Frogbone

Does anyone have any experience with these child harnesses to use instead of a car seat?

I have never seen these anywhere and I am unsure how practical these are instead of lugging around two car seats.

Besides the question of safety ( are these good enough?) , wouldn't the belt that goes around the seat interfere with the Inflight Entertainment system or the tray table of the person behind you ?
There are lots of positive reviews but I was hoping someone here has either used these or has seen someone use these on Delta flights and could give me some feedback.
Thank you !!

EAJuggalo

No it doesn't interfere. The instructions for the CARES Harness explicitly states to lower the tray table when fitting the harness so the strap is between the tray table and the seat. If the strap is up high enough to be around the IFE, the child is too big to use the harness. The harness is better than just a seat belt but not as safe as a car seat. It really helped my then 4 year old to have his own car seat on the plane, he was much more comfortable and slept most of the trip. We also needed the car seat once we got to our destination. Once my kids aged out of needing car seats and were only in boosters, they were fine with the regular airplane seat belts. I personally would really only use one if it was a short flight, didn't need a car seat at the destination and worried about keeping the kid contained.

jrkmsp

I used it with my two-year-old on a few trips and other than one time where I was just an idiot in how it was installed, it was fine.

bsagator

I can highly recommend this highly portable child car/airplane seat. It meets the safety standards for both forms of travel.

https://wayb.com/products/pico-car-s...QaAnmIEALw_wcB

LapLap

Not used the CARES harness on Delta but on a range of National airlines and Low Cost Carriers between U.K. and Spain and Japan (indirect long haul).

Whilst it didn’t actively interfere with the table and functions of those sitting behind us, I’d say it does compel you to engage in a polite explanation and request for cooperation with whoever is affected. Selecting seats at the back of the cabins eliminates this.

Another thread here - Any experiences with Kids Fly Safe Cares Airplane Safety Harness?

The harness is fine when the child is awake but might require you to actively support the child’s head/shoulders if they fall asleep, but thats for take off/landing and when there is enough turbulence in flight to merit more than the standard seatbelt (between Beijing and Tokyo is notoriously bumpy).

I don’t drive and avoid situations where I would need a taxi (I’ve never used Uber or any similar service). The CARES belt was ideal for us and, once our kid had grown, we passed it on to friends.

tardyturtle

Agree with others that the CARES harness works great—I’d recommend it for 18 months to 2 years. Once you understand how it works, it’s pretty easy to install. The issue I had at the younger ages was that my son would slouch and slide down a little bit and have to keep getting propped up, but it sure beat bringing the car seat on the plane. Perhaps if I got it tighter that wouldn’t be an issue? At 2 years and up, I say just use the lap belt (unless they can’t sit still). Works in First (though I’m not sure about DeltaOne) and regular economy seats and is FAA-approved.

As others mentioned, you have to lower the tray table behind you, slide it around, then put the tray table back up. It’s a little awkward getting it off when you’re trying to deplane, since you need to ask the person behind you for permission to briefly open the tray table.

I believe there is a requirement that car seats be placed in the window seat (not aisle) and I have had flight attendants require that the CARES harness be used in the window seat (though I’m not sure that is a true mandated requirement)

gobears293

My wife and I have a trip with our 2.5 year old daughter in May. Fortunate enough to be flying business. TAP Air Portugal (A330) outbound and Air France (A350) return. The CARES harness seems like it will work great, but I've also read it can't be used on seats with the "air bag" seat belts. I found this Wikipedia article but seems incomplete: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane_airbags And the CARES manufacturer (AMSAFE) doesn't know which airlines have them. Has anyone had good experience calling the airline customer service to get a definitive answer? Seems like a niche question the front line customer support might not know about.

LapLap

This is a very specialised question and I doubt you will find the answer in this generalised sub-forum.

As you know which airlines - and, importantly, which routes - you are taking I would recommend asking in the relevant forums.

Your query was asked in 2019 in the FlyTap forum (post #19) here - GUIDE: TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330-900neo

2019 was another era. Air France has its own forum also.

What our esteemed regular posters can help you with which this sub-forum can’t and nor could a CARES site is understanding the possibility of Aircraft substitutions on your routes. I don’t know many (any?) airlines which have the same business class seats and configurations across their entire fleet or who dedicate them reliably on a given route.

EAJuggalo

The FAA requirement is that child seats can't be placed anywhere that it would inhibit the evacuation of anyone else in the row. Most airlines accept that to mean that car seats can only be placed in the window of narrowbody aircraft. I believe I recall seeing some reports of folks that were able to use a seat in the center section of a widebody, but not in an aisle seat.