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Original poster

Toddler wriggling out of car seat

29 replies

StillMedusa · 22/12/2022 21:01

Toddler, 21m has a Joie 360 spin.
Straps are pulled tight as they will go, but she has developed some super skill of wriggling her shoulders slightly until she can squeeze one arm out.. then the other. I think it's because the Joie straps are actually quite wide apart , because she can't do it in her other car seat at Nana's house (a BeSafe ERF) only in the Joie.
Has anyone else experienced this and other than getting another (!) seat is there anything we can do?

OP posts:
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upfucked · 22/12/2022 21:02

Is she wearing a bulky coat in the car seat?

ChristmasCakeAndStilton · 22/12/2022 21:10

I don't know the seat, but my 2 used to be able to do this when the shoulder straps needed raising. Might be worth checking if they are adjustable.

Original poster
StillMedusa · 22/12/2022 21:20

No this is without a coat on (winter coats are puffy so she has to freeze for a mo til the heating kicks in!) I hadn't thought whether the straps need raising.. I'd be surprised tbh as she's a shorty, but I'll double check, thanks!
I think it's more the actual width across as the other seat seems to have straps that sit more narrowly.

OP posts:
OddsocksinmyDocs · 22/12/2022 21:23

My little one is the same at the moment! You can buy a clip which clips both straps together Xmas Smile

tickticksnooze · 22/12/2022 21:25

OddsocksinmyDocs · 22/12/2022 21:23

My little one is the same at the moment! You can buy a clip which clips both straps together Xmas Smile

Is that safe in an accident?

Soontobe60 · 22/12/2022 21:28

Have you adjusted it correctly for her size? I use this seat for my granddaughter, she’s quite skinny and very agile, but there’s no way she can get out of the straps.

Hugasauras · 22/12/2022 21:38

The Besafe belt collector is crash tested but I would check the fit first as that's usually the culprit.

Beginningless · 22/12/2022 21:40

www.amazon.co.uk/Harness-Threading-Required-Prevent-Children/dp/B076PCXGNK/ref=asc_df_B076PCXGNK/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310879798784&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5846242739138935647&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007306&hvtargid=pla-633127116163&psc=1 We used this one, worked a treat, I hear some kids are fast at working it out but mine weren’t. It went on to get put to use with a school bag as well!

Clevs · 22/12/2022 21:43

We went through this just before my son turned three. He would get his arms out, unclip the harness and on occasions start climbing through the front seats before I had chance to pull over safely. One day he actually managed to grab hold of the steering wheel as I couldn't pull over immediately.

We dealt with it by shouting at him and saying how dangerous it was. And not driving off again until he sat back down in his seat and was willing to be strapped in again. I told him that the car doesn't work until all seatbelts are fastened. Sometimes it took one of us to sit in the back with him with our hand over the buckle so he couldn't undo it. We had a chat at the start of every journey about not undoing seatbelts until we'd arrived at our destination and not undoing them until the car had stopped and I'd taken mine off.

It lasted a few months and is something a lot of kids go through I think. Yours is a bit younger though so I'm not sure how well the 'chats' would sink in.

thefiddlerselbow · 22/12/2022 21:47

My daughter did this repeatedly at about 18 months. Once memorably on the M4... She was prem so a bit skinny and flexible! I ended up getting a new car seat from Mamas and Papas that had a different design. I don't know if they make them anymore but it was great.
She also used to escape from high chairs even younger. I think we went through a few - we used to call her Houdini.

Paddingtonsmarmlade · 22/12/2022 21:50

I bought a belt collector from in car safety centre which solved it.

thefiddlerselbow · 22/12/2022 21:50

www.argos.co.uk/product/9571530

This looks very similar to what we ended up buying, ours was an older version. It looks odd but she was happy in it. Despite her escapes being thwarted!

Rudolphscarrot · 22/12/2022 21:53

My DS did this a few times when he was 2. I fully admit I properly shouted at him when he did it on the motorway. It worked. I told him that if he doesn't have his belt on then the car stops. This was almost a year ago and he's never done it since.

startfresh · 22/12/2022 21:53

Lift the head rest, which raises the straps, I believe (had one previously)

Original poster
StillMedusa · 22/12/2022 23:15

Thank you for your replies.. I'll check the headrest asap... and probably get a be safe connector. She's very agile and also quick to spot an opportunity...good job she's cute as she's not yet very reasonable!

OP posts:
MrsBudd · 22/12/2022 23:27

We had the same problem. Starting using the Besafe Belt Collector and it resolved instantly. Just make sure you get that specific one as many of the other ones are not safe.

FangedFrisbee · 22/12/2022 23:46

Pull over and tell him the car won't go if the seat belt isn't on

MrsBudd · 23/12/2022 07:22

FangedFrisbee · 22/12/2022 23:46

Pull over and tell him the car won't go if the seat belt isn't on

Sadly doesn't really work when you need to get somewhere. My two year old would just keep doing it over and over. Especially doesn't work when they don't want to go to the place you're driving to

Blueuggboots · 23/12/2022 07:27

Kiddy guardian fix. My son NEVER wiggled out of his!

Beanbagtrap · 23/12/2022 07:32

You can put a cardi, shirt or zip hoodie, anything that fastens rather than pulls over the head on them after you've done the straps up, button/zip it up over the straps and then they can't wriggle out.

feministqueen · 23/12/2022 10:14

My son did this once at around the same age. I stopped the car and really shouted at him. They are little but sometimes the fear needs to be given. He got really upset but He never did it again. They are old enough even at 2 to understand. Safety in the car is not something that can be compromised

BertieBotts · 23/12/2022 12:54

The Joie one has really bulky pads that cause a massive gap at the tummy, it's a pain if they figure out how to escape because it makes it really easy for them. Luckily DS2 never did... DS3 on the other hand I hope he doesn't!

The Besafe harnesses sit much closer to the body and aren't as easy to escape.

The other thing to check, first yes I agree check if it needs to go up. The seats like the Stages, Every Stage the headrests are massive so they need to be higher than you'd think compared to other car seats. If it's the Joie Spin then you'll normally notice when it needs to go up.

But if that's fine the second thing to check is how you're tightening. Because the pads are so bulky and they have all this thick grippy stuff on the back, they can easily get caught on the child's clothing and sit on the shoulders in a kind of V shape, especially if you don't loosen the straps before putting them in.

So instead if you fully loosen straps, then place child in seat, then fasten buckle with the straps loose, normally at this point you'd just pull to tighten, but with the Joie seats it helps to add a step in between where you place the pads properly over their shoulders in a vertical parallel arrangement so they are going straight down. ll instead of \ / - you might also need to manually pull through slack from the hips to above the buckle too. It's explained quite well in this video at 3:30

BertieBotts · 23/12/2022 12:55

Sorry 4 mins in for the harness tips

tonyhawks23 · 23/12/2022 13:04

We bought something called an escape not I think it is.

Keiki · 23/12/2022 13:26

My kids could do this with Maxi cosi seats but not Britax, as the straps fit differently.