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Pushchairs

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Original poster

Tightening straps?

17 replies

ihearttc · 16/08/2012 21:18

Bit of a bizarre question but should pushchair straps be able to be really tight...as in tight enough to stop a small person actually escaping from pushchair? I purchased a new pushchair from an online retailer last week for my 20 month old little boy-everything about the pushchair is fantastic and I am really pleased with it which for me is nothing short of a miracle cause Im very fussy and have been searching for something suitable for months but I cannot get the shoulder straps tight. They are so loose that I can get my whole arm between the straps and my son when he is in the pushchair. He can manage to get completely out of the harness by putting his arms through and then wriggling his legs and then stands up and climbs over the bumper bar...it literally takes him seconds to do it so although Im watching him I only have to turn around and he's out. It wasn't cheap and Im now frightened to use it as he did it again today near a busy road.

Online retailer won't do anything as it's not "faulty" so have contacted manufacturer who have got back to me asking me to send pictures and measurements of the distance between harness and pushchair fabric which I will do tomorrow. Anybody got any suggestions or any experience of this?

I don't really want to name the pushchair as yet but lets just say it's a 3 wheeler, all terrain pushchair which is fairly well known...don't think Tiggy has tested it yet on BB if that sheds any light on it!

OP posts:

Ihateparties · 16/08/2012 22:00

I think they should be able to go really tight but I know plenty that don't. Fixed shoulder height ones can be dodgy. I have a Jane Twone and the waist will go tight, as tight as you like but the shoulder straps just won't (unless I'm missing something) even on my 2y6m old they are not as tight as is ideal. She is fastened in by the waist one tho so cannot escape as such. I could never get the bug gecko ones tight enough to stop her climbing out...

Hope the manufacturer have something good to say

Original poster

ihearttc · 16/08/2012 23:22

Ive got the waist ones really tight but the shoulder ones won't get any tighter so he can just wriggle and get completely through...he's tiny bless him but very determined lol!

He can't do it in any other pushchair we've had which is what makes me think they should go tighter than they do.

DH has suggested that it's not fit for purpose as I literally can't look away for a minute without him getting out but I don't think thats going to work somehow!

OP posts:

cloutiedumpling · 17/08/2012 11:39

I haven't had exactly the same problem as you, but did find that DS1 would undo the straps to his buggy which led to him escaping. I bought another harness that he couldn't undo, one that you would use on a highchair, and fastened it to D rings at each side of the chair. It wasn't a perfect solution but worked until we didn't need the buggy any more.

Original poster

ihearttc · 17/08/2012 13:23

I did think about that or one of the Houdini stops but I just don't get why they won't go any tighter...its crazy.

Am waiting for small person to wake up from his nap then Im taking some photo's and emailing them to them to see what they say.

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 17/08/2012 13:27

They're more to stop falling out I think, so there's some room built in to the shoulder straps for comfort.

I used to use reins and attached them to the D rings in the pushchair.

Sounds like you have a houdini-esque child rather than a faulty pushchair

Original poster

ihearttc · 17/08/2012 13:36

Lol Bertie...yes he is a bit of a houdini I admit! He can't do it in any other pushchair though-yes he can slip the straps off the shoulder but there is so much room that he can get his whole body through which just seems wrong somehow.

I researched this so carefully as I was so worried about getting the wrong pushchair which is possibly why Im so cross lol as the one thing I didn't count on is him actually being able to get out of the damn thing.

I'll see what they say but it looks like I'll have to get a Houndini stop thing...he doesn't do it with the car seat at all btw! Im not sure I can cope with reins as he's a nightmare to get in the pushchair at the best of times so can't really deal with another thing to do up lol!

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 17/08/2012 13:38

They're no harder to do up than a normal pushchair harness :)

Original poster

ihearttc · 17/08/2012 13:46

Nope I know...I just meant that at the moment I have to sort of hold him in the pushchair with my knees while trying to do the straps up...I thought actually getting the reins on him and then him into the pushchair to do it up would be a bit more fiddly! He's a nightmare honestly...I love him to bits but if he was my first Id have never had another one! He's so different from his big brother!

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BertieBotts · 17/08/2012 13:50

No, you put the reins in the pushchair. Then just bring them around his arms and clip together, like pushchair straps.

Original poster

ihearttc · 17/08/2012 13:54

Ahhh I see...sorry I didn't think of it that way! That definitely makes more sense-will see if I can get some reins this afternoon while Im out. We've got one of the Little Life rucksacks at the moment so haven't got any normal reins I could try.

Thank you so much!

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CouthyMow · 17/08/2012 13:59

I have yet to find a pram that can hold my determined 18mo in. I have tried all my friend's prams too. He would rather walk. He gots out of reins too.

I have given up, not even highchair straps keep him in. He does the same thing you are on about with car seat straps too, even though they HAVE to be pulled so tight you think they will cut off his circulation.

I'm just glad I only go in cars twice a year!!

I think my DS3 has a budding career as Houdini's replacement. I just let him walk now, and insist he holds my hand near roads.

I will be watching this thread with interest, as I wouldn't mind finding a pram that CAN actually keep him contained!

CouthyMow · 17/08/2012 14:05

Even reins don't work with mine, even when I have tightened them so much they seem to be cutting into his shoulders, he STILL gets out.

If I have a lot of shopping to do, I HAVE to get a sitter.

So far I have tried the P&T Vibe, the Quinny, a bebe confort thing, a Hauk pram, an Obaby stroller, an Obaby Zezu, a Graco travel sustem thing, a Britax 3-wheeler, a Maclaren stroller, a Chicco Liteway, my own Mothercare stroller, and my own big Hartan Racer.

He can get out of all of them. Driving me insane. What else can I try?

Tiggywunkle · 17/08/2012 14:30

It's one of my essentials. My child has to be in a pushchair and the harness has to be done up fairly tightly ie 2-3 fingers underneath.

Any pushchair that I can't do up like that, or worst case can't get the waist strap tight enough, doesn't stay here for long.

I know of a small ie a few weeks old baby who got caterpulted out of a pushchair when it tipped. I know of a baby who fell out of a pushchair onto a concrete floor and fractured their skull.
Just last weekend my own pushchair tipped for seemingly no reason - the company are taking it back to be looked at - and thankfully my son was strapped in.

I don't mess with my children's lives. They need to be safe and part of being safe is being securely strapped into a pushchair. I sometimes add reins onto a pushchair. Whether they can actually escape or not, and some buckles are too easy to open, is a different issue - and really involves behaviour management. But a pushchair fundamentally should be able to be made safe.

Jane and Out n About are two brands which have large harnesses. Other brands have questionable harnesses ie just about fit but aren't really tight enough.

Original poster

ihearttc · 17/08/2012 14:50

Thank you Tiggy...I could hug you I really could!!

Its an Out n About Nipper 360 V2 so at least Im not imagining it that the harness is huge!

DS is quite small cause he was premature...he's 20 months and about 25lb but slightly built but even so I would expect the harness to go tighter than that. I can literally get my whole arm between it and him.

I was going for a BJCM GT but thought he'd be able to undo the harness clip cause I know it's been mentioned before but went for the Nipper cause it actually felt lighter and thought the harness clip was more secure which it is but thats not actually much good if the harness won't tighten enough to hold him in. I will get some reins but surely a pushchair is supposed to be manufactured with a harness that will actually tighten enough to keep them reasonably safe.

Ive taken some pics with him in the harness and sent them to Out n About...If I can find a way to do so I will try and post them on your BB page on FB if that would be ok with you?

OP posts:

Original poster

ihearttc · 17/08/2012 14:55

Actually Tiggy I can't work out how to do it...but after looking at your pics of the Jane Two the picture of your son in the harness is pretty much what it looks like.

OP posts:

mumcha · 17/08/2012 14:59

hi i have the same problem with my 20 month old and ive tried 4 different prams .:(

Maamekin · 17/08/2012 15:05

I have a similar problem with my 14 month old, compounded by the fact that she likes to sit bolt upright in her pushchair, so screams and struggles the entire time she is constrained by the straps, until she gets her arms out and can sit up. (She does this in the carseat too, but luckily we don't own a car and hardly ever travel in them.)

I use the harness that comes with reins in the pushchair, which mean she is secured but because she can sit upright and move about, she doesn't know she is, so she doesn't try to escape.

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