Advice needed please re: car seats

[mumof5plusazoo]

Hi,
I have a five year old ds with sensory processing disorder, hypermobility, and undergoing assessment for asd. He has a lot of anxiety especially outside of our house. If we are walking he will either run off of refuse to walk. If we go in the car it is a fight to get him into the carseat and then he just undoes it usually straight away but more recently whilst I am driving.
He hates leaving home and regularly meltsdown when we do. Getting him into his carseat involves him lashing out, hitting,kicking etc. once I have got him in the carseat and done it up he will undo it this can go on for quite sometime.
I have tried rewards, moving the carseat to different seats within the car. Nothing works.
Are their any carseats that would be quick and easy to get a distressed child into and that he couldn't undo. He can undo normal seatbelts and 5point harnesses.
Thank you for reading.

have you tried putting the car seat in the house for him to "play with" ? (sit in) that way he gets familiar with it. that way it is less of a shock for him? i did this with my son. try role playing with him also about going in the car.

We had this problem - and we managed to solve it by parking the car somewhere else for a couple of days: this seemed to break the cycle as the different surroundings were a distraction. The other distraction was to play music - worked as music is a particular special interest, so might not suit all, sorry if that sounds like a simple suggestion.
I did look into seat belt locks - there are some on amazon - though I didn't get as far as checking if there are any legal restrictions on driving with them in the UK, but some of the reviews look good
The car seat I have is a maxi cosi rodi (the isofix version) and it is pretty quick to get into

Hi,
Thanks for the replies you have given me some ideas I could try and products to look into.
Countydurhamlass - it's not that he doesn't like the carseat as such. He just doesn't want to leave the house ever to go anywhere. If its in the house he will quite happily sit in it.
Zzzz- we've tried food it works sometimes. We've also tried stickers, toys etc
Poltergoose - I hadn't actually thought of comfort tbh, also the seat you have linked to looks very interesting. Thank you very much, you've given something's to think about.
Needadviceplease1000 - I see what you mean about parking somewhere different to break the cycle, I will think about ways I could try and do that. ( I have 5 dc aged 8,6,5,3,1. And my 2 ds's will both regularly run off or refuse to walk ). His main obsessions at the moment are lining up cars and Scooby doo dvd's, unfortunately neither of which at the moment can be done in the car. I will look into the seat belt locks thank you.

Hi zzzz,
I see like a special car bits bag. I like that idea it could work (smile).
Thanks

Have you looked at Crellig harnesses online? Using one adds a five point harness to your booster seat. They're not cheap but have an option for an escape proof buckle.

Oddly enough, DS2 could undo the 5 point harness seat belt in his carseat and did so regularly. It was driving me to distraction. I happened to notice he was pulling on it regularly in a specific direction and thought maybe it was chafing his skin. We took off the 5 point harness seat belt and moved to the regular shoulder/lap belt over the booster with high back seat, and he's been quite good about that one.

Is it uncomfortable at all? DS2 has huge problems when things rub on his skin, so I think that's what was causing his problem - although he is also a runner/escaper, so I'm sure that contributed as well.

If it's rubbing anywhere, perhaps some type of belt cover in a softer material?

Hi,
I will keep trying your great suggestions. I am beginning to think that he just does not like to be restrained.
Thanks again everyone.