My children are pictured above wearing
their CARES restraints aboard a flight.

One grandmother is so passionate about keeping flying children safe that she invented CARES (Child Aviation Restraint System), the only compact child safety restraint approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for use on airplanes. Louise Stoll got the idea for CARES when greeting her daughter at the airport. She watched her daughter (who was seven months pregnant at the time) struggle to carry a heavy car seat, her toddler, and a diaper bag off the plane. Louise told me, “That’s when I thought, ‘There’s got to be a better way.’”

Louise Stoll, inventor of CARES, with five of her nine grandchildren.

Louise believes parents have been lulled into thinking flying with lap children is safe because the FAA and airlines allow it. She said, “It’s rather amazing that in this day and age we permit babies to hurtle through space at 600 miles per hour in their moms’ arms, which cannot, as a matter of physics, hang on to them in serious turbulence.”

Even the FAA advises parents to avoid the hazard of flying with lap children. The FAA website asks, “Did you know the safest place for your little one during turbulence or an emergency is in an approved child restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap?” The site continues, “FAA strongly urges parents and guardians to secure children in an appropriate restraint based on weight and size. Keeping a child in a CRS or device during the flight is the smart and right thing to do.”

Frustrated that airlines refuse to offer the same safety protection to children as they do for adults, Louise said, “What it is going to take to correct these unacceptable situations is a lot of noise from parents – and one brave airline to initiate a child-safe policy.” 

Originally Louise intended to sell the restraints to airlines, which would provide them to child passengers, just as extender belts are given to oversized passengers. She suggests airlines offer half-price discounts for children under age two to fly in a booked seat. Additionally, Louise believes airlines should provide a CARES to all flying children aged one to five to use on flights for free. This would enable parents to afford flying safely with young children. She said, “There is no doubt in my mind that the return on investment for the airline (which implements these changes) will be in triple and quadruple digit dollars by the families that will swarm to it.”

Her career path has transitioned from business woman to politician to inventor. When I asked Louise if she has always been an inventor, she said, “It was the only original idea I ever had in my life, but it was a good one.”

Did I mention that Louise was appointed by the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Budgets and Programs and CFO of the Department of Transportation? She had been working as an executive managing construction of public works projects when she received a phone call from the White House. Louise said, “None could have been more surprised than I.”  In her role in Washington D.C., Louise helped to mandate car seats and seat belts in cars. 

Louise has also fought to install seat belts on school buses. She said, “There are no seat belts in buses but there should be. That’s a criminal situation in my judgment.” She explained, “Children who die in bus crashes die because they hit their heads, not because they’re crushed.  They don’t need to die.”

CARES keeps kids safe, while helping traveling parents stay sane. Not only is it more manageable to navigate the airport without lugging around a heavy toddler seat, but also a CARES restraint is much easier to install and uninstall in an airplane than a car seat. I have personally waited onboard an airplane until all of the other passengers had disembarked for a maintenance crew member to assist me with uninstalling a toddler car seat. Those days of inconvenience and frustration are over now that I have purchased two CARES for my children.

The CARES restraint comes with easy to follow
instructions, a carrying case, and an instructional DVD.

The CARES restraint weighs less than one pound and is appropriate for children who weigh between 22 to 44 pounds. Louise’s company, Kids Fly Safe, has sold over 45,000 restraints to date. CARES is sold in over 150 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company also has distributors in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and will soon be offered in Israel and Italy.

Enter the Travel Mamas contest to win a free CARES restraint from Kids Fly Safe! The winner will be selected at random using RANDOM.org. You can enter once or twice by doing one or both of the following by November 14, 2009. THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. THANK YOU FOR ENTERING!

1) Add a comment below about why you want a CARES or why air safety for children is important to you
2) Tweet about this contest on Twitter by copying and pasting the entire phrase below:
I want to keep my child safe when flying! Do u? Visit @TravelMamas to win a CARES safety harness http://bit.ly/25MdI2

You might also like:

• Airplane Carry-On Kit for Babies & Toddlers

• Air Travel Tips

• Child-Friendly Airlines and Airports

• The Bright Side of Flying with Kids

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Mothers need a vacation as much as, if not more than the average Jo-Anne, but they fear long, sleepless nights in cramped hotel rooms; they aren’t sure how to recreate routines away from home; and they are daunted by the prospect of long flights with passengers who don’t want to sit next to the screaming baby. 

Not only do moms feel overwhelmed by the stress of long flights with squirming kids and sleepless nights away from home with over-tired tots, but also many feel discriminated against when traveling with children. 

Parents often lament the difficulties of traveling with babies and children. Stanna, a Travel Mama from Colorado, said after a weekend vacation with her sleep-deprived baby, “I can’t believe we actually paid for the (hotel) room as we only slept in it for one and a half hours!”

A Travel Mama named Michelle from New York appreciated the information on Travel Mamas about the dangers of flying with lap children. Michelle said she was, “glad to read that link on your site to the article on the importance of buying a seat for babies. Just yesterday we received a snarky comment from the security check guy who seemed to think it was ridiculous that we’d bought a seat for our nine-month old!”

Another Travel Mama, Jennifer from California, used a teddy bear-shaped harness for traveling to big cities or other crowded locations when her daughter was a toddler. Even though her daughter loved the toddler harness and Jennifer was simply keeping her roaming three year-old safe, this mom received comments from strangers during a vacation accusing her of “child abuse” for using the leash.

Even with these challenges, moms want a break from the monotony and stresses of their every day lives. They need a vacation to plan and look forward to. And moms need to visit loved ones – whether to introduce a new baby…or to receive some childrearing relief…or to appease the pleas of nagging grandparents. Audrey, a Travel Mama of two from New York said, “I love to travel, and can’t imagine not passing that on to my children.”

Do you have a story about experiencing stress or discrimination when traveling with children? Or do you disagree and think traveling with kids is a breeze? Take the Travel Mamas Stressed Out Survey or leave a comment below!

For more information on this topic see:

• The Bright Side of Flying with Kids

• Why We Travel with Children

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