How on earth do you keep your toddlers in their carseats?

[sashagiselle]

My dd is 2 1/2 and the sweetest child, but she turns into a hellion about 5 minutes into a car ride. She can totally undo the carseat, which is very scary when it us just us going 70mph on the freeway. Is there anything out there that will prevent little houdinis from escaping?

 

[mjkacmom]

Some carseats are better than others in being escape proof.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I agree that some are easier to unlatch than others but what are the consequences for her when she unlatches it?
I also understand some kids hating the carseat. 2 out of 4 of ours were not fans of any carseat. Of course it was non negotiable but I do understand the stress of it.

 

[SaraMc]

We really played up how we all have to be safe in the car with my son. And that we all wear our seat belts ( Its the law here in Canada) and that if he doesnt the police man will take him away.
He's tried a couple of times to take his belt off his seat and we pulled over right away and our reaction scared him.
Now we always do the "seatbelts buckled" from little einstiens with him when we go anywhere.

Good luck

 

[MoniqueU]

OH OP I feel your pain. My oldest DD would scream bloody murder on a 3 minute car ride before she could figure out how to get out of it, then she figured that out and all bets were off. I think I tried about 3 different car seats but she was a little houdini. At the same age she took the trike wheels off her trike she was just good figuring things out. I really severly limited my trips with her and I hate to say but there was lots of yelling going on and lots of pulling over. I also had an older child that I sat next to her to try and calm her down and keep her from unlatching her seat. I would not relive those days for anything, it was very stressful.

 

[all4fun]

What car seat do you have? Is your dd r/fing or f/fing? If f/fing, the straps should be at or above the shoulders, and if r/fing, the straps should be at or below. The harness should be as "snug as a hug" - you shouldn't be able to pinch any slack in it at the collarbone level. The chest clip should be positioned about even with the armpits. Even if you're doing all things right, some kids are just really good at getting out of their seats. You could try a different convertible. If you post the one you have you might get some more specific advice. In the mean time, this article here also has some great tips:
http://www.carseat.org/Resources/635.pdf
hth!

 

[Erica09M]

Play it up really good, she needs to know it keeps her safe and what can happen if she doesn't ride in it (in kiddy terms of course). Does she have a doll stroller and a baby doll? If so, you could do a little demonstration with her, put the doll in the stroller and it could "crash" and baby falls out. Baby got a boo-boo, and has to go to the doctor, etc. Does she like going places (that require being in the car)? If so, tell her you guys can't go those places if she doesn't stay in her car seat. Mommy wears a seat belt to stay safe (name all family members and tell her the same thing), so you need to wear your seat belt to stay safe.

Also, is she undoing the car seat completely? The crotch buckle, or just the chest clip? If it's just the chest clip, it isn't an issue AS LONG AS YOU HAVE HER TIGHTENED PROPERLY. The chest clip is just a pre-crash positioner and is meant to move down or break away in an accident. If the harness is tightened properly, the harness straps aren't going to move if the chest clip comes undone. European car seats don't even use chest clips.

 

[natnelliesmom]

Oh dear! This happened ONCE in my car. Only once.
I think I scared the you know what out of my child!
I screamed in a horrified way, immediately found a safe pull off, where I SLAMMED on my breaks in a forceful manner to get my soon to be made point across, and jumped out of my seat. At this point she was already petrified and realized that she'd made a big mistake!
I threw open the back car door and gave her a good swat on the bottom. (we don't often spank- but life threatening issues are an exception for me) I then made it abundantly clear that it was the law that she say in her buckle, that I would get in trouble with the police if she removed her buckle and that it was there to keep her from crashing through the front car windshield if our car was in an accident.
I think I really scared her good!! As well as her sibling riding along next to her.
Neither one of my children have ever tried this trick again!!
And no, I would never normally tell my children that police are going to get them. I often tell my children how helpful our police officers are. This seemed like a good occasion to use their "official" position to back up my own policy of keeping your seat buckled.
It worked!
-Sarah

 

[brergnat]

Oh dear! This happened ONCE in my car. Only once.
I think I scared the you know what out of my child!
I screamed in a horrified way, immediately found a safe pull off, where I SLAMMED on my breaks in a forceful manner to get my soon to be made point across, and jumped out of my seat. At this point she was already petrified and realized that she'd made a big mistake!
I threw open the back car door and gave her a good swat on the bottom. (we don't often spank- but life threatening issues are an exception for me) I then made it abundantly clear that it was the law that she say in her buckle, that I would get in trouble with the police if she removed her buckle and that it was there to keep her from crashing through the front car windshield if our car was in an accident.
I think I really scared her good!! As well as her sibling riding along next to her.
Neither one of my children have ever tried this trick again!!
And no, I would never normally tell my children that police are going to get them. I often tell my children how helpful our police officers are. This seemed like a good occasion to use their "official" position to back up my own policy of keeping your seat buckled.
It worked!
-Sarah

I had the same thing happen to me...and I reacted the SAME way.

 

[DISNEYNV]

Ok. This is a scary issue and I agree with the other posters about talking to her about how she needs to keep it on to be safe. But in the meantime make up a special toy basket or bin for your car Only!!! This can be little toys or books that will distract her from the seat belt. Some kids just don't like that "crammed in" feeling the safety strap can give. My DS doesn't like it but hasn't figured out how to get it off completely yet...thank goodness. You can also clip on some soft baby toys to the coat hanger or back of the passenger seat for diversions as well. I wish you luck and perhaps you might want to check consumer reports for a better fitting carseat

 

[Colleen27]

With DS, I tried everything and finally made a wrap cover for the release mechanism. It was a small piece of soft plastic, barely bigger than the release button, sewn into a piece of fabric that I wrapped around the release and buttoned on the underside (he figured out how to remove it when I tried velco for the closure).

 

[MoniqueU]

With DS, I tried everything and finally made a wrap cover for the release mechanism. It was a small piece of soft plastic, barely bigger than the release button, sewn into a piece of fabric that I wrapped around the release and buttoned on the underside (he figured out how to remove it when I tried velco for the closure).

I wish I would of thought of this, the screaming, the pulling over, the talks, the threats etc just didn't work with my bullheaded daughter. She finally stopped shrieking in the car midway through age 4 but there was no reasoning with her til about that age, we severely limited our trips. She also took ligh switch plates off the wall when she was 2 and my husband left a screwdriver laying around. My husband was scared because she talked late but I knew by all the stuff she could do and trouble she caused me that she was beyond clever and it has turned out to be true.

Best of luck to you op, I hope your child is not as strong willed as my DD.

 

[mom_2_K'Lynn]

I'm not sure if this would help, but with my daughter we had to buy an over the head carseat as her hands would be blocked by the arm rest to reach the release button. And even if she was able to get her hands down there, there wasn't enough room for her to have enough strength to push the release button!! I know most of these carseats work up until 40 pounds and then it is more of a booster seat time. I hope this helps some as it was the only thing that worked for us!!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

In my car, the law is the car cannot move unless the seatbelts are on. period. end of story. If they took their seatbelt off, the car pulled over and stopped. It took us 2 hrs to get across town one afternoon, but dd soon realized that I am wwaaaayyyy more stubborn than she is. I actually had my kids convinced that the taking off your seatbelt made the engine stop.

 

[ilandrazdsw]

We lived where the kids didn't have to be buckled in, so when we came to the US we told them that it was the law and mommy (and daddy) would be arrested by the police because we were breaking the law not having them strapped in...and they may go to cuase they broke the law! Now we have no problem with them...they strap in themselves (we double check) and don't unstrap until we are fully stopped at our final destination.

 

[Rio_san7]

I was also from a country where you don't need car seat and you can hold your kid in your lap while inside the car. Before I move in the US.

I explained to my son the same thing and he understood that we cannot break the law because we are in a new place. But I have never had issues with him trying to get off the car seat. I always make sure that he is comfortable and that the straps are not too tight on him.

Good luck with you.

 

[bellebud]

can you have a local, nice policeman talk to her? Or bring her to the local firehouse and have someone there talk to her? Have her promise this person she won't unbuckle again (if you need to, make a homemade 'certificate' for the person to give to her, saying she's a *safe kid* or something like that, and hang it on her bedroom wall, or always bring it in the car to remind her).

i know my kids used to listen to others more than they listened to me (the doctor, a policeman, the teacher, etc).

good luck!

 

[sashagiselle]

OP here - thank you SOO MUCH for the awesome ideas, I was seriously at a loss and simple trips have become dreadful! I have the Britax Roundabout and thought I was doing good just because it was pricier than some others guess not! I will try EVERYTHING you guys mentioned, if all fails I will buy one of the over the head carseats. Thanks again!

 

[PatsMom]

My DD was fairly gullible at that age and I just told her that if the police caught me with her in the car not in the carseat they would arrest me and take me away. She believed me and stayed in her car seat!

 

[all4fun]

Overhead shield seats are really not all that safe, so I wouldn't recommend one. As a matter of fact, the car seat companies are not making them any more. There may still be some on the shelves that haven't been sold yet, but they aren't being restocked. This site explains why they are not very safe. Honestly, given the info outlined on that site, I don't know why they weren't eventually just outlawed. I'm glad the mfgrs have finally gotten a clue and stopped making them though. Just thought that you would want to know.