My wife and I are early adopters of CARES and have used it a couple of years now. CARES, which stands for “child aviation restraint system,” is an alternative to a car seat for children that are no longer babies.

CARES is designed specifically for aviation use for children age 1 and older who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds. These youngsters are old enough to be in their own seats, but are too small for the seat belt alone to protect them. Their bodies cannot withstand the jolts that are common in routine transportation, much less emergency situations, and they flail forward or slide beneath the seat belt if they are not held securely in place.

For many parents, the idea of restraining their child in flight is unnecessary, and when they think of accidents, they usually think of collisions. The idea of a collision in an airplane seems extremely unlikely, and if it did occur, the assumption is that the results would be catastrophic for everyone involved — regardless of restraints. However, for airplanes, collisions are not the main reason for wearing restraints.

The biggest concern for airplanes is turbulence. It can occur at any time and it can be violent. It doesn’t take much turbulence to pick a small child or person off their seat. In extreme turbulence — which again, can happen at any time during flight — children could easily be thrown around the cabin, hitting their head, causing severe bodily damage and in rare cases, death. The reality of that danger is the reason why we choose to use CARES with our children.

CARES is also convenient. It was originally designed so parents wouldn’t have to lug car seats into the cabin (along with their children and everything else). Its features include:

• 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.
• 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.
• Weighs just one pound and fits into a 6″ stuff sack! It is easily portable, simple to install, adjustable to every size airplane seat, and usable on any seat in the airplane, except in the emergency exit rows.
• Need your car seat on the other end of the trip? Just check it through as luggage – and carry CARES on board in your pocket!

For more information, read their FAQ and visit http://www.kidsflysafe.com/.