DS slipping out of car seat - driving me crazy!

[Moniq123]

Hi all,

My DS, who turns 4 in November has started to slip out of his booster car seat under the car seat belt. He has an open booster and i use the car seat belt to secure him. He used to first open the seatbelt by pressing the button so I got a seat belt buckle guard so he cant press it anymore. Now he's figured out how to pull the seatbelt so there's more of it& make it wider so he can just slip out. It's driving me absolutely crazy and he won't listen to a thing I say. I stop the car to put him back in but he'll just repeat and run riot in the car. I really feel like it's unsafe now. I need help on what else to get? The only suitable thing I have found is this

https://moxtons.co.uk/products/portable-car-child-safety-seat-child-protection-car-cushion-seat?currency=GBP&variant=46054277153088&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxf3axfWRgQMVygiLCh0w-wfdEAQYASABEgJd0vD_BwE

anyone got any other ideas please?
thankyou

I wouldn't think that would be appropriate. The booster is to raise him to the correct height for the seatbelt to sit correctly. That doesn't look like anything I've seen before. Is it even legal?!

Does he have any SEN? At 4 I would expect a child to know they have to sit in a car seat, but if he has SEN then there are other car seat options involving crelling harnesses and other specialist solutions. In Car Safety Centre can help with that.

I expect @bertiebotts could advise but yes, is this a legal seat?!

Would advise a proper seat like Joie Bold as you can have the proper harness on that up until a fairly late stage/ weight.

Everything on that webpage looks like a dodgy translation "SAFETY HARNESS
This harness effectively secures the infant to the seat, even during bumpy rides or sudden braking, ensuring the baby remains unaffected by inertia and providing comprehensive protection for the child."

It's all bollocks.

How much does he weigh? Sounds like he isn't ready for the adult seatbelt and needs to be in a harnessed seat.

Actually wtf even is that website? The "shop" sells a handful of face masks. The reviews are all clearly generated by AI or made up.

The seat itself is totally flat and does not "boost" at all or offer any protection. Sorry op but where did you get it? I'm just slightly baffled by it.

Have you tried screaming at him and giving him a bollocking? DS figured out how to get out of his car seat once at 2.5, i flipped, and now he only ever asks us if he can. It’s a bit harsh but I drive on a lot of A Roads and motorways and he needed to learn he could not do that. Obvs if he has SEN he might need a more secure seat.

I would get a Extended Rear Facing car seat (one that goes to 25kg+ would be better for this age as 18kg won't last very long) - rear facing safer anyway but will also mean he can continue to be properly 5 point harnessed not just using seat belt.

To be booster ready he needs to be able to sit sensibly. If he can't, he might need to go back in a harnessed seat, depending on his weight.

At 4 is he large enough for a booster? I’d put him back in his older seat.

At 3 years' old, he is far too young to be using a booster seat with an adult seatbelt. A child must be old enough and mature enough (which he is not) to be able to use the adult seatbelt.

I suspect rear facing is not an option here, but I'd suggest a new seat. The Joie Bold will forward face and harness until 25kg, so will the Cozy N Safe Excalibur. Your child needs a harness to keep them safe in the care. He needs longer before he can use the adult seatbelt.

The link you've posted - there's zero side protection there. There would be devastating consequences for your child in the impact of a crash.

My first recommendation would be a 25kg rear facing seat. My second recommendation would be the 25kg FF seats I mentioned in my last post.

4 does seem quite young to be using the car seat belt and an open booster.

I'd go for a Joie Bold and use the harness straps or one of the Britax seats which have the belt guard at the crotch which means they can't slide down.

OP the link is to a nonsense item.

PORTABLE DESIGN
The infant feeding chair seat belt easily fits onto a backrest chair

Picture your child's radiant grin as they settle into their own cozy seat, enveloped in sheer happiness

Total bollocks.

It's definitely not a car seat and definitely not legal in the UK

sounds like a rear facing harness car seat might be the answer.

I'm not a car seat expert but had an escape artist ds.

He needs a new seat, Asda do affordable high backed boosters with harnesses that go up to 36kg, should do him a few years.

If he wriggles out of those there are car seat clips you can get on amazon. I saw them recommended on mumsnet when ds was wriggling/ opening his harness seat belt. As far as i know these have no approval from safety bodies, but they are another layer for him to get through. I decided, on balance, using them for ds was safer than not. Look for car seat anti escape chest clip. I know others will advise they could cause injury in a crash, but if he's bouncing about the car and you crash he's dead not injured.

I also followed the other advice I was given which was every time he tried to escape stop safely, get him fastened in safely again (he never actually got out the seat thanks to the extra clip) and move off. Rinse and repeat without any big reaction. Eventually he got bored.

He now sits in a high backed booster with the normal seatbelt just fine.

Dd1 went in a high backed booster seat when she was a bit before 4 as she was very, very tall but also listened to all the 'rules' and sat in her seat without touching anything. Dd2 was nearly 5 when she went in a high backed booster as she was a regular height but also did not listen and constantly messed about with her seatbelt.

If your ds unbuckles his belt you need to put him in a different seat. What you've linked to will keep him secured in place but will not protect him in a crash.

Thankyou everyone. Yes I do suspect he's SEN (adhd) as both myself and his dad have it. He's showing signs of it too, I've given him a stern telling off and screamed my head off in times of frustration while driving, nothing works. Thankyou for all your suggestions I'll be getting a proper car seat with a harness tomorrow from asda for him! I wasn't too sure about the link so I posted it here, it does look like it would keep him fastened but you're right in that it wouldn't offer any protection in case of a crash.

You'll need to weigh him first as most harnesses only go up to 18kg.
I suspect the Asda high back boostered aren't harnessed to 36kg, it will just be that the booster seat and adult seat belt go to 36kg which won't help your situation.

You might want to look at the Cozy N Safe Hudson which does harness until 25kg and then adult belt to 36kg. It's under £100.

Put him back in a proper 5 point harness car seat.

I would not get one from Asda because they only have 18kg limit ones and these will likely be outgrown for you soon. What seat did you have him in before he moved to the booster? He should probably still fit into that, so no need to buy a new one.

If he is over 18kg (which is probably the weight limit for the old seat) or too tall for the old seat or you don't have it any more, Joie Bold has a harness up to 25kg. However it does cost about £180 which is a bit more than most of the Asda car seats.

If you can stretch to £100 there is Cozy n Safe Hudson as others have said but NOT the i-size one because this does not have the 25kg harness.

Or Babylo Enfasafe Event FX has a 25kg harness and is on amazon for £100 as well.

You need isofix+ top tether for all of those seats.

If £100 is too much, see if you can do his weight and height and I'll see if I can find you a seat that will fit him safely.

Def don't buy those dodgy harness things from random website - they don't offer any restraint and they can affect the position of the seatbelt

There is no seat in the UK that harnesses past 25kg forward facing unless it's a special needs seat which Asda do not sell. The seats in Asda likely harness until 18kg then need the adult seat belt until 36kg.

OP, the seats from Asda are mainly Team Tex seats (they have white/grey clips on the harness) and they perform incredibly poorly in crash tests. The seats disintegrate.

Joie Bold or Cozy N Safe Hudson or Excalibur can harness until 25kg. There are very few on the market that harness forward facing to that weight.

Thankyou so much for your suggestions everyone. We now have the joie bold and been using it for a couple of days. It's fantastic so far!

That's great news, OP. I'm so glad you got sorted for him xx