Car Seat on the Plane

So now that I'm a full paying flyer, my parents have started to think about the best way for me to sit still for 4+ hours on our upcoming trip to Puerto Rico later this week.

But truth be told, it's less because I have my own seat now, and more because I'm getting bigger. Apparently, my weak parents have a hard time holding me for extended periods of time.

So in preparation for our flight, my father evaluated a few different options for young toddlers, including (1) a CARES harness, (2) a standard car seat or (3) nothing.

CARES Harness

A popular device that many parents go with was the CARES (Child Aviation REstrain System) Harness. While the makers may not understand how acronyms are supposed to work, the product itself does get a lot of positive reviews including this one from MommyPoints.

The positives include being FAA approved for safety, exceptionally easy to pack (fits inside a carry on bag) and relatively easy to use since it's similar to the straps on an infant car seat.

However, the compilation of straps and buckles had some negatives as well, including having to strap around the seat (which can prevent the passenger sitting behind you from using their tray) and not providing much support if the child slides down.

As you can see from the photo, the red loop goes around the seat back and the smaller black loops go on the airplane's regular lap safety belt. Since I take after my father, I slouch in my seat a lot, and I worry I may end up choking myself if I were to slide out too much.

And while price shouldn't be a huge factor when considering my safety, I feel obligated to point out that the set of straps isn't cheap either. The device (which won't help you once your plane lands and you need to secure your child in the rental car) goes for about $70 on Amazon.

Standard Car Seat
As you may know, my family doesn't really travel in cars very often. Given we live in Manhattan, the public transportation options are good enough to cover about 90% of the ground travel we do. But we did have a car seat we used for the times we did travel to places where we'd be renting a car or taking a long bus ride (like we did in Thailand back in February).

However, for some reason, despite having an abnormally short Asian father, I've been pretty tall for my age so far. By the time I hit 2 years old, I outgrew the car seat that I've used since the day of my birth. Also, this type of rear facing car seat won't work on a flight, but we've been bringing it (as checked luggage) on almost all our trips.

Ironically, while looking at the Amazon reviews for the CARES Harness, we found a reviewer that said they went with a light weight car seat that would work on both the plane ride as well as the car rides after you land. In fact, the reviewer actually recommended the specific car seat model they went with instead. So my father went online and found the same Cosco Scenera Convertible Car Seat (just 8.5 lbs!) selling for $39 on Walmart.com.

Now, before any of you get your parents to buy a car seat for the airplane, make sure it will comply with FAA regulations. Per American Airline's website:

Most restraints that are used in automobiles are acceptable for use in aircraft by an infant or small child. Acceptable restraints manufactured in the United States will bear one or both of the following labels:

• “This child restraint system conforms to all applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards” 

Additionally, the restraint may carry a second label with red lettering which states the following:

• “This restraint is certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft.”

Fortunately for us, our Cosco Scenera had the label. So now, instead of checking it with their luggage, my parents will have to carry this new car seat around with them through the airport terminal, security line and to the boarding gate.

Now, what to do with my umbrella stroller...