Traveling with two LOS, esp for those of you who have experience with a CARES harness...

I'll be flying from IL to CA with my DS who will be 20 mo( currently (25lbs, 30") & 3.5yo DD (31lbs & 36"). My mother will be driving us to a hotel near the airport in seats dedicated to her vehicle and we will take a shuttle to the airport. My husband will be picking us up from the airport in CA with the seats in his car so we don't need to worry about seats on either end of the trip.

I will be traveling by myself for the first leg of the journey with both kids, a CS for my 18mo (probably a Scenera) and either a CS or a CARES harness for my 3.5yo. My SIL will be meeting up with us in Denver and flying the rest of the way with us to help me out.

I like the idea of hauling only one CS (in addition to our bags and the kids themselves ) and using the CARES harness on the plane for DD but I've only read about the CARES & don't know of anyone who has actually used it.

For those of you who have used a CARES harness,

1) How is the CARES comfort wise? The adjustment buckles on the harness straps look like they would be uncomfortable. Are they?

2) Can your LOs reach the tray table & look out the window (DD is 36" tall)

3) Can your LOs sleep in it or is it as difficult to get comfy as it is for an adult?


So my options are:

A) 20 mo RFing in a Scenera & 3.5yo FF in a CARES harness

B) 20 mo RFing in a Scenera & 3.5yo in a Scenera (would have to buy a 2nd one)

C) Bringing both of our Radian XTs & FFing oth kids

D) 20mo RF in the Scenera & #.5 yo FF in her Radian

I think that about covers it. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated. TIA

I would bring one Radian and use CARES.

For me, the radian is the easiest seat to travel with b/c I can wear it as a backpack. Also, if you dont need it once you get there, you can fold it up and put it in the trunk or whatever.

Are you taking a stroller with?

I flew last fall with my 2 LO's and they were about the same age as yours at the time. I have a Cares harness for DD (and we have a Safeguard Go that we carry-on for her carseat at our destination), and an Uptown for DS on the plane. For getting thru the airport I strap the Uptown in our umbrella stroller or on a folding cart and DS rides in it that way, or I load our other stuff on it and carry DS in the Ergo. DD can walk and pulls a little rolling bag with her dvd player and snacks.

DD was able to use the tray while in the Cares, we probably loosened it up a little. It was more comfy for relaxing and sleeping if we put a folded jacket or blanket behind her back. If you have your LO in a carseat that will have to go next to the window, so seeing out the window with the cares isn't an issue (I'm pretty sure DD could the time we had 2+2 seats in front of each other. This is a more recent flight, you can see DD in the Cares & DS in the Uptown.


One other question about the shuttle...If it is just a van shuttle (not a bus) I would want to be using carseats for that too.

leighi123 said:

I would bring one Radian and use CARES.

For me, the radian is the easiest seat to travel with b/c I can wear it as a backpack. Also, if you dont need it once you get there, you can fold it up and put it in the trunk or whatever.

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Radians are generally not compatible with rear facing in an airplane, though, and it sounds like she wants the one year old rear facing on the plane.

I would do Scenera and CARES.

aeormsby said:

Are you taking a stroller with?

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I hadn't planed on it. If I was going to take the Scenera I was going to put it on our GoGo Kidz w/ either DS in my Beco & the carry on in the scenera w/ DD walking or DS in the GoGo Kidz & the carry on on my back...probably the DS on my back though.

aeormsby said:

COLOR="Silver"]I flew last fall with my 2 LO's and they were about the same age as yours at the time. I have a Cares harness for DD (and we have a Safeguard Go that we carry-on for her carseat at our destination), and an Uptown for DS on the plane. For getting thru the airport I strap the Uptown in our umbrella stroller or on a folding cart and DS rides in it that way, or I load our other stuff on it and carry DS in the Ergo. DD can walk and pulls a little rolling bag with her dvd player and snacks.

DD was able to use the tray while in the Cares, we probably loosened it up a little. It was more comfy for relaxing and sleeping if we put a folded jacket or blanket behind her back. If you have your LO in a carseat that will have to go next to the window, so seeing out the window with the cares isn't an issue (I'm pretty sure DD could the time we had 2+2 seats in front of each other. This is a more recent flight, you can see DD in the Cares & DS in the Uptown.[/COLOR]

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Wow, thank you so much for the info and the picture...very helpful. Did you find the harness adjusters irritated her neck at all?

aeormsby said:

One other question about the shuttle...If it is just a van shuttle (not a bus) I would want to be using carseats for that too.

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I'm not sure about the shuttle but that is an excellent point. I've never taken any shuttle with the kids before. I'd probably have to get an RSTV and take a taxi to the airport. While I don't love the idea of spending the money but if the RSTV fits her properly (I know the new one starts at 30 lbs and DD is ALL torso) it might be a good option as I'm sure we would be able to use it for both kids on future trips. We fly a fair bit it's just usually with DH, myself and the two kids so taking two CS is not an issue like it is with just me and the kids.

Maedze said:

Radians are generally not compatible with rear facing in an airplane, though, and it sounds like she wants the one year old rear facing on the plane.

I would do Scenera and CARES.

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I definitely want to RF DS. He has never been FFing and at 18mo I just don't feel comfortable doing it.

aeormsby said:

One other question about the shuttle...If it is just a van shuttle (not a bus) I would want to be using carseats for that too.

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I've been keeping my eye on these threads because of our upcoming trip. Thank you for pointing this out because it was a good reminder to me that I need to figure this out too. I've already ruled out parking farther away because I didn't want to be taking a shuttle, even if it's a bus, 30 minutes on a busy freeway on which people drive like lunatics. But even if we park at the actual airport, we will need to get between long term parking and our terminal and it seems from my memory that many of those shuttles do not have seat belts. What do most people do for this? On this end, my DH could drop us off at arrivals where we could wait while he parks. However, on the other end, we will need to get between the terminal and the car rental and I'll have to check, but I would guess that may require the same type of shuttle. One of us could go rent the car and come back for the others, but then we will have to install car seats (or car seat and RSTV) at the airport curb with people breathing down our necks and what if we discover an install problem and have to trade for a different vehicle? Just when I think I have this worked out! But I would rather figure it out now, then realize at the airport so again, thank you!

I would really appreciate hearing about what others do to make this work. There may be solutions of which I am not thinking because I have never done this and because I have total mommy brain (x2 ). Thanks!

We've done parking shuttles from on-airport (large bus) and just off-airport (small bus). We don't worry about the carseats in those situations, I think the small bus does have seatbelts but the seats are side-facing. If we were to take a shuttle from home or our town (usually the 12-15 pass van) I would definitely want to use carseats in it.