Flying With A 3 Year Old

[Anonymous]

Flying with my just turned 3 yo at the end of the month and am thinking of buying a CARES system for restraint on the plane. Has anyone used one? If not, how did you restrain your child on the flight? Just the seatbelt?

[Anonymous]

I did not use a cares system (although it looks great), but instead used the Britax carseat. It was a hassle to carry and install (we travel a lot), but once in, my daughter has always been more comfortable in it. It has been easier for her to nap. But... it is also easier for her to kick the chair in front of her (yikes) and her table can't go down because the chair is in the way. To me, it was still worth it.

Others have the opposite opinion. It really depends on the kid and the parent.

[Anonymous]

i didn't bring anything.

[Anonymous]

I've used the Cares and also have just used the regular seatbelt. At 3 I found the Cares a nice way to make sure my little one understood that it wasn't play time during take off and landing. I did have to let his arms out of the harness during the flight so he could lay down and take a nap though. By the time he was 3.5 I felt comfortable using the lap belt alone (but really only b/c I needed to use the harness for his little brother) but am considering buying a second just for safety sake. Forget the carseat at that age in my opinion -- they are so close to the seat in front of them they can't help but kick it!

[Anonymous]

If it's a really long flight I would use the carseat, even at that age. Better for sleeping in.

[Anonymous]

I used our CARES Harness for the first time when my son was 26 months. I thought it was great. Car seat gets checked at the curve.