Airplane Seat Harness - Yay

Another nod of approval last week, for this clever solution for air travel with kids. Every parent dreads lugging a car seat through the airport and onto a plane, but parents want their kids to be as safe as possible during their flight. Now, the CARES seat harness promises to secure your child just as safely as a carseat, while sitting in the regular seat on the plane.

CARES Airplane Seat Harness

CARES -- short for "Child Aviation Restraint System" -- weighs less than a pound, costs about $80, and solves a big problem for parents of tots who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds. Leave that bulky car seat at home:

• CARES is "FAA certified as having an equivalent level of safety to a car seat for all phases of flight"

• CARES is manufactured by AmSafe, a "foremost manufacturer of airplane seatbelts and other safety restraints"*

If you need a car seat at your destination, you can check your own carseat through as luggage, and be free of it at check-in until you land. Or hire a rental car at your destination, and choose a company that provides a seat. (Make sure they're giving you good equipment! And if you're checking your own car-seat, protect it from damage by using a car-seat bag.)

CARES was invented -- I like this part-- by a grandmother who watched her pregnant daughter struggle off a flight carrying a toddler, a car seat, and a diaper bag. It maybe helped that that grandmother had been the Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Transportation. You can read the story of CARES, in the inventor's own words, at the Kids Fly Safe site.

As for awards: CARES has received the Good Housekeeping Magazine Good Buy Award, and last week was picked as one of Dr. Toy's 10 Socially Responsible Products (part of Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products list for 2008.)

Read more at kidsflysafe.com; and About.com's Guide for Baby Products has a review of the CARES Airplane Harness and tips for use.

Have you had experience with this CARES airplane seat harness? Post a comment below!

^{*This information is from the Kids Fly Safe site. Photo courtesy of Kids Fly Safe.}