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Original poster

Has anyone else had a child who escapes their car seat?

15 replies

LavenderWashes · 11/09/2020 23:16

DC is almost 3 and I have now tried EVERYTHING. NOTHING has worked. No safety harness, nothing. He can just escape them all.

Even tried a different car seat of a friend (a cybex, it has this installment instead of straps) and he got out of that too. Not sure where we go from here...

I'm at my wits end. He's a lot of hard work and getting out and about with him was my only saving grace at times Sad

Does anyone else have experience of this?

OP posts:
BoobsOnTheMoon · 11/09/2020 23:20

We had success with a Kiddy car seat (no harness, used an impact cushion instead) after a terrifying escape on the M5 🤯

How's his understanding? I would say by 3 most children are able to understand that they MUST NOT get out of the car seat. Have you tried going right back to basics and stopping the car and refusing to go anywhere until he stays in his seat? With a bit of persistence most children will learn this. Mine didn't, but he's since been diagnosed with autism so that explains a lot!

TitianaTitsling · 11/09/2020 23:21

Is that the pallax (sp) with the cushion and 3 point strap as thats what I would have recommended. How is he escaping that?

TitianaTitsling · 11/09/2020 23:24

We got this also after a horrific escape on the motorway. I so feel for you, the memory of it is making me feel ill as was driving on my own and dc appeared climbing over the passenger side seat!

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Original poster
LavenderWashes · 11/09/2020 23:28

Boobs My DS has suspected AS and is very close to a diagnosis now. Unfortunately, he cannot understand a simple sentence so just doesn't understand the trick of 'if you do that we will go home'. He's non verbal and in his own world mostly

Titi He wiggles his left leg up to a certain point, then uses it as leverage for the other leg. He then pushes bit by bit until he's free. I had to get DFriend to observe whilst I drove, we were baffled!

I have to get this sorted as unfortunately we were in an accident as a result. He'd got his arms out in the past but never anything further. Then just over 6 weeks ago something pulled me back by the hair as I drove. I couldn't see the road for that second and drove into a lamp post. Luckily I was in asda car park and not the M1 as we so often are...

I have tried stripping him to a top and tightening as tight as it'll go. He still gets free Angry

OP posts:
Gancanny · 11/09/2020 23:35

You could try a crelling harness? They're designed for children and adults with special needs, I used one with my eldest son and it was the only thing that he couldn't escape from.

www.crelling.com/

Driving down the motorway one afternoon and this little head suddenly popped out from in between the front seats with a cherry "hello!" and a grin that looked like he expected me to be happy to see him out of his car seat and attempting to climb in the front. I nearly had kittens! After that first time he kept doing it regularly so I very quickly ordered a crelling harness and he never did it again.

ItStartedWithAKiss241 · 11/09/2020 23:36

My DS also did the pulling my head back by my hair thing! I almost crashed too! I was driving at 70 and it was the scariest thing! X

MrsHookey · 11/09/2020 23:36

Yes my child used to do this. He is on the autistic spectrum. He even did it with a silver cross pram when he was six months old and managed to bounce on the concrete. I believe you can buy a special car seat although I don't know much about them. His impulse to dash and move around very suddenly was curbed when I got advice from the OT. They were able to suggest techniques to keep him calmer.

BoobsOnTheMoon · 11/09/2020 23:36

Ah ok, I didn't want to sound like I was implying he might be autistic!

There are specialist harnesses and seats you can get. I would look into them. Luckily I have an older child who was able to make sure DS didn't hurt me or interfere with my driving when he escaped but it was a scary couple of years until he stopped doing it!

TitianaTitsling · 11/09/2020 23:48

Fuck a duck - Lav that sounds awful, I would defo have a look at the ceiling harnesses, once my dc did the escape thing and still scarred!

Goslowlysideways · 11/09/2020 23:48

Yep. She was an absolute nightmare. She made me nuts!

Original poster
LavenderWashes · 11/09/2020 23:51

The thing is, the Crelling harness doesn't seem to be suitable for someone as small as DS - He is very small for his age, wearing 18 month clothes. Compact but very petite. I'm wondering if it'll fit him? Nevertheless, I will enquire and see what they say!

Oh and it also says on the website that it isn't safe for the DC to wear that alone and not the actual car seat straps? So does that mean if he takes the car seat straps off it becomes ineffective? Or does it go on top so he can't get hold of them in the first place?

OP posts:
Original poster
LavenderWashes · 11/09/2020 23:54

Gos I feel your pain... My DS is gorgeous but makes me think about starting up life elsewhere as a junior dr Grin I daydream of the peace an 80 hour week would give me from him. Then have a little cry at the thought of not seeing Grin

I have become emotionally unhinged Blush

OP posts:
Pantsomime · 11/09/2020 23:59

Bit unorthodox but we had this at about 3 and DD Took no notice and kept doing it. Then she did it when I was in first gear in a car park, just leaving the parking bay, so quickly checked my mirrors then gave a quick jab on my brakes. She shot forward and banged head on back of passengers seat. Sounds horrific but was deliberately v slow and was a Sudden pause rather than halt. She was unharmed And I didn’t tell her off but She was so shocked she never did it again.

BertieBotts · 15/09/2020 22:23

Contact the In Car Safety Centre. They specialise in this kind of thing!

The crelling harness can in some cases go over the car seat's harness to prevent them taking it off. As you really need the car seat harness to be in place in case you were in an accident or it wouldn't do it's job.

OT as well a really good idea (and probably kindest) if you can get it - most likely you need to wait for the diagnosis first though, so in car safety centre in the meantime. You just need a kind of strait jacket to keep him in the straps :o

Normal car seats are all escapable, it's just the way they are. They can't be too impenetrable as the ease of getting them out in an accident is more important and most children can be distracted or explained or one of the anti escape things is enough to prevent them doing it.

In a case like yours you have to hang the idea of getting them out fast in an accident and go for containment, because the chances you'd need to get him out in any quick speed are low, and if it was a true emergency someone could always just take out the entire seat with him in it - you may want to attach a note with instructions in case of emergency to the side of it. Cut the seatbelt for a seatbelt fit one, keep a seatbelt cutter in your glovebox, show the location of the isofix release if it's an isofix one. The bigger risk is that you have (or he causes) an accident when he's unsecured which could obviously be disastrous.

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