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Original poster

ds undoing his seatbelt......and i can't get a gadget to stop him!

23 replies

queenrollo · 22/03/2008 15:23

i've moved ds into a high back booster and this weekend he discovered the 'red button' and keeps undoing the seat belt. so off i went on a shopping trip to buy a guard to stop him doing it only to be told they are now illegal.....

so has anyone got any advice on how to stop him?

it's not too big a problem this weekend as i have company who is doing all the driving, so i can sit in the back with ds, but when i have to drive him on my own what the hell am i supposed to do?

one woman in a nursery shop suggested putting some of the rough side of velcro on the button, but that wouldn't put my son off at all.

OP posts:
DontCallMeBunny · 22/03/2008 15:48

This sort of thing?

Original poster
queenrollo · 22/03/2008 15:55

yes that sort of thing......they are now illegal apparently. Halfords are not allowed to stock or sell them......

i'm off to order some

OP posts:
DontCallMeBunny · 22/03/2008 16:07

Stocked by Halfords? Either the website is wrong and these aren't really in stock, or the person you spoke to about the illegality and not stocking them is wrong. Seeing as it's Halfords, neither would surprise me in the least.

msappropriate · 22/03/2008 16:09

if you search on this subject lots of people said those things don't work for many kids.

HowlingCow · 22/03/2008 16:10

Tell him your driving out to some fun activity (play barn sort of thing) when he undoes buckle stop car and put it back then drive home, stopping every time he undoes buckle to put it back and make a big deal of fact your no longer going but are going straight home. Try this few times-hassle but worked with my nieces when they refused to even have seatbelts attached so I wouldnt even start the car!!

BreeVanDerCampLGJ · 22/03/2008 16:16

This worked a treat with DS.

Drove there, that was enough.

HowlingCow · 22/03/2008 16:17

Excellent idea!!!!

benbon · 22/03/2008 16:22

im going through the exact same thing with my son its a complete nightmare stopping the car constantly doesnt work by the time i get back in my seat he has undun his again. we are now on carseat number 5 and he can get out of all of them.

i have just sent an email to topgear challenging then to find a seat that can contain my 2 year old...

Peachy · 22/03/2008 16:27

crelling is a firm that specialises in harnesses and adaptations for SN kids, but a lot of their range is eprfectly suitable for NT kids as well and they do things to help stop the little Houdini types (search crelling and you'll get their catalogue). We use them with ds3 (who is SN) but could equally have done so with ds2 who isn't- safety is the apramount factor after all.

Original poster
queenrollo · 22/03/2008 16:53

i've tried to approach it by telling him playing with it is dangerous. usually telling him this stops him in his tracks with any activity, but he is so desperate to sit in a normal seat like mummy that i think physically stopping him is going to be the only way.
even telling him his chocolate was going back to the easter bunny didn't work and he loves his chocolate.
it wasn't just Halfords (and the member of staff i spoke to is a friend, and an ex policeman) but i went to a local car accessories shop and a local nursery supplies shop too. All said the same thing, that the Fire Brigade have raised the issue of them being unsafe in the event of an accident......
i can see this is a valid point, but my toddler rampaging in the back of the car isn't exactly safe either!

OP posts:
Alambil · 22/03/2008 16:58

Do you normally tell him off in a calm tone/quiet? Do the opposite - fly into an absolute rage.... it may just scare him enough, then tell him the police will take him away if he does it again (I told DS that on another issue and he hasn't repeated it since!)

Original poster
queenrollo · 22/03/2008 17:02

i've tried both approaches. I'm normally calm with him, as have found it the best way to get the desired effect, but even getting mad at him didn't work. He cried and said sorry.....then 10 mins later undid it again

OP posts:
abigaillockhart · 22/03/2008 17:02

I marched DS up to a policeman in the street, explained what he'd been doing and the policeman was fab! Gave him a real telling off (DS was quite scared) but then told him next time he saw a policeman Mummy had to tell him if DS had stopped doing it. Next time we saw a policeman, I had to go up and explain. He was also fab and told DS that he would tell policeman number one so he would take DS off his 'naughty boy list'

He never did it again!!

msappropriate · 22/03/2008 17:04

benbon is your child in a seat with its own saftely belt. One of those snugsitts worked for my son.

msappropriate · 22/03/2008 17:07

aah its been replaced by a hug it
www.hug-it.co.uk/

Ive seen a clip one too somewhere

ebaldy · 22/03/2008 17:14

I was told the same thing but regarding the clips you can put on a harness seat as my DS could get his arms out fo the harness not matter what I did. Britax told me that it is illegal because of safety in an accident not being able to under the seat belt. I thought this was stupid as you would just cut the child out if they were that stuck. We did find something from USA that holds the hardness together at chest level and we went against britax's advice and used it. I suggest if you can get something then do it as a child in the seat belt is a safer one than a child not!

msappropriate · 22/03/2008 17:15

www.thebabycatalogue.com/prodinfo.asp?number=K0306

clip seat for stage 2 car seats.

ebaldy · 22/03/2008 17:16

Yes msappropriate thats what we got, but according to britax it is illegal to use!!

msappropriate · 22/03/2008 17:20

I had a velcro material one which worked for a long while (he used to get his arms out and then undo the car seat belt so the whole seat was loose). I dreaded going to the next stage one as I though he would do what the ops sone does. But he actually developed some sense so I was very lucky.

DontCallMeBunny · 22/03/2008 18:00

Risk management hat on ... which is the most likely scenario?

  • you have minor accident (perhaps even caused by your distraction at having free-range child in back of car) in which child is disproportionately badly injured because they're not restrained
  • you have sufficiently serious accident that you are unable to release child from their seatbelt, no passer-by is able to undo or cut the belt, the fire brigade don't turn up and cut the child free, car catches fire

The latter has a higher risk of being fatal, but it's also massively less likely to happen. So, if I had a child who just could NOT be prevented from undoing their seatbelt I would go for the illegal device.

Happily DD doesn't seem to be aware that undoing her seatbelt is even possible, not sure if that's a personality thing or down to the design of the seat (buckle is well out of sight).

TheHedgeWitch · 22/03/2008 18:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Pixel · 25/03/2008 22:59

I can't why that device is illegal when ds's Houdini Harness would be much harder to release by someone who didn't know how the tamper-proof buckle works. Dh still has trouble with it after 2 years! I was actually sent a 'safe' blade with it in case ds has to be cut free in the event of an accident.
It does worry me but as Dontcallmebunny says, we had to take the view that having him loose in the car was much more dangerous.

cantbelive1234 · 16/12/2014 17:13

I used Beltlock.ie for my kids and it worked.

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