Flying with a toddler, but DON'T want to take a car seat.

Woby_Tide

lynnexxxo wrote: »

There are risks in life, personally I think that the risk that your flight will be involved in an incident is pretty small. Also, i'd say theres a much bigger risk of injury in the scrum to get out of a plane after a crash landing - thus you'd be better to get an emergency exit seat rather than a restraining device.

Aren't seats next to emergency exits only allowed to be occupied by able bodied adults due to them needing to be vacated quickly in an emergency?

I agree with teh point about marketing un-needed products

Murphy_The_Cat

duchy wrote: »

Hmmm I wouldn't be so sure. The Patriot act basically allows for flight crew to have final say on anything-and if you choose to argue they *may* decide you are "a security risk" and have the authorities meet you upon arrivial. I find it rather odd that whoever is marketing this contraption feels the need to put all that blurb in anyway-and all airlines will refuse even car-seats if they are not on their own approved list.
Personally I'd check with the carrier in advance.

welllllllllllllllllllllllllllll - I'm not an expert on all things flying, but I got this from AA.com " The FAA-approved Aviation Child Safety Device (ACSD) provides all the protection of a traditional child safety seat by combining the use of the aircraft's lap belt and a four-point shoulder harness. Unlike typical child safety seats, the ACSD weighs less than 1 pound and fits into a 6" carrying case, making it much lighter and easier to transport.

The ACSD is approved for aircraft use only and should not be confused with other non-approved vest/harness-type devices. " with a link to where it can be purchased, including (what a surprise from AA themselves )

As for finding it surprising that someone would include the blurb, I find it very reassuring that they have gone to the trouble to put in a comprehensive FAQ section.
The people who manufacture the product are AmSafe Aviation (CARES is manufactured exclusively by AmSafe, the foremost manufacturer of aviation seatbelts and pilot restraints in the world. (Turn over your airplane seat belt buckle. Chances are it says AmSafe.) which give all the impression of being a very, very real company !

But I'd check with the carrier anyway, even though ----
Q. Can CARES be used yet on any foreign airlines?A. Yes, CARES is certified by the UK (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, & Wales), Australia, New Zealand, & Singapore and may be used on all their registered airlines wherever they fly.It doesn't mean that the flight attendant is aware/trained in the product.

lynnexxxo wrote:

I'm no expert it just annoys me that companies often sell products by hinting if you don't buy them your children will be in danger.

Hi Lynne, you may be missing the jist of my post.
If someone is the type of parent who sits their infant on their knee for the duration of the flight, then the product is not of interest to the.
But if someone is the sort of parent who pays for a seat for their infant, and then who puts them securely into a car seat because they consider that to be the safest option (plus making for a much more comfortable flight for everyone) --- but who finds carrying around a car seat a pain in the bum, then this would be an ideal alternative.

But still check with the airline.



p.s. from the FAA & FAA again

Badger_Lady

fas3robinj wrote: »

I really think that these types of devices ought to be a matter of legislation. I hate to see infants sitting unrestrained on the lap of an adult.

Are they ever unrestrained? When I took my friend's baby on holiday, I was given an orange belt that went around the child and clipped onto my own seatbelt. In fact, on the way back he was fast asleep in my arms (and quiet!), but they made me wake him up to sit him properly with the restraints. They wouldn't allow me to just hold him.

Murphy_The_Cat

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Are they ever unrestrained? When I took my friend's baby on holiday, I was given an orange belt that went around the child and clipped onto my own seatbelt. In fact, on the way back he was fast asleep in my arms (and quiet!), but they made me wake him up to sit him properly with the restraints. They wouldn't allow me to just hold him.

hmm, on every flight that I've been on, the infants are belted down onto the parents lap belts for take off / turbulence / landing, but after that they are free to be unrestrained.

Engadine

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Good idea. Even though it is approved and safe to use, you don't want a half trained/semi trained/ignorant of the authorisation member of flight staff, raining on your parade !

That is a very sweeping statement to use about cabin crew, I was crew for 11 years with various airlines and none of the crew that I worked with were half trained or semi trained, we were all trained to a very high standard. The training courses that airlines put crew through are very intensive and often not everyone completes the course, either because they have failed their exams or as they have realised that the job isn't as easy as they thought!

If an airline has not approved this restraint and has not told the cabin crew anything about it then they can't be blamed can they

Engadine

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Are they ever unrestrained? When I took my friend's baby on holiday, I was given an orange belt that went around the child and clipped onto my own seatbelt. In fact, on the way back he was fast asleep in my arms (and quiet!), but they made me wake him up to sit him properly with the restraints. They wouldn't allow me to just hold him.

The crew were correct to make you wake the baby to properly fit the seatbelt. Frequently people think that it will be fine to just hold the baby for landing without a seatbelt and also think the crew won't notice. crew don't like making people wake their babies to do this but for the safety of the child they have to

Badger_Lady

Engadine wrote: »

The crew were correct to make you wake the baby to properly fit the seatbelt. Frequently people think that it will be fine to just hold the baby for landing without a seatbelt and also think the crew won't notice. crew don't like making people wake their babies to do this but for the safety of the child they have to

Oh yes, I don't dispute that - I was just expressing my surprise that fas3robinj had seen unrestrained infants.

Engadine

Chances are the unrestrained infants that fas3robinj had seen were due to the parents taking the seatbelt off or making it look as if the seatbelt was around the child correctly. This goes on a lot!

Murphy_The_Cat

Engadine wrote: »

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Good idea. Even though it is approved and safe to use, you don't want a half trained/semi trained/ignorant of the authorisation member of flight staff, raining on your parade !

That is a very sweeping statement to use about cabin crew, I was crew for 11 years with various airlines and none of the crew that I worked with were half trained or semi trained, we were all trained to a very high standard. The training courses that airlines put crew through are very intensive and often not everyone completes the course, either because they have failed their exams or as they have realised that the job isn't as easy as they thought!
If an airline has not approved this restraint and has not told the cabin crew anything about it then they can't be blamed can they

Hi Engadine
But you've only said what I've said !
If the device is approved by the CAA (which it is) and is approved by the airlines to use (check first), you'd be really, realy, really hacked off if a flight attendant did not allow you to use it because they were semi trained (had not been made aware of the suitability of the product) or were ignorant of the product (had never seen it before and were unaware of it)

If an airline has not approved this restraint and has not told the cabin crew anything about it then they can't be blamed can they
Absolutely correct -- so check with the airline and if they say yes, hope that the flight attendants training is bang up to date !



p.s. besides being way to big to do the job, it isn't a career path that I would have chosen.

Engadine

If the airline say yes then the crew will have been trained in how to use it during their safety training