CARES Child Restraint System

On recent trips, both Jennifer and I had the opportunity to test out the system on our sons. Ryan is three and weighs 38 pounds; Alexander is two and weighs in at 35 pounds.

My first impression of CARES was, "Is that it?" as my friend handed me a small blue bag. Weighing in at just one pound (significantly less than our Britax Roundabout car seat!), CARES at first glance hardly appears, well, reassuring. But upon closer examination, I found the straps to be well made and very sturdy. In fact, CARES is manufactured by Amsafe Aviation, the largest manufacturer of aviation seatbelts and pilot restraint systems in the world. CARES is made of the same material as your own seatbelt.

The CARES consists of one main loop that goes around the back of the seat (under the tray table in the back of the seat) and then is positioned just above your child's shoulders (the red strap in the illustration below). It has two, vertical black straps that cross over each shoulder and connect to the airplane's seatbelt (blue) at the bottom by threading the seat belt through loops in the ends of the black straps. Those two straps also buckle in the middle across the chest, creating a harness similar to that of a car seat.

Jennifer noted that her CARES system came with an installation DVD to explain the proper way to use it. She suggests you take the time to watch it. (If you borrow a CARES from a friend, be sure to ask for the DVD.) The four-minute-long DVD does a good job of showing the relatively simple installation, which is really helpful to know for your first flight with CARES.

The first segment of our flight was from Hartford to Charlotte and thanks to some soon-to-expire frequent flier miles, we had upgraded to first class for this leg of the trip. CARES was clearly not designed with first class seats in mind, as it was very difficult to maneuver the main loop over the top of the seat. However, even with this added degree of difficulty, my husband powered it down and had Ryan strapped in thoroughly in under three minutes. Ryan loved being able to sit in a seat "just like Daddy's!"

It was not long after take-off that we noticed the other issue with CARES. Unlike a car seat, which has straps that go between your child's legs to keep them upright in the seat, the CARES has no crotch strap. With nothing between his legs to keep him sitting upright in the seat, Ryan was soon sliding down and out from under the straps. While Ryan is an experienced traveler and not particularly squirmy on flights, we did have to "scooch" him up periodically to keep him comfortable. [Dave adds: The lack of a crotch strap is a safety concern. While it's no worse than using any adult lap or lap-and-shoulder belt with small children, at that size a crotch strap is still preferable.]

When we reached Charlotte, the CARES was again slightly difficult to maneuver up and off the wider first-class seat, but we still had it uninstalled in under a minute. Our connecting flight to Savannah was on a much smaller commuter plane. With those coach-sized seats, the CARES was truly easy to install.