car advice please....... DS taken to throwing himself out!

[shey]

I so need advice on cars! DS is now, on a daily basis, undoing the door (deactivating child lock), undoing seat belt and climbing out of car. This usually taked place, not when car is stationary but when travelling at 30 miles +.....We need a car which has a full proof child lock system. Any ideas..................

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I thought that most child locks were activited inside the door as described by tmk so there must be lots of cars that have that system (never seen any other!). I've had to put DS in the back since he started opening the door but he is safe there (the seat belt is another matter...). We also have a car with 3 rows of seats and kids generally love the special back row but neither of mine do. It would be worth a try if its an ongoing problem and I think Zafira is a popular choice on Motability, I know a few people who have them and love them.

I've never heard of being able to operate the child locks without opening the door first from the outside but then all my cars have been a bit old so maybe the newer ones have a different system?
I was wondering if you could keep your ds in the centre of the back seat so that he wouldn't be able to reach the doors to undo them. My ds has a Houdini Harness because he can get out of normal seatbelts very quickly and then climbs all round the car - very dangerous!(He's also been known to open the window and throw out his new shoes). Ours does up at the front with a special buckle that is difficult for children to undo but you can also get ones that fasten up behind the seat I believe (which would be very awkward I know but if it's a matter of safety..) for real escape artists. Our OT got ours for us but it came from Crelling Harnesses if that's any help. The harness is used in conjunction with the car seatbelt, not instead of by the way.

I would think it would be better (and cheaper!) to change the seatbelt arrangements than the car because at least then you can still take your ds in other cars if you need to.

Thanks so much for your ideas. I have aged about 50 yrs in this last term as his Houdini tactics are usually saved for school runs. I will follow up you ideas...thanks

not a very good child lock if child can undo it

sorry that sounded sarcastic but i was having a dig at car makersno one else

We've used the crelling harness with our pupils at school but if you have one that only does up at the back of the seat then you have to be careful where you place the child. It is fine on minibuses, cars with middle rows of seats and the front seat because if there was an emergency you could instantly undo it. If you can only get to the back of the seat through the bus then this could be rather dangerous as you could not undo it in a hurry. Having said that they are great!

My harness was sent with a special cutter for getting ds out quickly in an emergency. I've got it in the pocket on the back of the seat in front of him but I've been trying to think of some way of letting other people know it's there. I'm frightened of just hanging it up in full view in case ds gets hold of it. I think I might get some velcro and see if I can attach it to the parcel shelf.

We have a scenic - similar to a zafira. Ds1 sits in the back row- the only problem is with him launching himself into the front seats from there. Would afree about crelling harness. Give them a ring- they're very friendly.