To be so bloody confused about car seats?

[Bugsymalonemumof2]

I have a DS he is 2.4 months and 17.5kg. He has recently learnt to physically unclip his car seat harness so I'm trying to come up with a solution.

I stop as soon as I can but do lots and lots of dual. Carriageway and motorway driving so it is often miles before I can stop.

I was looking at the bumper shield car seats but they seem to be 18kg limits for the shields?

I'm so confused :(

[TabbyMumz]

I forget the name of it but I bought a plastic cover device that went over the button so as it couldn't be unclipped by little fingers.

[Yumyumbananas]

Britax MaxWay is compatible with most cars and ERF harnessed to 25kg.

[Yumyumbananas]

The other alternative is to use public transport.

[namechangerd]

@Bugsymalonemumof2 OP you better go out and buy yourself a new car then!!!! (Iv been told that before on here) 😁😁😁

[BlitheringIdiots]

Our DS3 used to undo the seat belt. So we got the cover guard. He managed to get that off too. He stopped doing it after a while.

[AlocAcoc]

Which seat are you intending to use then?

[Bugsymalonemumof2]

@windingstreams it's around 99th centile but so is his height and proportion is the important bit.

Can't rely on public transport my 4yo dd with asd cant cope and I need to do pong journeys twice a month

[nombrecambio]

Crikey, you're getting some stick for having a big toddler!

So I guess the problem is: you're stuck with the car seat and car that you have, and your son isn't really understanding about danger yet, and you need your car...

Can you create a strap with Velcro that will fasten around the bottom bit of the belt and cover the buckle??

Or give him something to fiddle with in the car?

Or put a fake belt over the proper belt to give him something to work on?

While continually explaining about safety.

[clairedelalune]

When mine started doing this, as an isofix seat, with the car seatbelt i put it on in addition to the 5 point harness so that at least if undid it, was still strapped in. Aldo helped them get used to seatbelt for when harness removed.
And i dealt with Houdini impersonations in the car as a behaviour issue

[MyDcAreMarvel]

@namechangerd nope not stupid, your dd is overweight also. No judgment or name calling unlike your self, just basic facts.

[wyoudo]

@MyDcAreMarvel how the do you know their kids are over weight? fat shaming kids 👏
Did you see OP pic up thread? Does he look fat? No.

I have a chunkier son and a very skinny daughter. They have packed lunch at school so I KNOW Exactly what they eat for every meal and snack. My daughter eats more. My son moves more. Odd hey! Get off your fattest high horse. People like you kick off the self hating thoughts that cause eating disorders ... so hush your mean mouth.

[WLAH]

Had similar with Dd at same age. What worked for us was a chat from a policeman. We were standing beside him at an event and I had a quiet word would he mind telling her straps cant be open until car stopped.. she never opened them again

[namechangerd]

@MyDcAreMarvel Yes, Im sure OP and I are going to listen to some random mum on MN over our HV, GP and also nursery when it comes to our child's weight, its not name calling when its true... you clearly are stupid.

[GreenHouseKeeping]

I know this sounds harsh, but this is a parenting issue, not a car seat one!

Tell him 'no' and put in place a system of positive reinforcement when he listens (stickers?) and consequences for not doing so (no cartoons? losing a favourite toy for a day?)

He needs to learn to do as he's told; strategies that physically preventing him from doing something just bypass the actual issue which is your DC not listening to you.

[TwoRoundabouts]

@Windingstreams you do know some adults are taller than others and this height difference frequently starts off in babyhood? You do also know that some child hit puberty before others so start off bigger ? So it isn't unexpected that some 2-3 year olds will be much bigger than your child and others smaller.

[GreenHouseKeeping]

Not wishing to derail, but overfed individuals grow taller than those fed a normal number of calories.

Only around 60% of adult height is down to genetic factors. It's an unpopular fact in parenting circles, but amount of sleep as a child is a big influencing factor too.

Also, body fat produces hormones that trigger early puberty, so while what you say about early puberty is true, that early puberty is very likely in itself to have been triggered by excess body fat in childhood.

[spinn]

Op, there are some life hacks you can try to stop them opening the buckle - can't remember it exactly but it's to do with putting a jumper on backwards over the harness, google it and it will show you how.

I had a houdini at this age with maxicosis, moved to britax and got to age 3 before he went into highback booster. My 2nd and 3rd were also Houdini's but they had impact bars as soon as that started (they are all smaller so weight wasn't an issue)

[spinn]

thecarseatlady.com/houdini/

[Bugsymalonemumof2]

He isn't fat. His dad is 6ft6 and I'm 5ft11, he was born extraordinarily long (98th centile for length at birth) and spent the first few months in and out of hospital for significant problems feeding and sepsis so he was tall despite his problems feeding. He is well monitored at the hospital for other reasons and his weight in relation to his height is perfect and for a 2year old he eats a very good range of foods 🙈

[AlocAcoc]

OP, just to check, do you know that the harness on your current seat will most likely be outgrown at 18kg and that it is absolutely not safe to use a high back booster before age 4?

[Bugsymalonemumof2]

@AlocAcoc I specifically got a 25kg harness not anticipating he would figure how to undo it.

I'm going to try and get hold a fabric cover for the buckle. Yes it is theoretically a parenting issue but he is 2 and I'm needing to concentrate on driving, 2 year olds love to push boundaries and if I'm doing 70mph I have to wait until I can stop to do something about it so at the moment it's a game to him. He gets lots of positive reinforcement too but at the moment he sees it as a hilarious game that depending on where I am can take several minutes until I can stop to do anything about it.

I moved him next to me in the front which helps for driving on the town roads as it's easier to prevent him escaping in the first place but doesn't help on the fast roads 🙈

[Wherearemyminions]

Haven't rtft as off to work but in case no one else has suggested this 5pointplus.com/ Much safer than a chest clip

[Damntheman]

No real advice OP just horror at the situation! You poor thing! I can't even imagine the horror at having the toddler unstrap himself on the motorway. Hope the buckle cover works for your strongman boy :)

[hopelessatthinkingupusernames]

My toddler reached 18kg about 2.5 as well, he’s been 98th percentile for weight and height his whole life so was exactly the predicted weight for that age.

He unbuckled his car seat once and I absolutely lost my shit with him. I very rarely do that so he realised it was bad. We had a chat and a cuddle afterwards where I explained that he mustn’t undo it so he’s safe in the car. He hasn’t done it again thankfully!