RideSafer Travel Vest Review

One of the top questions on every parent of a young child’s mind prior to travel is always: what should we do about carseats? Having traveled around the world with my two kids (ages 4 and 9), I can say without a doubt that one item we have loved having in our bag of travel tricks is the RideSafer Travel Vest.

Review of RideSafer Travel Vest

Crash tested down to 3 years old and 30+ pounds, the RideSafer Travel Vest does not take the place of a convertible car seat for kids who have outgrown their infant bucket seats, but who haven’t met the age and weight threshold for the RideSafer Travel Vest. However, once your child reaches the 3 and 30+ pounds threshold, definitely consider adding the RideSafer Travel Vest to your travel arsenal.

On a recent trip to/from the airport, I decided to strap my nearly four year old into the RideSafer Travel Vest for the ride from our home to the airport. Unlike most car seats which are designed to lift the child up so that the straps fall across their body at the appropriate spots (hence the term “booster”), the RideSafer Travel Vest brings the strap down to the child and secures it in the appropriate spots. Although the number of straps and clips may appear daunting at first, it is a very quick and easy process, having done it many times before.

Although this was my guy’s first time in the RideSafer vest, he took to it easily.  About halfway through our journey, however, he did start to complain that he was hot. I should have known better and had him take off his hoodie before strapping him into the vest. Aside from that, the travel vest was comfortable enough that he even fell asleep in it on the way home (sans hoodie, which I did remember to take off before strapping him in).

One of my favorite things about the RideSafer Travel Vest is that it travels in its own little carry on pack and fits easily in your luggage or swung across your shoulder.

Our family ended up loving the RideSafer Travel Vest so much that we have it in both small (pictured above) and large, which is typically for children over 5 and 50+ pounds. Indeed, when my oldest son was in first grade but my youngest was still in a convertible, I used the RideSafer Travel Vest for when we needed to carpool and bring another child along with us. Three kids can easily fit in the backseat if using the RideSafer Travel Vest, even if one of those car seats is a convertible and the other is a high back booster!  We have also used the RideSafer for any number of taxi rides in large cities where we otherwise would not need a car seat and it’s a convenient item to just keep in my trunk, in the event we want to safely transport another child.

For more car seat reviews, check out our full write up on car seats: Travel Tips: Traveling with Kids and Car Seats