CARES harness with a wiggly, strong willed kid

[egoldber]

We are going to WDW in a little over a week. We are using Disney transport to and from the airport and while we are there, so we have no need for a carseat.

Amy has never flown without a carseat. The last few times we have flown it has been problematic because she fights the carseat and repeatedly kicks the seat in front of her. We usually try and solve this by putting Sarah in front of her, but Sarah does not particularly enjoy this either. ;)

Anyway, I am considering no carseat or the CARES harness. I know that CARES is safer, but honestly I am truly not that concerned about the safety aspect of it. I watched the on-line video and I think she is very likely to simply wiggle out of it. And oddly enough, she often behaves better when she is NOT restrained vs when she is restrained.

I'm wondering if anyone has used the CARES with a kid who is stong willed and wiggly and I'm wondering how it went.

[hillview]

IMO CARES is a waste if kids are uncooperative. It is pretty easy to unbuckle the airplane seat. Sorry :(
/hillary

[stillplayswithbarbies]

if you want to avoid kicking the seat and she is under the weight limit, try rear-facing on the plane.

[bubbaray]

I wouldn't say that CARES is safER in all circumstances. We were VERY unhappy with the fit on our then-2yo when we flew to DL last April. On the return trip, we skipped the CARES altogether and used the lapbelt, which worked MUCH better.

CARES was a bust for us.

[HIU8]

The last time we flew, DD was just over 2. She threw a massive fit in the carseat and we ended up just using the lapbelt. That worked sooooo much better. She was well behaved, didn't attempt to unbuckle more than one or two times. I think for our sanity when we fly, DD won't be in a carseat. I'm not sure I am even going to invest in the CARES harness b/c of how well DD did in just the seatbelt.

[arivecchi]

I'd go for the lapbelt. If she is wiggly, she will not like the CARES harness at all.

[egoldber]

Yes, I'm thinking seatbelt is the way to go.

No way could I get her into a seat RF anymore. I know people say they don't give their kids a choice, but it took myself AND DH holding her down to get her into her seat last time. I just don't see that as feasible. And then she would just kick the seatback and again, not much fun for anyone.

[WatchingThemGrow]

My strap-resistant DD happily wears her CARES, as does compliant DS1. The fact that we're in an aircraft/different environment, with strangers makes it work, I guess.