at the harness website we knew we had to have one.

Today the UPS man delivered Kade's Cares Harness so graciously provided by the Kids Fly Safe company free of charge for our Wish Trip.

THANK YOU Kids Fly Safe for spreading some "pixie dust"!!!!

Last week Sacramento & Co., a local daily talk show in Sacramento highlighted the importance of properly protecting your children while traveling. With the help of Weber Aircraft Company, who shipped us an airline seat, we were able to show viewers a couple great options for flying with your children.

Some tips to remember:

* Buy a seat for your child and bring your child’s car seat with you.
* Keep your child in their aft facing car seat as long as possible.
* Once they grow out of the aft facing seat, use your child’s forward facing car seat or use a CARES device (Child Aviation Restraint System) which can lighten your load.
* Don’t stop using a secondary restraint device until your child is at least 40 lbs.

I cannot say enough about what a difference this 1 lb. invention has made for us. No more lugging bulky car seats through the airport and down the aisle of planes. No more frantically trying to install the car seat into seats that were not designed to support them, getting my hands stuck in the process. The CARES (child aviation restraint system) harness is so easy to use; my toddler actually buckles it himself! This is a great investment – even for those who don’t fly frequently.

One of the worst parts of traveling with kids by plane is lugging the car seat through the airport. Am I right?

When I saw the CARES Child Aviation Restraint System from Kids Fly Safe, I just knew I had to give it a try. The company graciously agreed to give me a harness for review, so I was able to use it with three-year-old Mikko on our flights, both to the East Coast and Midwest, this summer and fall.

Why is CARES better than a car seat for airplane travel? CARES is a special harness that's been tested and approved the FAA as being safety-equivalent to using a car seat in an airplane for children age 1 and older who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds and are no more than 40 inches tall. CARES has also been certified in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, and Oman. See the FAQ for specific airlines that have authorized the use of CARES.

CARES folds up compactly into a provided drawstring bag.
CARES weighs almost nothing folded up and comes in a stuff sack, so you can push it into your carry-on or diaper bag and have it handy on the plane. The harness fits around the seat back behind the child and uses the airplane's own seat belt as well as additional harness straps to secure your child for takeoff, landing, turbulence, and just general in-flight safety. That means you can leave the car seat at home, or check it through to your destination!

When we traveled before when Mikko was a baby, we brought our convertible car seat with us, but it was such a chore. It didn't have a handle, and we had to lug it plus our carry-ons, plus our baby, all through security and to our gates as we rushed to make our flights. It was a huge pain — often literally!

The safest way to fly with your children is to have them in an aft facing car seat (for children under one). Once they reach the age of two, children should be properly restrained in their own seat (booster seats have the potential to cause more harm to your child and are therefore not allowed).

Understandably, parents often dread lugging their car seat to the aircraft and trying to get it buckled into the plane properly. AmSafe Aviation has designed a CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) device to help make protecting your child easier. CARES is the only FAA approved harness type device currently manufactured. At one pound (and stowed in a small 6 inch sack) it’s easy to carry on and it takes place of a car seat (you can always check your car seat if you need it at your destination).

Parents who have used it say it’s lightweight and easy to install and studies have shown that it offers an equivalent level of protection to car seats. Because it’s not as bulky as car seats if can be used in any seat of the aircraft row, but aisle seats should still be avoided due to the risk of other injuries from beverage carts or overhead baggage.

Tips for flying with kids:
1. Sling 'em! Forget strollers! Carrying your kids in slings, leaves your hands free. You can purchase a cheap umbrella stroller at your destination if you really need one and leave it for future guests or visits. If your two year old is too big for a sling buy "this" inexpensive strap so she can ride through the airport in her car seat.
2. But, I'd still ditch the car seat at the gate. I'm serious. I know some people disagree with me on this, because they worry about damage. I have checked my daughters expensive Britax Car Seat about eight times a year for the past three years and there hasn't been any damage. I've also never seen a car seat come up to the jet way after a flight, damaged. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just saying it's rare. (Don't bring a booster seat, they're not FAA approved.)
3. What will you do without a car seat? Order the C.A.R.E.S. (Child Aviation Restraint System) If you fly once a year this product is worth the investment. It is safer than the aircraft lap belt, much easier to travel with than a car seat, and will give your child room. (You won't have to spend the flight telling your daughter not to kick the seat in front of her)

For two months before our trip overseas, I was trying to decide: do I need to take car seats with us to use on the plane? If I don’t take a car seat, how is my baby going to sleep on the plane? What if she falls asleep and slips off the seat?

This dilemma was solved once I learned about CARES.

CARES Child Aviation Restraint System is designed specifically for aviation use for children age 1 and older who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds. These youngsters are old enough to be in their own seats, but are too small for the seat belt alone to protect them and provide the safety they require during airplane travel. Here’s what makes CARES such an invaluable travel solution:

* CARES is the first and only harness type Aviation Child Safety Device to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an alternative to a car seat.
* CARES is an elegantly designed belt-and-buckle device that works in conjunction with the regular airplane seat belt and provides young travelers the same level of safety as a car seat.
* CARES weighs just one pound! It is adjustable to every size airplane seat, and usable on any seat in the airplane, except in the emergency exit rows.

I heard about CARES from Moms who frequently take eleven hour flights to Russia with little kids. After I heard stories about babies sleeping better in CARES since it offered their babies a familiar sense of care seat security, I decided to try it out myself.

CARES is very easy to install. Although I usually skip the instructions, I read the CARES booklet with installation guidelines. It was easy to understand since it had pictures for each step. I knew I would not have a chance to read the instructions on the plane with both kids demanding attention.

Although my baby did not fell asleep with the CARES harness (she really was not in the mood to be going to sleep by herself), I was able to put her in the seat and fasten her with CARES after she dozed off on my lap. It was such a relief to have a baby sleeping in her seat without the risk of falling down.

I was thrilled to be chosen to test the Cares Child Aviation Restraint System as we were travelling to Canada for the first time with our 4 year old son and I was concerned about him only having a lap belt on the plane. In a car he is safely strapped in and I felt it was important for him to be just as safe in a plane. The Cares Child Aviation Restraint System was very light and compact and came in it's own drawstring bag which I thought was a really good idea as it kept everything together.

The instructions were clear and easy to follow and we easily attached the seatbeat around the seat and fastened Luke in. He was quite happy sitting in it and didn't complain once that it was uncomfortable. Being a long flight we got up and walked around quite a few times and it was easy to fasten and unfasten the seatbelt.

I would definately recommend this product as I felt so much better about flying knowing Luke was safely strapped in.

CARES Five Point Harness for the Airplane: Stick this FAA approved harness into your diaper bag and you're good to go. No need for the heavy car seat.

Today on my flight from Houston to Chicago there were three little flyers two babies and a toddler.
One family had a [CARES] child restraint for their 9 month old baby instead of a car seat. I really think that is better space wise on a plane than a car seat. It is less bulky to carry down the aisle. It stows easily in a diaper bag. It keeps the baby seated safely during takeoff and landing.

The other family did not have a car seat or restraint for their infant or toddler. The Mom and Dad took turns holding the newborn. Their little toddler stood up sometimes during the flight to look out the window. Understandably it is difficult for a toddler to sit for a two hour flight. That's why the [CARES] child restraint is a helpful aid.

CARES featured on Stroller Traffic's 2010 ‘Gotta Get It’ List of 25 baby products that will save your life

CARES is an FAA-approved five-point harness that enables toddlers to safely sit big-kid style in an airplane seat. $74.95 at kidsflysafe.com.

I was thrilled when I was offered a CARES Child Aviation Restraint System to review. I worked like a charm and fulfilled the necessary criteria for traveling with a squirmy toddler:

* Safe: CARES complies with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) strong recommendation that every child be restrained in an appropriate manner based on size and weight.
* Unique: CARES is the only harness type child aviation safety restraint ever certified by the FAA for airplane travel.
* Easy: CARES installation is simple. It took me less than a minute to install CARES and have my 2 year old restrained in her seat.
* Lightweight: CARES weighs 1 pound! No more lugging around that bulky, heavy car seat through the airport and down the aisle. It comes with its own little 6” sack that can be easily thrown in your carry on.
* Strong: AmSafe Aviation is the world’s foremost manufacturer of airline seatbelts. They use the same industrial-strength webbing as your seatbelt to create CARES!

The CARES harness mimics the same sort of belt and buckle that a car seat uses and so there really wasn’t anything different as far as Anna’s experience. Even though she knows that when she’s in her car seat she isn’t allowed to try to unbuckle herself and needs to sit in her seat, I was amazed at how seamlessly she transitioned to using this harness on the plane.

And, miracle of miracles, she sat through the entire flight without making a peep.

We had arranged to have a car service pick us up and drop us off at the airport for arrival and departure and I discovered that you can frequently ask these companies to have a car seat pre-installed for you. When we arrived, Adam double-checked the car seat and its installation to make sure it was safe and off we went to the City of Lights!

The CARES harness was not only wonderful to use on the plane itself but it also meant that we didn’t have to worry about dragging a car seat all over the place. Often when traveling you can’t check-in to your hotel early or there is some kind of delay and hauling that heavy, cumbersome seat with us everywhere would be a real inconvenience. Since the CARES harness is approved by the FAA and is constructed of the same material the adult airplane seatbelts are made of, I felt very comfortable entrusting Anna’s safety to this product. But I was thrilled beyond words to discover how simple it really made our flight experience with a toddler!

Ok, in all seriousness: Fear not! I have been a Flight Attendant for eighteen years, and as well as observing families all those years I have a three year old of my own who I really enjoy traveling with. Here are [some of] my tried and true tips:
* Sling 'em! Forget strollers! Carrying your kids in slings, leaves your hands free. You can purchase a cheap umbrella stroller at your destination if you really need one and leave it for future guests or visits. If your two year old is too big for a sling buy "this" inexpensive strap so she can ride through the airport in her car seat.
* But, I'd still ditch the car seat at the gate. I'm serious. I know some people disagree with me on this, because they worry about damage. I have checked my daughters expensive Britax Car Seat about eight times a year for the past three years and there hasn't been any damage. I've also never seen a car seat come up to the jet way after a flight, damaged. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just saying it's rare. (Don't bring a booster seat, they're not FAA approved.)
* What will you do without a car seat? Order the C.A.R.E.S. (Child Aviation Restraint System) If you fly once a year this product is worth the investment. It is safer than the aircraft lap belt, much easier to travel with than a car seat, and will give your child room. (You won't have to spend the flight telling your daughter not to kick the seat in front of her)

For years, everyone from the FAA to the American Academy of Pediatrics has been saying that young children are safest when restrained in a safety seat on board an airplane. They stress they are talking about turbulent skies as much as plane crashes. Of course that means you have to purchase a seat for the baby. I’ve been urging parents to do this for as long (20 years) as I’ve written my syndicated column, Taking the Kids. (More information from the FAA .) If you need convincing it’s worth the money, consider what happened Tuesday night after United Airlines Flight 967, on its way from Washington to Los Angeles, hit severe turbulence and was diverted to Denver. Twenty-one people were injured. “Everything was flying — people who were not buckled up were injured,” one passenger told CNN. Would you want that to be your baby who is flying around the plane?

For kids 1 year and older – We recommend the CARES kids fly safe harness. You can buy this on amazon as well as the CARES website. It attaches to the seat with an easy installation…I still can’t figure out why the airlines don’t just have these on hand as a courtesy.

School is out and millions of families are traveling. If you have a child and you haven’t heard of CARES, perhaps now would be a good time to investigate. It stands for child aviation restraint system. What this means is if your little one is between 22-44 pounds you can ditch the cumbersome car seat. We’ve been using CARES for two years now and it’s STILL the best invention for kids on the airplane.

2 years ago I stumbled upon one of the best resources for traveling parents! We were getting ready to fly to Italy and I was darned if I was hauling my safe, but bulky Britax car seat along for the rid. I researched the web until I came across CARES. I can't tell you how thankful I was to find the FAA approved harness for young children. My airplane worries were lifted and we've been using the system on all of our flights - to Paris, Florence, California, Wyoming, and Wisconsin. I pack the small safety harness into my purse of backpack. The company is so organized they even provided a travel pouch to keep it in and a video to show you how to use it. You can't go wrong with this product. It will make your trips hassle-free and save you added weight and space.

My recommendation for a child under 40 pounds that has to have an airline approved safety restraint is the Cares Kids Fly Safe Harness. This turns a regular airline seat into a five point safety harness. It takes up very minimal space in a carry on bag and is much better than just the lap belt alone.

I was sent the CARES child airplane seat belt to review and let me tell you what a life saver it is! First off I mean that literally, your kids are much safer with this seat belt than just a lap belt alone. But secondly carrying this belt verses a large car seat is so much more convenient. We traveled with bug last thanksgiving and I wish I would have had this then. But since I didn’t, I learned how hard it can be to keep a toddler in their seat using just a lap belt. It was a struggle the whole entire flight. And we were both exhausted by the end of it. Well then I received the CARES seat belt and couldn’t wait to try it out on our next flight. The second time using CARES was a completely different experience. Once I put it on bug he knew he wasn’t going to be getting up. Just like in the car, he was stuck. I was so happy to have some peace on the flight, and it wasn’t just because of the quiet. I also had peace of mind knowing bug was much safer wearing this CARES harness seat belt. And it is really easy to use it. It just slides down around the seat, you tighten it and then the lap belt loops through the bottom. It is also easy to adjust to fit your child just right. It only takes one minute! I completely recommend this to anyone who is flying with toddlers. It is a must have!

Now the CARES has been introduced in Sweden.

The CARES harness, designed for kids weighing 22 to 44 pounds and approved by the FAA, serves an obvious purpose. When attached to an airline seat, it holds a child in place with car seat-like over-the-shoulders straps, an arrangement that's much safer and more secure than the standard airline lap belt.

If the CARES is like a car seat, why not just bring an actually car seat onto the plane? Well, doing that is a real pain. You've got to lug the car seat through the airport. And, as anyone who has tried to use a car seat on a plane can tell you, airline seats are not designed to accommodate car seats. By some amount of shoving, strapping, and sweating, you can awkwardly get a car seat fastened into an airline seat. But the fit will be less than ideal, and chances are you'll have a toddler whose feet are pressed up against the seat in front of you. And, as anyone who has been around children a bit can tell you, toddlers have been known to kick, if not angrily than simply to stretch their legs.

CARES won the Mom's Choice Gold Award and the Good Housekeeping 2008 Good Buy Awards. CARES is approved by the FAA for all phases of airline travel-Taxi, take-off, and landing and recommended for child 22-44 lbs. who are in their own seat. The company's motto is "Flying Safe With Kids Made Easy". Another important feature of this seat is that it can keep your child safe during turbulence. Many parents have also reported that it was so easy to install and travel with that they will never travel with a car seat again and that their child was comfortable for the entire flight. We also had the opportunity to use the CARES system on two flight and our daughter loved being in "their big girl/boy seat" and it made us feel secure knowing she was absolutely safe to travel. Be sure to add it to your travel list for your next long vacation.

For families that fly without car seats and simply use the lap belt provided, the CARES can offer a peace of mind that lap belts cannot, especially for young toddlers or children who can never seem to get their lap belts tight enough to secure them. As an added bonus, I have found that active toddlers are much easier to contain when they are strapped in securely using their CARES harness and are unable to twist out of their seats. Our daughter doesn’t mind the CARES safety harness at all, which may be partially because she has never tasted the full freedom of movement that a single lap belt would offer. But I think the other portion of it is that she is very used to the idea that when we sit in a seat and travel we always have a harness securing us in for safety, and at this point she doesn’t question it.

I found this product online after a brief research for a safety ‘tool’ to fly with my then 8 months old son, however I did not purchase it until Little A was 14 months old. Since I was flying internationally alone with the little boy, bringing a heavy car seat was too much of a hassle. Thanks God for this brilliant invention, I asked my family in Indonesia to buy a car seat for us so all I had to do was grab the bag of CARES on board every flights. Flying back to the US, my in-laws too had gotten us a car seat, thus taking the weight off of lugging one around across more than 2 major international airports from Asia – USA. Since I bought CARES, we had used it on board Korean Air (they hesitated at first but after I showed them the FAA documents, I printed from CARES website they backed down), ANA (All Nippon Airways), Garuda Indonesia, Batavia Air, Emirates, Jet Blue, Delta, and Northwest. Flying domestically in USA, all carriers will follow FAA rules so the use of CARES won’t be any problem. Here’s what the FAA website stated about Child Safety on Airplanes.

We decided to fly to Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand in December. After having heard about a Continental Airlines flight that had bad turbulence in the air and how there were a few injuries I immediately started wondering about whether we could bring Deen's car seat on board.

I wondered how we would manage carrying a car seat while caring for two kids under 3. I then found the CARES Child Aviation Restraint System and was immediately sold on this product. You are basically giving your child a 5 point harness instead of them using those flimsy little lap belts on the airline seats. Kids are so tiny that honestly I don't feel like those lap belts will hold them down in case of an emergency or bad turbulence.

The CARES system gave me one thing less to worry about on the flight. When we hit turbulence I could easily grab my husbands hand(I'm a big baby) instead of having to worry whether my son would be safe and secure.

As I mentioned in other posts, we traveled with A LOT of stuff (understatement of the year) over the holidays. One of the best decisions we made was to check both our car seats at the gate so we didn’t have to lug them through the airports and security and so on and so on. (In my recent experience, checking car seats and strollers is still free even when an airline charges for luggage.) But, Preschool Boy is a small little thing and the FAA, American Academy of Pediatrics and NTSB suggest additional restraint to secure little ones in their own seats. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you it was much much easier to carry the 1 pound CARES restraint system rather than a car seat!

I can’t believe I flew with my son in his own plane seat without one of these. It obviously adds an important layer of safety to the trip, but also helped to keep him nice and secure next to me. The alternative of carrying a large car seat to keep him secure seems so silly when you can throw the CARES in the stroller basket or diaper bag.

See Shopping Mama's full post for her comprehensive review of CARES.

What a relief to check the car seat when your toddler reaches twenty-two pounds! Slip the CARES safety restraint into your carry-on and that's all you need until your little one can use the regular airplane seat belt. CARES is the only harness child restraint device that is FAA approved and is adjustable until your child reaches forty-four pounds. Giving you extra security and extra space in your bag makes CARES every parent's best friend.

Flying makes me nervous, but I find myself even more nervous with my children in the air. I’m not more nervous because they are wiggly or noisy, but because I want them to be safe on the flight. I just recently learned about a company called CARES. CARES stands for Child Aviation Restraint System and is the only harness type child aviation safety restraint ever certified for airplane travel by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).

Not long ago, Continental Airlines’ flight 128, hit severe turbulence, causing injuries to at least 26 people. According to the FAA, in-flight turbulence is the leading cause of injuries in nonfatal accidents. CARES is a great way to help protect your children when flying on an airplane. Many people will be traveling this holiday season and I strongly suggest you check out the site and even purchase the device for your children or grandchildren.

I am part of a team of Pacific Northwest mom bloggers with a shopping site called Evergreen Moms. Our focus is eco-friendly/green products, unique products for kids and moms, and businesses based in the Northwest. I'm writing to let you know that we featured CARES today at the link above.

Well, despite my initial reservations—and a few foibles with set-up on our outgoing flight—I’m here to tell you the CARES harness works and works well. Even when you put it on the seat backwards as I initially did (and you may do if you have to carry a toddler, carry-on bag and 9 separate but equally loved toy cars on to the plane).

Small and light, the harness is a single piece so you don’t have to worry about losing pieces among animal crackers and Matchbox cars in your carry-on. Chet was happy to wear it and it did keep him in his seat. It’s a great alternative to a big, bulky carseat.

CARES keeps kids safe, while helping traveling parents stay sane. Not only is it more manageable to navigate the airport without lugging around a heavy toddler seat, but also a CARES restraint is much easier to install and uninstall in an airplane than a car seat is. I have personally waited on board an airplane until all of the other passengers had disembarked for a maintenance crew member to assist me with uninstalling a toddler car seat. Those days of inconvenience and frustration are over now that I have purchased two CARES for my children.

Kids Fly Safe is offering a free CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) to one lucky Travel Mama! Retail value is $74.95. Read on to find out how to win and why you should always book a separate seat for your child when flying.

If your child is still in a car seat and it is FAA approved with a back then bring it if you can and you will need a car seat at your destination. If you do not have the ability to bring a car or booster seat on the plane or you do not want to lug a car seat through the airport you should definitely look into the CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) meant for children between 22 and 40 pounds. It is the only FAA approved restraint system and from the looks of it – this product rocks and weighs only 1 pound!

Today, I’m kicking off the first in my “Gear Up for Holiday Travel” giveaways with something I know many of you would love to get your hands on, and something I personally know could help simplify upcoming flights for many of you, too: the CARES flight safety harness. I can tell you it’s definitely going to simplify our family’s travels next month as we set out on our first international flight with three children!

The kids, car seats and airplane combo is an ongoing topic of conversion when it comes to families and air travel. Last week I wrote a post about the dangers of airplane lap children. There is no doubt a child restraint system (CRS)is the safest option for babies and children when traveling by air. As the mother of two children close in age, I understand the hassle of lugging a car seat through airports. The last time my family (husband, two children and two teenage step-sons) flew together we looked like the circus passing through town with two car seats, a stroller and load of carry-on bags. When I heard there was an FAA approved airplane child harness called CARES my first thought was,it’s about time!

CARES stands for Child Aviation Restraint System and you bet I
wanted to check it out for myself. Kindly, CARES sent me one so I
could understand the contraption first-hand. My initial comment is,
brilliant!

If you have younger kids in the carseat phase you've experienced the fun of dragging bulky, heavy car seats through busy airports. It keeps your kids safe on the plane, but is not a fun experience. There are lots of carts, bags, and wheels available - but the net is that a car seat is not something you will enjoy bringing on a plane. We found a product that solves the problem a few years back and it truly changed our traveling lives. restraint is basically a five point harness for flying that straps to the airplane seat. It loops around the back of the seat behind the other passenger's tray table and is very easy to install / take off ; it's like a seat belt from older cars. The FAA has totally approved this product, and the FAA approval is even emblazened on the label.

I am a 'Families Living Abroad Examiner' posting information about living overseas (especially about France, Spain, Costa Rica and Panama)on Examiner.com. I have listed your great product on my site and will be recommending it to all my expat friends around the world who regularly fly with their young children.

Rather than take a car seat onboard our flight to Punta Cana, we took the CARES flight harness system for our two-year old. This FAA-approved flight harness is easy to use, light-weight (just one pound), takes up little room in your carry-on, and was worth every penny! It also arrived promptly following my online order.

I "practiced" with CARES with my daughter at home prior to our departure so that she would have an idea of what to expect on an airplane. Kids this age are accustomed to be securely buckled into many things (car seats, strollers, grocery store carts), and she has no idea that all the adults on the plane just use a lap belt, but I wanted her to be familiar with the buckle-in procedure for when we boarded.

To practice at home, I used one of my husband's belts as the "airplane seat belt" and I set our daughter up in a dining room chair. She only sat with it on briefly, but it gave her the idea of how it worked (she tried buckling herself, too), and it convinced me how easy it is to install this once you are on the plane. (To round out our dining room inflight simulation, I also set up her with earphones and a video on a computer.)

Once on the plane, we installed CARES and got her buckled in. She was thrilled to be on the plane with her now-familiar seat belt, and even told other boarding passengers who passed to "buckle up!" We used CARES in a total of four flights without a glitch.

Between AmSafe's knowledge and Louise's dedication, CARES garnered FAA approval. CARES is the first and only alternative to a car seat permitted on planes. The certification gives parents the right to use CARES on all US airlines for all phases of flight: taxiing, take off, turbulence and landing.

For me CARES passes all the safety tests and my own test--my 4 y.o. prefers it to the car seat--meaning she will willingly get buckled in for a safe and tantrum free landing.

This was the first time we had to buy Zoe a seat. She's flown quite a few times already... but not with her own purchased seat. We've either held her on our laps... or lucked out and had an empty seat in our row for her car seat. This time... she was old enough to require an actual ticket. I was a little worried about her actually staying in the seat belt (and I refused to lug the heavy car seat with us) so I bought one of the new FAA approved CARES toddler harnesses (child aviation restraint system). It wasn't cheap... but it was so worth it. The harness (combined with the portable DVD player) made the flight a dream. (highly recommended if you travel a lot!)

Forget about schlepping through the airport with a carseat for your older baby or toddler

Ah, the hassles of flying with kids. Lugging bulky (and heavy) car seats on board and trying to fit them into ever-narrower airline seats, then struggling with your own carry-on case. And all the while the line of boarding passengers piles up ever more impatiently behind you

I just came across this incredible product, CARES (“child aviation restraint system”). It is a harness type safety device that is approved by the FAA to keep children safe while flying. The restraint attaches to the back of the airplane seat for use with children 22-44 pounds. CARES weighs 1 pound and is said to be easy to install. Where was CARES when my kids were younger?

Traveling, especially air travel through airports, security and plane aisles, turns into a backbreaking experience when you have to haul around a heavy, awkward car seat for your child and safety is our top priority, so we do it. But is there a better solution?

Well, the good news is once baby is 1 (and between 22 and 44 pounds), the car seat struggle is over. CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) is an FAA-approved safety harness that fits on any airline seat. It weighs only 1 pound, and is all you’ll need to bring on board (well, aside from the diaper bag, the toys, the snacks, the Elmo, etc)

Here is a picture of E asleep on our flight from Madrid back home to to Seattle. He's wearing a CARES seat harness. The harness is FAA approved, easy to set up, weighs only a pound, and has made getting through the airport much easier than it was in the days when we brought a car seat

We probably traveled with our first born on about 16 flights before we got the CARES straps. I had to have someone come and take the airplane seat apart in order to get the car seat released at least three times because of how you need to secure the seat

I cannot say enough about what a difference this 1 lb. invention has made for us. No more lugging bulky car seats through the airport and down the aisle of planes. No more frantically trying to install the car seat into seats that were not designed to support them, getting my hands stuck in the process. The CARES (child aviation restraint system) harness is so easy to use; my toddler actually buckles it himself! This is a great investment – even for those who don’t fly frequently

“Buckle your seatbelt” is one of those phrases that kids and parents instinctively understand and follow whether in the car or on an airplane. But buckling a toddler in a car seat while sitting in an airplane seat is something that can be difficult to do, especially if the car seat doesn’t fit and must be gate-checked. Happily there’s a fresh option for car-seat-toting travelers. Dr. Toy, the noted child development authority, has tapped the Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES) as one of this year’s Top 10 Socially Responsible Products, part of the 2008 Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products list.

When flying with my children I am always emotionally conflicted about how to keep them safe (being a mother comes with a lot of guilt...). On the one hand, it is physically impossible for me to carry a child, carry on baggage, and a car seat through an airport. Conversely, I find myself wishing I had a safe way to restrain my child when the airplane experiences scary, jolting turbulence. Shouldn't children aged 1-4 be as safe on an airplane as they are in a car?

I purchased a CARES and used it on a recent flight. The enclosed DVD was perfect to help us learn how to install CARES, and had the added benefit of giving my daughter a small peek into what a plane looks like, which helped prepare her for the experience. I was able to pack the CARES at the top of my carry-on bag, which was extremely convenient. Installing the CARES was very simple, and my daughter was buckled in almost instantaneously. The CARES attracted a lot of attention, especially from the flight attendants (who loved it!). I watched a dad with a carseat attached to his back struggle to get through the plane, and I really was glad that our experience was so much easier!

Most airlines don't require it, but your child is always safer when restrained properly. There is a great new product I came across recently that is MUCH easier than dragging a car seat through airports and on board the plane. It's called a CARES (“child aviation restraint system”). It is the first and only FAA approved harness type child safety device

In my opinion and experience, CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) is the only safe, convenient solution to flying with a child. This harness is the first and only Aviation Child Safety Device certified by the FAA as an alternative to a car seat. Once your child is old enough to sit in his/her own seat (around 1 and weighs at least 22 pounds), he/she can use this in place of a car seat on an airplane without compromising safety. Apart from the fact that is is ultra convenient, it provides an additional level of safety for children who can sit in their own seat but may be too small to withstand the jolts and turbulence inherent in-flight.

Just recently, we had our vacation in the Philippines and traveling solo with my daughter is not an easy task, especially if you travel for over 20 hrs. I did a lot of research about traveling with kids, what to bring and most importantly the safety of my daughter. Booster seat made for use with a lap-shoulder belt cannot be used, because there is no shoulder belt for upper-body restraint, so I looked online and found this really fabulous device. Its a Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES) and is FAA approved. I think this is a must- have if you have kids traveling with you. It's a great alternative for the booster seat. It is lightweight, very easy to install and my daughter seemed so comfortable with it

Since [CARES] is so simple, it's extremely compact and is able to fit into any purse of bag larger than a Judith Leiber, and weighs less than a pound. To install, simply slip it over the back of the seat, strap the tyke in, and then keep them entertained until take off. The entire process of getting a child into an airplane seat and ready for takeoff can be completed in literally less than two minutes. Additionally, not only does it not impose on the other passengers, they also think it's cool. By comparison, bringing a car seat on the plane is a bizarre anachronism

Possibly the most ingenious thing we’ll be bringing along on this trip though is the CARES for kids aviation safety device. It will be replacing the awkward 20 pound carseat we use for Jayce every time he flies. Instead of that hunk’o'heavy plastic we’ll scoop this little diddy up and put it to good use.

Now you can forget about hauling a heavy, bulky car seat through crowded airports and narrow airplaine aisles. There’s a better way to keep your young children safe while flying. CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) is designed specially for airplanes and is FAA certified as having an equivalent level of safety to a car seat for all phases of flight

On our recent flight to Las Vegas for the ABC Kids Expo, we took the opportunity to test out the Kids Fly Safe CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System). When we've flown in the past, we've brought our folding Sunshine Kids Radian 80 with us and grunted and puffed (well, I stood there while Jeremiah grunted and puffed) until we had successfully installed it in Z's airline seat. Even with a folding car seat, it's still a pain to get it down those ever-skinner airline aisles and to maneuver in your ever-narrower row. On this last trip, we gate-checked our car seat and walked down the aisles a lot lighter. Instead of joining me in watching Jeremiah grunting and puffing, Z sat in her seat while we looped the FAA-approved (yes, even for takeoff and landing) CARES restraint over the back of her seat and adjusted it to the appropriate height. We buckled her in and were ready to go... actually, almost that quickly. It took us about 2 minutes to install it

Hello, I wanted to let you know that I feature the CARES harness on my website, www.TravelMamas.com, a site for parents who travel with their kids. Actually, it is featured on my home page today! Here is a link to the page on which it is regularly featured: http://www.travelmamas.com/Pages/travel_resources_air_travel.html.

The FAA has long maintained that children weighing 22-44 pounds should be in their own seats, and restrained by car seats approved for use in airplanes. Given the heaviness and awkwardness of car seats, however, many parents opt to buckle the kids into an adult size seatbelt on the plane. While this is better than nothing, anyone who’s taken a close look can see that the child is likely to slip right through or under that belt

I recently took my first trip with CARES and was very happy with the product. It was a cinch to install during the trip, and not having a car seat to tote around at the airport was great. I wrote a review at http://www.thetraveltots.com/node/48 if you would like to share the link on your site.