What type of restraint to use for my 2 year old on plane??

[jen7811]

Hi all. Well I may be flying with my 2 1/2 year old daughter and I am trying to figure out what type of restraint I need to use for her on a plane.. I know it would be a pain trying to carry her carseat,, its huge... I have seen some restraints made for flying but they are $65 to $75... She is about 35 pounds so I am trying to figure out the best thing to do... I am thinking maybe she is still too young to just use the airline buckle ... but was hoping to find something that is less expensive that I could use... since we dont fly much... I appreciate any advice.. Thanks all!

[pbjmama]

Will you need the car seat at your destination? The system you are referring to is called CARES, maybe email your friends and see if anyone has one you can borrow?

[PlayaMama]

i just flew with my dd (just turned 3 and i didn't use anything). i figured if the plane is crashing, by britax probably isn't going to do much good. that and it takes up a lot of seat room that they can move around in during the flight, which makes for a _much_ easier time. she made friends with the folks in the row behind us by standing up and saying hi.

[jen7811]

Thanks all... I may be able to borrow a car seat when I get there.. not sure...

[JBaxter]

Mine sit in their car seat on the plane.    At that age they dont understand the lap belt NEEDS to stay buckled.  The car seat they understand.   I was on a plane that had wicked turbulance once and it really freaked me out.   My suggestion would be take their car seat along.

[cyanviolet]

You can rent the CARES restraint on eBAY for around $15. The lap belts aren't made to restrain such small bodies in turbulence. We used one on our last flight and it was much better for our 21 month old than the car seat because he could play with his toys on a surface (the seat and the tray table). The downside is that he did tend to slip (next time I'll bring the shelf liner like other parents have suggested) and sleeping wasn't as easy as in the car seat.

The other alternative is to buy a cheap, light weight car seat to use on the plane and for your destination.