You may recall that a year ago I shared  our experience with the CARES Child Aviation Restraint System (Harness as I like to call it). Fast forward a year and we’re still using it and more over, loving it. Click here to see our previous post which includes a video of my first attempt at placing it on the airplane seat. Many parents wonder how they can fly safely with young kids and how airplane seat belts work on toddlers. The short answer is, it doesn’t. The kids slip and slide and it’s not a big deal for the most part …unless there’s an emergency or heavy turbulence. In which case it can get a bit scary. Fear not though, because there is a solution and you can win a CARES system, no matter where in the world you live!

Last weekend we flew to Belgium and since we only have one CARES system  and didn’t buy a seat for Baby Boy, my plan was obviously to have Little Monkey strapped in because it was better than her sliding through the regular airplane seat belts. Plus the CARES system really holds her in place and prevents her from standing up or bumping the seat in front as she tries to grab her princesses. Sure she can remove the buckles but she’s pretty good when we told her it’s like a car seat. Didn’t mind one bit.

 

The CARES system is designed specifically for aviation use with children aged 1 and older who are under 40 inches in height and weigh between 22 and 44 pounds. If you’re wondering turn over your airplane seat belt buckle. Chances are it says AmSafe. The same company that manufactures the CARES system. I had Little Monkey strapped in happily and Baby Boy was on my lap for an hour or so. However we totally lucked out by having empty seats next to us, which meant that Baby Boy also had his own seat. Baby Boy was just shy a pound off the required 22 but given that we were on a red eye flight and that both kids were getting exhausted I didn’t know what to do ( Baby Boy was wailing away due to exhaustion) but I knew that I needed to strap him in so he’d fall asleep in the empty seat vs. on my lap. I took a chance and placed him in the seat with the CARES system (luckily Little Monkey didn’t mind) and what do you know.. this one year old fell asleep with no issues! It was like he was strapped in a car seat. Can you imagine my sense of relief? I am a huge fan of the CARES Child Aviation Restrain System and even the hubs has changed his mind about this once he saw how it not only safely secures the kids in the seats during turbulence, but also allows us to sleep on board ;). CARES was invented by a grandmother of 9 so I think she definitely knew what she was doing!

 

 

CARES is the first and only harness type Aviation Child Safety Device to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as an alternative to a car seat. Moreover, CARES is an elegantly designed belt-and-buckle device that works in conjunction with the regular airplane seat belt and provides young travelers the same level of safety as a car seat. When I shared this picture of Little Monkey I received quite a few comments about the ‘belt’ and I knew I had to reach out to the folks at CARES and see if they’d like to partner with us for a giveaway and luckily, they said yes! I’m so thrilled to be able to share this opportunity for another family to safely travel in the new year! Priced at around $75 the CARES system can be bought online or at certain stores throughout the world.

Enter below and be sure to check out our other giveaways as well! Remember, you can enter this one, no matter where in the world you are!

a Rafflecopter giveaway