Escape artist

[Doodles15]

Morning! I was wondering if anyone has a similar situation or advice.... my 17 month old (who is very petite) is able to get her arms out of her car seat, a maxi-cosi 2way Pearl. I pull the straps so tight that sometimes I feel I overdo it but she still manages to escape. She doesn't do it all of the time but on occasion which is bad enough. Has anyone else experienced this and how did you deal with it?? TIA

Has the car seat got an extra clip across the upper chest? If not, you can buy them from Halfords. Easy to fit onto the straps and makes the gap narrower so they can't get their arms through.

Careful of those additional straps. The law in the UK requires seats to have a one clip release so adding a second breaks the law.

Has she got her coat on? If so, take it off. Also, if she is rear facing then the straps should start below shoulder height and come up and over her shoulder. Both of these things will reduce the wiggle room.

Thanks guys. She only ever has a tshirt or a jumper on which is why I can't believe she's able to get out. I will check the shoulder straps as she is still rear facing so that may help. Had thought about that extra clip but didn't know if you were able to but them, didn't realise they were illegal though...

I bought a Houdini Strap from Amazon when DD kept escaping. I knew about the one-stop release but I judged her to be in more danger when frequently unrestrained in a moving car.

There are two crash-tested and legal products you can try. These are the 5-point Plus (comes in two sizes) and the BeSafe Belt Collector. The belt collector is perfectly safe, it's not a clip it just slides onto the harness straps and can be removed in seconds.

But it's best to try and sort the problem by positioning the straps correctly and tightening them normally. Having them too tight might actually make it easier for her shoulders to slip out.

I think any child can get out of a 5-point harness if they really want to, I know my petite 4 year old could as her shoulders are so narrow. But thankfully none of my children have ever done this!

My dd does this in her pearl. We went to Halfords and bought an additional harness and she still managed to wiggle.out of it.

I know it's a behaviour.issue buts its very hard to do anything when you are driving.

We bought a cyber pallas M fix which has the bar across. So far she hasn't got out of it and she has tried!!!!!

Thanks!! I shall have a look into these and try to break the habit!