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Original poster

Carseat problem with 15 month old!

82 replies

Maclaren · 29/07/2009 11:14

I cant be the only one with this problem!

Ny 15 month old is in his second stage car seat but the little bugger keeps taking his arms out of the straps! I have them on the highest hight and as tight as possible but he still gets them out even if he hurts himself doing it!

I am just really worried that if I have to break hard he is ging to come out or at least get thrown back and forth be also pulls himself so he is sitting really forward!

I do alot of motorway driving and so I cant just stop and readjust him!

Does anyone know of a carseat that has a straop that goes across the top of the chest or a strap I can buy for the carseat I have??

OP posts:

PfftTheMagicDragon · 29/07/2009 11:46

Yes you can buy the straps that go across the chest.....hold on

sazm · 29/07/2009 12:28

the strap things which you can buy are illegal to use with a carseat as they can cause the carseat to fail in an accident,
they can also stop the emergency services/a passer by getting your child out the car quickly in an emergency

BertieBotts · 29/07/2009 12:35

They're not illegal, they are not advised though for the reasons outlined above.

I have heard it suggested to buy some reins, take the parent strap off and do the reins up over the carseat straps. In an accident emergency services would cut the straps anyway rather than bothering with clasps, but a passerby probably wouldn't have a knife.

The other way of dealing with this is to stop the car and refuse to drive until they put their arms back in, might be a pain but it's only supposed to take a few times before they get the message. Maybe plan a few non-essential journeys to test it!

Or bribery, sticker charts? Some kind of toy for in the car which he can only have if he keeps the straps on? DVD player which gets switched off if he takes his arms out?

BertieBotts · 29/07/2009 12:36

Oops sorry, just read age, most of my suggestions a bit useless then!

I don't understand why they don't sell carseats with child-proof straps tbh. There is obviously a market for them!

EyeballsintheSky · 29/07/2009 12:45

My 18 month old does exactly the same thing and it's turning my hair grey. I daren't go on a motorway at the moment because I can't stop if she takes them out and she's such a little bugger that she would, just to spite me! She doesn't understand me telling her not to do it so I'm at a bit of a loss. My uncle gave me some cable ties and I'm very tempted to use them. There was one of those Hug-it things on ebay last week but it went for over £30 .

Would really welcome any suggestions as it worries the life out of me.

sazm · 29/07/2009 13:09

bertiebotts, why on earth would the emergency services cut the straps with a knife to get your child out when all they have to do is press a button?
they are illegal,phone your local police station if you dont believe me,
car seats are designed so that the straps are undone in one click,you can be fined for using one,
they are also not safety approved for use on car seats and thats why they are unsafe to use,

LIZS · 29/07/2009 13:20

I don't believe it is actually illegal to use modfications but not recommended safety wise by ROSPA as it could inhibit the safety fo te seat in an accident and delay releasing the child (I guess you have to weigh up the odds of him being hurt by not being correclty restarined against that). Suggestions to tackle the problem here

sazm · 29/07/2009 13:27

this is from the ROSPA website:
legal requirement for child car seat:

The Buckle
The buckle must be easy to operate and it must be possible to open it and release the child from the restraint by a single operation on a button or similar device. Opening the buckle must enable the child to be removed independently of the "chair", "chair support" or "impact shield", if fitted, and if the restraint includes a crotch strap, the crotch strap must be released by operation of the same buckle

therefore if you attach one of these devices then your carseat does not meet the legal safety requirement,thus making it not acceptable under the new car seat law,

EyeballsintheSky · 29/07/2009 13:32

That's all well and good sazm, but what do you do with a child that is too little to understand why you don't want them to do something, but old enough to be able to do these things? (Hopefully not) Given the choice, I'd rather they emergency services we a bit slower to get her out of the seat than have her catapulted through the windscreen in the first place.

EyeballsintheSky · 29/07/2009 13:35

Just looked at that site and, sorry but for any child under two at least, it's completely useless. They're still babies, they don't understand and there's a limit to how much you can distract them when you are trying to drive.

mrsjammi · 29/07/2009 13:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

sazm · 29/07/2009 13:44

mrs jammi,why on earth don't you have the door locks on your car?thats the whole point of them!

how do you all stop your kids doing things they shouldn't?
dangerous things like running off in the carpark?
my son done it once at 18m and he never done it again ever,
my daughter also done it once (last week actually) at 3yo,
once told off ds never done it again,
dd done it on the way home,we stopped until she put her arms back in and she hasn't thought about it again,

EyeballsintheSky · 29/07/2009 13:53

Well lucky you, because I've tried everything and it has no effect. Anything I say gets a giggle and the same thing done again. She knows that I can't do anything about it when I'm driving.

mrsjammi, I've just put the child lock on dd's door just in case of that. I wouldn't put it past the little monkey.

silverfrog · 29/07/2009 14:01

that's an interesting quote, sazm, but there must be provision within the law for people (and babies) who do not have the mental cpaacity to understand the consequences.

It is fairly common practice to use an extra harness/restraint with some disabled children/adults for example (I use one such device myself, and would recomend that anyone having issues keeping children/babies in carseats should talk to Crelling - they have a wide range of harnesses that could be useful)

sazm · 29/07/2009 14:09

thats fine if the device is safety approved,

there are SO many threads on here about people wanting to buy the safest seats and consulting the which tests,
why bother doing that to then put a device on it which may stop your brill seat failing in an accident,

have you checked the straps are adjusted correctly,they should be just above the shoulders,having them too low is often an easy way for lo's to get their arms out,also check they are tight enough,lo should have no jacket on (as this can stop the straps being tightened properly)and you should only just get 2 fingers between the strap and your child,

failing that,try a different seat, the new kiddyinfinity would be one that would be impossible to get out as there are no straps to slip out of?

sarahx

EyeballsintheSky · 29/07/2009 14:13

silverfrog, that's really helpful, thank you. They have something called a cross strap which looks like it would be useful to go just under the chestpads so there is less room to wriggle out arms. Thinking about it, I wonder why the buckle is so low down on car seats. I'm sure there is a reason but it seems daft when you're designing something for wriggly toddlers

TaurielTest · 29/07/2009 14:14

Was just about to say Kiddy Infinity Pro myself. No straps to slip out of. We have one and it's great, DS loves it too - he reaches out and pulls in the bolster bit that goes across the tummy when we go to strap him in! There's a video on www.kiddy.de if you want to see how they work.
Sorry, know 'buy a different seat' may not be that helpful though...

JoandMax · 29/07/2009 14:20

Interesting thread, my DS is just one and has started getting an arm out. I have checked and checked again, as has my husband, and it's fitted correctly and straps as tight as they can be but he still gets out!

He can also escape from his buggy, get out of his grobag, pulls off his clothes......

Sympathy to all the other mums with Houdini children

BertieBotts · 29/07/2009 14:21

No, sorry, it's not illegal, you can still use carseats which don't fit the current legal standards, you just can't sell them. (Though ebay don't seem to bother about that )

I admit I may be wrong about the emergency services cutting through the straps as I just read it somewhere, perhaps it was what used to be done as car seat strap release buttons are standardised now.

pasturesnew · 29/07/2009 14:27

We had this problem but took the carseat to Halfords (where we'd bought it) for refitting and when the straps were put through the slots higher up and the seat was made more upright DS stopped being able to do it so easily and it's been pretty much OK since (touch wood). Might be worth trying refitting it in this manner.

sazm · 29/07/2009 14:28

phone your local police station and ask them,i know people who have been fined for it,

pasturesnew · 29/07/2009 14:28

hmm reread OP and I see you have highest height of straps already - in which case I wonder if your baby is ready for the next size seat?

EyeballsintheSky · 29/07/2009 14:28

LOL yes, dd escapes from her buggy straps as well. She's almost walking in front of the buggy sometimes, hence why I got rid of my Luna and its floating harness!

silverfrog · 29/07/2009 14:29

no problem, Eyeballs

BertieBotts - emergency services will sometimes have to cut the straps, as the buckle may jam in a collision (just as a seatbelt sometimes jams).

it is recomneded that people carry a strap cutter (again available form Crelling - I don't work for them, honest !) as a precaution.

Original poster

Maclaren · 29/07/2009 14:59

Its funny because my oldest never ever did this but the younger one is a monkey! his carseat is only a few months old and is designed to go to 4 years so he cant be ready for the next one he is just a rotter!

To be honest sazm unless you have the problem on a daily basis I dont think you can judge! he is not even 15 months yet so telling him no does nothing (believe me I have tried) its the whole driving along the motorway at 70 and seeing him in the review mirror hanging out you cant just pull over its not an option sometimes!

I have found this on ebay NZ

here

Another thing someone else has suggested is a large plastic bag clip I would rather the emergancy services had to get that off than scrap him off the window screen

OP posts:

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