Baby B'Air Flight Vest and CARES Flight Harness

[Isambard]

Hello,

I am planning a trip home with my 1 year old son in October, who will be too big to travel in the bassinet and have come across the above two products.

These are harnesses which enable you to strap your child to your body during the flight and both appear to be FAA approved so could be a safe (and certainly cheaper) alternative to booking a separate seat and bringing a car seat on board.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to publish the websites here so have refrained just in case.

My questions are:

1) Has anyone used either of these produts and are they as good as they seem?

2) Has anyone seen them stocked in Singapore? I've checked both product websites and they don't seem to be. The cost of each product is fairly low (e.g the Baby B'Air is $34 USD) but the shipping is around $150 USD - still cheaper than a seat to the UK but if I can source it locally then better still.

3) If they're good enough for air travel and turbulence do you think they could be used in the turbulant Singapore Taxis! My son hates the Baby Bjorn sling thing with a passion and the Baby B'Air device looks less bulky and hot and could be stowed in the bottom of the stroller and used when required. I ask as I've trawled several forums and the question of how to transport toddlers safely seems to come up time and again and, as my son is about to grow out of his travel system car seat, wondered if this could work?

Any advice gratefully received.

[nilamsmehta]

Hi there,

I went through this about a month ago when we flew here. I was all ready to buy the cares harness until i ready up a bit more. It seems that the design is slightly flawed. The top strap ends up being buckled right behind the childs head which is very uncomfy for them. Also, if the child falls asleep and slouches down the strap around their chest falls under their neck and some people were worried about this (decapitation which I think might be extreme but worth thinking about it). I believe the same goes for the bair vest but i didnt research that one enough. Some people said they thought the cares was better for older children

A few of myf friends suggested I get a cheap car seat and chuck it if we didnt have room to store it. I was seriously thinking about this but in the end we decided not to go for anything. I felt bad keeping my son in a car seat for an 18 hour flight where he would have to sleep upright.

Let me know if you have more questions.

[nilamsmehta]

Sorry just reread your post about getting the extra seat so ignore the part of the cheap car seat. The cares harness is only for a child who will be sitting in its own seat.

[Isambard]

Ah yes - I see what you mean about the CARES harness requiring a seat - I read things through too quickly and got myself confused, thanks for pointing this out and for your thoughts on using it. I think you're right - if you're going to buy a separate seat then you may as well go the whole hog and bring along a proper car seat for comfort.

Still interested in the B'Air vest though so if anyone else has any experience I'd be interested to hear.

Thanks

[sierra2469alpha]

Hi - as ex tech crew (pilot) I'd strongly suggest you do not solely rely on either product being FAA approved. The only, and ONLY people who can advice on the use such devices are the airline on which you are flying.

I'd hate to see you spend some money only to be refused boarding.

HTH, P

[nilamsmehta]

Yes Sierre has an excellent point. i was told no all airlines will allow either of these products. I know when we flew sing air biz class, they provided us with a seat belt that attached to mine for my son. also i realized that the cares harness would never have fit the seats as they are 1.5 times the size of a regular one. def call them to confirm.

[Isambard]

Thanks both - I'll certainly do some further investigating

[Isambard]

Have now been through the Singapore Airlines website carefully where it specifically says that vest and harness devices are NOT allowed.

Couldn't find any comments on the BA website about vests or harnesses but it does say that they provide a Britax seat which attaches to the Bassinet shelf. I rang the BA office here in Singapore and they didn't know about vests and thought the car seat was an up-to-14kg baby size.

My son is too long for the BA Bassinet but should still fit into the seat.

Thanks both - You've saved me some money!