Traveling with toddlers is not easy under the best of circumstances. If you’re really lucky, the flight is smooth, you packed enough snacks, the in-flight movie doesn’t include scary stuff, and you’ve scored a SkyMall catalog perfect for I Spy.
After Holden turned about 8 months old, he was so darn squirmy that we vowed to buy him his own seat if we were to ever fly with him again. We did fly with him and we carried that huge Britax for a 13-month old, a seat-kicking 18-month old, a still-kicky 20-month old, and on and on. Now with two little guys (20 months and 42 months if we count that way), we were dragging TWO CAR SEATS onto an airplane. Ugh.
On our family trip to Hawaii, we tried something different. Holden wore the new CARES (Child Aviation Restraint) system. It’s an FDA-approved restraint system that loops around the seat back and the seat belt to give him more security than a regular airplane seatbelt while also:
- giving us one less huge thing to lug on board (fits in my carry on easily)
- making it that much harder for him to kick the seat in front of him (legs too short – ha ha!)
- impressing the woman in front of us also traveling with 2 little ones
On our subsequent cross-country trips, we went one step further and let Holden try out the regular seat belt and put seat-kicking Milo in the CARES unit. This was also our strategy on the flight to Denmark last month.
If you’re still carrying car seats onboard airplanes, check out the PacBack by Cheeky Monkey: this is the thin strappy doohicky that converts your mammoth car seat into a backpack. It is useful and packs flat. Get this if you have to bring car seats on board. We love ours and loan it out. It started to fray a little and we had it repaired.
More info on the CARES, see kidsflysafe.com. Amazon is selling it for about $5 cheaper and it’s available for super saver shipping. Buy it on Amazon.
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I got one for $0 to test out, but would pay the $69 they’re charging on Amazon. Great if you like to travel and you have a toddler who likes to come along.
I second your recommendation of the PacBack. We’ve had ours for years and use it all the time. However, I borrowed a friend’s GoGo Kidz Car Seat carrier last time we flew, and it beats even the PacBack since your child can ride in it instead of a stroller all the way from the car to the airplane seat.
I have to second the GoGo Kidz. We’ve been using them for our twins since our first flight. It is a great way to wheel toddlers through security and right up to the plane. At 2 1/2, we plane-side check the car seats but then it saves us money having to rent two car seats when we get there.
They also came in VERY handy when we had to run from one end of O’Hare to the other to catch a connection… with two toddlers, two carry-on bags, and two tired parents!
ok, ok I’ll try it.I’ve got a bunch of contests to share if you’ve got a minute to stop by my blog.
One for a $50 Paper Shouts certificate (perfect for the holidays)
http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2008/11/paper-shouts-holiday-card-contest.html
One for an awesome art backpack from Little Jet Set:
http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2008/11/contest-easy-holiday-travel-with-kids.html
Have a great weekend!
My daughter and I fly to visit my family about every 3 months. At 17 months, she’s making her fifth plane trip next week!
I was hoping to use a CARES harness for this trip but she’s just now hitting 20 lbs, so still under the weight limit.
(I was very frustrated, for a while, that we’ve just given away our infant “bucket” carseat to a friend who had a baby 2 weeks ago, but have found one to borrow, to avoid taking the giant convertible seat. Yay! Bonus – unlike ours, it doesn’t require a base, so I’m leaving that at home!)
She’s likely to be 22 lb by our next trip, when she’s around 21 months.
I’d like to check the convertible carseat, for use when we get there, and put her in a CARES on the plane, but I’d like to hear more from someone who’s used one for a kid that size / age.
I first used the CARES device for our 2-year-old last year, and it was fabulous. She was just about 23 lbs., and it worked like a charm. The only thing I didn’t like was that I felt it was theoretically possible for her to wiggle out the bottom, as there isn’t a strap that goes between the legs. But still, I liked the design and the convenience.
I’m so going to get this for our next trip. Just got home from a trip today and felt so bad for the poor woman in front of my son…he kicked and pushed her seat practically nonstop for the entire flight.
I took his shoes off, which helped, but he could still reach her seat. I wished I had some kind of consolation prize for her.
The Traveling Toddler (also on Amazon) is the carseat-carrying version of CARES – it’s a small strap that lets you hang your carseat off of your rollaboard luggage – and lets the kid ride in it through the airport – ROCKS! We’ve used it on 8 flights now from ages ~6 mo to ~1 year. If you’re taking a car at the other end, this is a good way to get the seat there.
I just used CARES for the first time on a cross-country flight with my 3 year old (she’s petite…25 lbs) and it was great. I had the gogo kidz on the carseat that I gatechecked and then she had so much more room to play and could use the tray too. Life made much easier!
LOVE CARES! Wish everyone knew about it. I started using it when my son was 1 1/2 and he did really well. I thought that it wouldn’t let him nap as well but he actually fell asleep faster! He’s a bigger, taller 2 1/2 year old now and it still works excellently.
[...] Stop Lugging Carseats on Airplanes RookieMoms, April 9 [...]
One thing I am not fond of about CARES is that it renders the tray for the person behind you useless. When traveling w/ two small children, I try my hardest NOT to upset the folks sitting around us.
+1 for Gogokidz.
I think you misread the instructions for installing CARES – the first thing you do after sitting your child in his airplane seat is lower the tray BEHIND the child’s seat and slide the Red Loop belt over the top of the seat and position it in the space that the Tray will cover up. Snug the Red belt, and THEN RETURN THE TRAY TO IT’S CLOSED POSITION. The tray covers the red loop. It does not interfere with the use of the tray at all. If the person behind the child wishes to use his tray, he will see the red belting, but it will not interfere with the tray. The FAA tested to be sure that the red belt did NOT interfere with the use of the tray behind the child’s seat before issuing its certification.
I considered the CARES for my upcoming (solo – eek!) trip with my 18-month-old, but I’d still have to bring her carseat for use when we get to our destination. (Staying with friends, not renting a car so we can’t rent a carseat.)
I’m planning to get the Traveling Toddler accessory that a previous poster mentioned – http://www.amazon.com/Traveling-Toddler-Seat-Travel-Accessory/dp/B000JHN3AS/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header
I’m getting that over the Go Go Kidz as it’ll free up one of my hands by attaching to a carry-on I’d have to bring anyway.
We were afraid to take our two year old on a plane trip since she is so squirmy, and active. This idea sounds like it might work because she is really good in car seats, but once out…watch-out. I will take a look, thanks for the great info.
We LOVE the orbit baby travel stroller system. My oldest son is almost three, and my baby is 9 months. With the Orbit Baby- BOTH the toddler CAR SEAT and the infant car seat attach to a stroller base. When we fly, my husband and I each push a stroller, with the “stroller seat” being a car seat. We fly frequently, and our kids do SO MUCH BETTER on the plane in the car seats. Plus- we like to have them when we get there. You can push the kids in stroller down to the side of the plane- then take the kid and the car seat onto the plane and gate check the stroller base. The systems are rather pricey- but if you have young kids and travel a lot- it’s worth it. Also, they don’t make double strollers (I wish!)- but if I have to travel alone with both kids I’d definitely wear the youngest and bring the car seat/stroller for my toddler.
If you can, consider borrowing a car seat from a friend at the destination city. Make sure it is in safe conditions (most car seats have a manufacturing date somewhere to be found). If that is not possible, don’t forget that you also have the option of renting car seats in many cities for convenience, safety and a reasonable price. I recommend using word of mouth and get a good recommendation on a provider from a friend. Many of us carry reputable, clean and safe equipment in very new conditions (always less than 2-years old in my case). These services may even deliver to airport and other locations. Either option would offer great benefits.
[...] Miranda reports that if you attach the gogo traveler handle to your car seat it makes getting around the airport easier. For toddlers, you can stop lugging car seats on airplanes. [...]