Review: Ride Safer Travel Vest
Sebastian and I recently took a trip back to the mountains of Virginia where I grew up. It was his first visit to see where I grew up and visit his grandparents. It was also his first major flight (he’s flown to see his brother in Berkeley but that was a quick one). Since I was traveling alone with a four year old, I didn’t want to have too much to carry and his Britax One-4-Life seat is too hard to even move outta the car much less through an airport. Also, I’m an older mom and while I was going to see my best friends from childhood, their kids outgrew car seats about a decade ago. So borrowing was not an option.
I’d seen posts about the Ride Safer Travel Vest portable carseat and that they are CPST certified as being a safe option for travel or a great option when sitting kids three across. This seemed like it might do the trick.
I was super hesitant at first though. I’m the mom that kept him rear facing until his knees hit his chin. One who double checks the 5 point harness and the seat balance indicator every time I put him in. This vest is gonna keep him secure and safe? I wasn’t sure. Of course, I also remember a time when our parents just put us in the backseat and we were lucky if we were told to, “buckle up!”
Before our trip, I tried it on him and explained how it works. That way when it was time to strap him in after the flight, I’d have some clue what I was doing (turns out I didn’t). We flew in to and out of North Carolina, so had a 2.5-3 hour car ride each way to get to VA.
What I learned:
It folds up and fit into my backpack carryon and into the front pocket of my luggage easily. It super light too.
The vest works either tethered to upper anchors or with the full seat belt. I don’t know if I just couldn’t locate them, but all three of the cars we rode in didn’t have upper anchors, so we had to use the full seat belt. The anchor seemed like a safer option, but it was what it was.
The vest itself is pretty easy to get on him, IF he is standing up. I tried while he was sitting and it was a struggle. Sweat dripping while rain was pouring down on me in the Charlotte airport parking lot. Good times!
There is a hook in the front that keeps the velcro pieces together and snug. This one is a doosey. It was hard to hook and unhook. It did make it feel safer to me, though, so the annoyance was worth it.
I don’t think this would be a good option for a squirmy wormy. The lap belt is laced thru these metal guides, but with movement can slip out of the guides. Sebastian doesn’t really move much during long car rides. So I only had to fix the lap belt once. I’d imagine, though, this would be a constant fix for children who move a lot. There is a detachable strap that goes through the child’s legs and attaches to the front and back of the vest. I didn’t see how this would keep them from moving, so I didn’t use it.
Sebastian is a look out the window and listen to music traveler. In this vest though, he wasn’t tall enough to see out and so missed the many opportunities to see baby cows and lambs in the rural areas we passed through.
I do wish I had this on our trip to Mexico last summer, as planning for excursions would’ve been so much easier.
Ultimately, this is a good option if you travel a lot, especially abroad where the seat belt laws differ from the US. I also think this is probably best for a child 5+ that can sit still and facing forward for car rides. Sebastian is around 40lbs and 40 inches tall - size small fit him well.
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