My Son Can Get Out of His Five Point Seat

Updated on May 16, 2009
M.B. asks from Albuquerque, NM
8 answers

Hi Mom's!

So I have a real delimma. My four yea old son can get out of his five point car seat. He has learned how to unbuckle it and will climb out of the seat while we are driving. I have been thinking about gettinga seat that actually uses the car seatbelt but not sure what to get or if he can even be in one. Any suggestions would be great.
Just to inform we have discussed it with him and there has been discpline but I still feel that there is a safety concern.
Thanks!

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S.S.

answers from Tucson on

There is a website called baby Huggables that has a wonderful clip that children can NOT undo. www.babyhuggables.com
Try that and good luck.
S. @ ProActive Parenting.net

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P.S.

answers from Phoenix on

The first thing I would do is stop the car anytime he unbuckles his seat. I don't know about your car, but my car 'WILL NOT' run if some one is not buckled in. Secondly, I would make sure that the punishment is swift and sever, (age appropriate) because if you get into an accident and he is not buckled in, the damage will be swift and sever.
You might consider taking him to your local fire station and having the fire fighters talk with him about wearing a seat belt. They are really good at talking to kids about important issues like this.
Lastly, you might consider leaving him with a sitter if he continues. Tell him that he has to stay at home until he can be a keep his seat belt on. Kids hate to be left out of fun things. I hope these help you, I know this must be both frustrating and scary.

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E.M.

answers from Phoenix on

Oddly enough my 3 year old did this, but only once. When I saw her get out of her car seat while I was driving, my automatic reaction was to hit the brakes. (Not the best move on my part) She was thrown into the back of the front passenger seat and from then on knew the danger of not staying buckled in. (She was not injured...just shook up) I have had no further problems.
But the Angel guard or similar product sounds like something I would get if I thought that I might.

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C.L.

answers from Phoenix on

Buy a new five point harness that's a little trickier to undue. He is old enough for a booster seat but it is super easy to open a regular seat belt and he will still be climbing around the car.

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S.C.

answers from Phoenix on

Here's a product that will help once you put him into a booster seat:

http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Guard-Seat-Button-Covers/dp/B...

As for the five point harness, I couldn't find a product but I do recall seeing something in Babies R Us one time that went over the chest clip to prevent kids from opening it. I'm sure if you ask an employee there, they can help.

Here's one additional product that might or might not help:

http://www.mypreciouskid.com/car-seat-safety-clip.html

In my experience, different car seat brands require different amounts of force to open the buckles. Some you can do one-handed while others require both hands and some wiggling. My Graco is the latter and I don't think my kids (2 and 3) could force them open even if they knew how. You could try some buckles out in a store and see if there's something better for you or call the manufacturer of YOUR car seat and ask them if they have buckles that require more force to open. They might even send you one for free.

Best of luck to you...

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T.N.

answers from Phoenix on

Duck tape! Don't duck tape your kid to the chair, but put a strip of duck tape around the buckle. I know that will be a pain to do every time, but this is a real safety concern. You can fold a little corner of the tape over so it doesn't all stick to itself to make it easier to rip off. Unless your little houdini is so smart that he can figure that out, too!

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E.H.

answers from Flagstaff on

I'll admit I haven't had to deal with this one fully yet... and I hope I never will... Knock on wood. So far my daughter only slips her arms out of the harness at times. I don't have much advice other than the knowledge, from a kid I used to babysit regularly, that it would likely be even easier for your boy to get out of the other kind of seatbelt so something stopping him from undoing his current seat would likely be best. I hope you can figure out the right option for you. Good luck and God bless.

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K.F.

answers from Albuquerque on

I would call the non emergency police department, and set up for someone to talk to him...that always works with my son. When we were on a plane, he did not want to wear his belt, and I had the stewardis ask him to wear it, worked like a charm....they listen better to others than they do to their parents...

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