Iwannabethere

Does anyone have a CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System) harness or two I could borrow for a trip to the UK? Not sure when we are going yet (MIL ill but waiting for test results). Don't really want to have to pay $100 each for them when likelihood is that both kiddlies will have outgrown them by the next trip back. Happy to pay postage both ways.

vcf49

We purchased one of these instead: http://babybair.com/ as the turbulence can be pretty bad between Singapore and the UK but so far we haven't needed to use it as the straps provided by the airline had to be used during take off and landing (baby F not old enough to have own seat yet) and the turbulence never got severe enough for the seatbelt light to go back on during the flight. Hope someone can help you out but this would be a good back up plan for your youngest.

comet555

If you don't have any luck borrowing then you could try checking with places that rent baby supplies. I doubt many of them would have it but it's worth a try.

http://www.hireforbaby.com/
http://www.littlenoodles.com.au/

I couldn't find the restraint on their website but I'd still check. If anything it might convince them that perhaps it's something they should rent.

You could also try the classifieds like Gumtree:
http://www.gumtree.com.au/
I didn't see the harness on there either though.

We did have one a couple of years ago and sold it to a member on the forum, so I hope you get lucky and find some.

brian.w

I am thinking of getting one of these,are they any good a lot of good reviews but also some negs but you always do with most things.
I take this item came out a while ago are they still any good to use with new modern airlines these days.
Like the airbus etc etc,im going with singapore airlines.
By the time we go our child will be around 8 months i see on a few places it says 1 yr,but it also says weight of 22lb+ maybe our child will be this by the time she is 8 months or less than this as she is 18lb+ right now,but she might even lose someof that by that age.
Im just wondering if she will be ok to use this if her weight is ok but age is not.
I take a child can have there own seat at that age?

comet555

I personally wouldn't use it would a baby that age, I don't really think they are big enough until they are older than one year old.

I think height and sitting ability/neck strength are more of an issue than the weight, so that's why I think you're baby would be too little to use the harness.

I've used both the harness and the bassinette and your best bet is the bassinette if you can get one. If you wanted to buy a seat for the baby then you could certainly pay for it, it's really up to whether you want to spend the money. If you do buy the seat then you could use a car seat and have the baby sleeping and strapped into that, or you don't have to use one if you prefer the space.

If you don't purchase the seat you can always ask to be seated next to an empty seat. Chances are you won't get it but you never know you could get lucky.

As people have told you on the other thread I would say go for the bassinette and also pack light, ie bag of baby supplies and 1 bag for both you and your wife to share (rather than 2).

brian.w

To be honest we will be moving to oz and with having all our cases,stroller etc etc dont really want to be carry around a car seat,i have read on another forum some folk have very rarely seen a car seat on a plane,do be honest i dont think i have seen one also,but maybe at the time i did not take much notice.
I was thinking this harness would be usefull,less hassle and weight and anyway the car seat is no good to us over in oz not legal to use over there.

Im sure by the age of 8 months she will be sitting up,and big enough to use this?she is a not a small child.
So maybe just two adult seats and request a basinett is the way to go?,but thought maybe a extra seat for baby would be good but cant see us taking a car seat with us.

comet555

I would have to agree about the car seat. It's only really useful if you can actually use it (legally) at your destination. Even then it's a pain in the butt to have to cart around.

I've traveled with and without it for domestic flights and it's definitely easier without.

If you plan on doing a lot of travelling then you could always get the harness and if she's too little to use it then you'll have it for later trips. It's been a while now so I can't remember specifically but I would be shocked if you could use it for a baby that young. I dug up my old posts on the topic to refresh my memory:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...58&postcount=9
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...5&postcount=13


Have a look at some of the reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/CARES-Child-Av...8?pageNumber=2

I should also add that when we tried it, back in 2008-2009, there were certain airlines where the flight attendants didn't allow us to use it. Can't remember which ones though. So it wouldn't hurt to contact the airlines to check and see if you can actually use it prior to you purchasing it.

If you do end up going for a harness then I would check ebay as they are expensive to buy new, and the used ones have probably hardly been used.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_tr...at=0&_from=R40

Japonica

I've used the CARES harness and car seats. IMO, the CARES is better for older kids, around ~20 months and up, depending on their age. When we moved over permanently, we took the car seat for our son who was 16 months old at the time and used the CARES for our four year old daughter. It worked great. I think our little guy had the best go of it because his seat was more cushiony and ideal for him to sleep in versus trying to sleep more upright in the harness on the firmer airplane seat like his sister had to do.

We bought an Aussie seat within a week of arriving.

When we went back for a visit, he was 2.5 years old so he got the CARES and she just used the lap belt as is.

The thing with the CARES is that I'm not sure how far down it can go. You lower the tray table of the back of the seat, slide it over the top, adjust, and then put their table back up but there's going to be a point where the harness can't be lowered because of where the arms of the tray table are fixed to the seat. I had no problem using it for a 2.5 year old but I really question whether it would work for a child under say 18 months old (of average height and weight).

I feel your pain about dragging the car seat along but a happy sleeping baby is worth it IMO. My kids loved to sleep in their seats. Worth it for a few hours of quiet. We also usually bought the under twos their own seats. The bassinet thing just did not work well for us.

Edited to add: we had no problems using the harness on three different carriers. One attendant though wanted us to demonstrate that it could be unclipped and the child removed quickly for emergencies.