MeaganS Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 My 20 month old has figured out how to unbuckle the top buckle of her car seat. She takes the shoulder straps off whenever she can. I feel very strongly about car seat safety, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to keep her in her straps. Oh, and she hasn't figured out the bottom buckle, just the shoulder one. ETA: It's a Graco MyRide, if that's any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmvaughan4 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I'm very strict about carseat safety also. Is she getting her arms out? DS's straps are tight enough that he wouldn't be able to get his arms out, even if he did unbuckle. Although I understand that you still don't want it unbuckled. DS2 hasn't tried to unbuckle, but with DS5, I would pull over immediately and sternly tell him no, it wasn't safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted June 2, 2012 Author Share Posted June 2, 2012 She is getting her arms out. I keep her straps about as tight as I can without making it uncomfortable. She puts the straps under her armpits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Duct tape? :D Seriously, if you wrapped some duct tape around the buckle, so that it was permanently closed, could you still get her in and out by just loosening the straps enough to pull them over her head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova147 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Instead of duct tape, could you make a fabric cover to snap around the buckle? First I thought velcro, but she can probably get that off. But snaps or buttons would be tough, right? I'm thinking just a square of fabric wrapped around the buckle and then fastened. Then you could still unbuckle it to get her in and out, but she wouldn't be able to get to the buckle herself. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Sorry, no advice, but glad you are thinking seriously about this. My 2 year-old (many years ago!) had this figured out, and I didn't know it. She was strapped in her car seat, and I had to step out of the car for about a minute, with my head turned. During that minute, she unbuckled herself, jumped over to the front seat, and drove the car up onto the sidewalk and into the wall of a hotel. It was awful. I was so stupid to have left the car running for even a minute with her inside, but it never occurred to me that she would be able to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I gave my kid an earful when she did that and my tone of voice (which I reserve for only really scary stuff) was enough to deter her trying it again. You might want to go online and see if there are any add-ons recommended for this particular car seat (or the category). I don't think this is an unusual issue, so chances are, there is a fix out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Knoll Mom Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 When one of mine tried this, I would immediately pull over and use my "this is extremely serious" voice. I try to make disobedience much more unpleasant than obedience. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmvaughan4 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 A cover for the buckle is a good idea. Maybe even a cloth "tube" to slip both buckles in. I'm sure you know/already do, but I pull the chest clip up high and the straps should be tight enough that you can't get more than two fingers underneath it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganCupcake Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 How about a button-up shirt, overalls, or something similar buttoned up over the top of the chest clip? You would probably just have to do it long enough to get her past this phase. Another option is to put strips of the pokey part of adhesive velcro on the chest clip so that it is unpleasant to touch and play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Is it dangerous to keep it closed with zip ties? You could get a huge container of them and keep a pair of scissors handy. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylou Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) Put some medical tape in the glove compartment. Each time she frees the clasp, remind her that she is disobeying, pull over and use medical tape to secure her thumbs for the rest of the trip. I'm pretty sure this will make her extremely unhappy, so you might want to have some earplugs handy :D. (If she likes the tape and thinks it's a game, you may have to come up with somehting else!) Since this is a life/death situation, you have to make the consequences very unwanted. Edited June 2, 2012 by dmmosher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 My 20 month old has figured out how to unbuckle the top buckle of her car seat. She takes the shoulder straps off whenever she can. I feel very strongly about car seat safety, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to keep her in her straps. Oh, and she hasn't figured out the bottom buckle, just the shoulder one. ETA: It's a Graco MyRide, if that's any help. We tried EVERYTHING. What worked is something called the Houdini Strap. You can get it on Amazon. It has been crash tested, and although not technically allowed by care seat manufacturers here, is certainly safer than riding unbuckled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 When one of mine tried this, I would immediately pull over and use my "this is extremely serious" voice. I try to make disobedience much more unpleasant than obedience. :D That's what we did when my kids did this at that age. We had a few side of the road stops that lasted for a few minutes, but in the end, they cut it out. I know that wouldn't work for all kids, but that would be the first thing I'd try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I would use a physical assist on/with the carseat itself. I would also pull over and not go another inch every single time she did it. I'd explain that "Mom will not move the car when she is unsafe." So that you aren't late for time-anchored events, I'd make some schedule fluid trips as soon as I decided this was the response. I'd include a trip to the park (or somewhere she looks forward to) and tell her prior to the trip that is where we are going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi @ Mt Hope Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I would use a physical assist on/with the carseat itself. I would also pull over and not go another inch every single time she did it. I'd explain that "Mom will not move the car when she is unsafe." So that you aren't late for time-anchored events, I'd make some schedule fluid trips as soon as I decided this was the response. I'd include a trip to the park (or somewhere she looks forward to) and tell her prior to the trip that is where we are going. I have a 20 month old and there is no way she would understand that she was losing park time (or whatever) because of her behavior. And in no way would she care that we had to stop the car because she was unsafe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) My almost 4yo can't undo the crotch buckle of his MyRide yet; it's a tough one. My response to a toddler undoing the chest buckle (which has only happened once or twice) is to pull over immediately, or asap, to rebuckle him/her, and to state that he/she should never do that again. If it happens again, I pull over and sit. They don't like just sitting and not going anywhere, so they learn quickly not to do that. ETA: I'm pretty sure this is not recommended, but given the choice between this and having a child riding unbuckled, I might take this: look for a different chest clip. I know we had a Century carseat whose chest clip was much harder to undo than others; my toddlers could not undo it, whereas they can undo the MyRide chest clip. Edited June 2, 2012 by happypamama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I have a 20 month old and there is no way she would understand that she was losing park time (or whatever) because of her behavior. And in no way would she care that we had to stop the car because she was unsafe. Yes to this! Mine are nearly 19mo, but there's no way they'll get this in a month. DD is 4, and this might have worked for her by 2.5 or so. My twins would be THRILLED if I pulled over and came back to talk to them, lol. Even if it was in my mad voice. To the op - how about using some of the stick-on velcro dots at the points you have to press on to open the buckle. Use the rough side of the velcro not the soft side. It won't stop you from using it, but may be just uncomfortable enough that it discourages here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 http://monkeytyz.com/ It's a cover that goes over the buckle to prevent them from accessing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 When dd was that age she would drag her feet while in the stroller. The stroller was our transportation in the city. I would stop and not move until she put her feet back on the stroller. I would think stopping the car and telling her you weren't moving until she was buckled and then ignoring her is worth a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maus Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 My 20 month old has figured out how to unbuckle the top buckle of her car seat. She takes the shoulder straps off whenever she can. I feel very strongly about car seat safety, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to keep her in her straps. Oh, and she hasn't figured out the bottom buckle, just the shoulder one. ETA: It's a Graco MyRide, if that's any help. She's probably figured out the bottom buckle, too, but just isn't strong enough to do it! :D Those things take a lot of thumb strength. If you haven't already, and if your seat is designed that way, try sliding the chest clip up as high as it can go. It's supposed to be at armpit level anyway. That worked with one of my kids. I think the higher position was too awkward to work the release. The velco door idea sounds like it could work, unless she's a label peeler. (Do you know how many library fines I've paid because #2 child was diligently removing all the bar codes/security strips, etc. when I thought she was reading?!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 The straps need to be tight enough that you can't pinch any slack in them. If they are that tight, it is really hard to undo them. You undo the harness, take the chest clip off and turn it around backwards. It makes the clip more difficult to undo that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 We tried EVERYTHING. What worked is something called the Houdini Strap. You can get it on Amazon. It has been crash tested, and although not technically allowed by care seat manufacturers here, is certainly safer than riding unbuckled. I had to look that up. It looks like it would work--you wouldn't need to replace the current chest clip, just add the Houdini above or below it. They might unbuckle the one, but not be able to undo the Houdini. And then eventually stop unbuckling the car seat chest clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 DS #3 would unbuckle himself AND his big sister! Telling him sternly did not work (in fact, it still doesn't). First, we turned the chest clip backwards. That worked for several months and certainly slowed him down. When he figured that out, we took a second chest clip off an old car seat and put that one on below the first one. The combination of 2 clips tharted him until he grew out of this phase. We solved the problem of him unbuckling the leg snap by taping an old sock - too hard to push the button with slippery cloth over it. BTW - this is my kid that disassembled every mop I owned, the vacumn cleaner, and a clock radio before he was five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiraejb Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Anytime my dc have messed with the car seat buckles in a way to make it unsafe, I have been stern with them. Sometimes they only need the serious voice, other times a slight spank to make it very clear that they are NOT to mess with the buckles. My point is to scare them sufficiently that they don't attempt it again. Turning the buckle is a good idea, but the best thing is to correct them and encourage obedience, IMO. It's important to me that nothing is added to my car seats to make it difficult for ME to get them out, in case of emergency. Hang in there! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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