Holiday Airplane Travel with Kids

I cannot believe it’s already mid-December. Seriously, where did the time go? We leave in a matter of days to fly with the kids from Florida to visit my family in Ohio. It means two planes, a layover and a drive from the airport to my mom’s house. I know how exhausting and frustrating a long day of travel can be for me – as an adult who knows what’s going on – so I can only imagine how weird an experience it must be for the little ones who are merely being carried, strolled and walked along. With that in mind, I’ve been on the hunt for some good products for baby and kid airplane travel.

CARES Restraint System

Once a child reaches the age of 2, you must purchase a separate plane ticket. (And, frankly, if you can swing it financially you might find it necessary and more comfortable before that age.) But, the seatbelts on planes are not designed for little passengers. CARES – which stands for Child Aviation Restraint System – is a harness specifically designed to secure children who weigh 22 – 44 pounds in their own airplane seat. Notably, it is the only harness type child aviation safety restraint  ever certified for airplane travel by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

We received on for review and Toddler Boy will be using it when we travel for the holidays. At only a pound, it is easy to carry so I’ll just throw it in my diaper bag and carry it on board. We will need his car seat when we arrive in Ohio, but we’ll check it through so we don’t have to carry it through airports. (Thankfully, most airlines don’t charge passengers to check car seats or strollers. Yet.)

CARES can be purchased for $75 at KidsFlySafe.com and is also available on Amazon. Expedited shipping is available to receive it before you travel this year! Be sure to check back and read the review to see what we think of the CARES in action.

Air Travel Kid-Friendly Products

There are some other products I’d love to try and am curious if any of you have experience with them.

• Kid Travel Pillow: there are some really cute animal designs created with little travelers in mind. (Think U-shaped neck pillow meets a stuffed animal.) These seem great for car travel as well as airplane rides.
• Car Seat Bag: I’d love a bag to protect our car seats that we are checking in with luggage. I know these bags exist and are quite convenient. But, honestly, there’s nothing convenient about carrying / dragging around two car seats so I’m more concerned about protecting the seats.

Any other products that are must haves for airplane travel with kids? I survived a plane flight alone with two kids six months ago, and the tips and suggestions in the comments on a post prior to travel were helpful for ideas about entertaining the kids. But, on this post I’m really trying to find the best THINGS for travel.