How Do I Keep My 4 Year Old from Unbuckling His Seat Belt?

When my son's did that I would pull over as soon as I could and take them out and swat their behind and told them what they were doing was dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with Tori, tell him if he unclicks his seat belt again when you're driving, you're going to put him back in the "baby seat" with a 5 point harness.

If that doesn't work, maybe place a call to your police station, see if you can "stop by" one day to have a chat with a not so friendly police man who will tell your son what will happen to him if they catch him taking it off while you're driving. ;)

When my son used to unbuckle, I'd hit the brakes. Not enough to hurt him, but enough for him to slip from his seat some...my 4 year old is a big boy...so he can handle it. I've also popped his leg for it too. This is a safety issue...not a "honey it will be okay" issue.

Or...you can put him back in a 5point harness.

Is he in a booster or 5-point harness? If he's in a booster, then maybe go back to the other. If he's still in a regular car seat then I can only offer some advice from Love and Logic. They say that when your child does that to immediately pull over and stop the car. Park or wait on the shoulder of the road (obviously someplace safe) until your child puts his belt back on . They also encourage using the "energy drain" technique during this time which basically means telling your child that you get an energy drain when he does behaviors such as these and you won't have the energy to drive the car again until he does the right thing. I've used this technique with other things and it works very well.

I second Heidi M's decision and totally agree with it.

My daughter did the same thing, I ended up taking her to the Police Station and an Officer talked to her about car safety. She never did it again

Funny thing...that happened to me with my 3yo nephew in the back today. After we stopped and buckled it back up and fussed at him, the whole rest of the way he rode with his hand right on the orange button just to aggervate us...like threatening he was gonna do it. If he was mine.....I would wope him...no joke. But he is the one that has never been punished for anything!!!!!

What do "I" do when this happens? I stop the car, get out, swat his hiney, sit him down, in his face I tell him that he is going to wear his seat belt the right way or he will lose the privilege of riding in the car for 1 day.

Each and every time he opens the belt I stop, get out, swat his hiney, put him back in his seat. If it continues on the same trip he may get more than one swat. His safety is the most important thing.

Then you can be sure that he is there ready to go on all the "extra" trips I make while he is grounded from the vehicle. I can make 2-3 trips to Walmart in one day without really getting anything. It is to show him what he is missing out on.

This only took one or two times for our guy to figure out he wanted to stay buckled. He occasionally does it but now me pulling over and stopping has him hurriedly getting back in his seat and buckling up.

I always joke about being the "evil Mama," but not really serious about it. Why I call myself that is because I tell my son like it is and don't hold back on discusting nasty little details. The great thing about it is that I don't have to worry about disipline. When my son was little, he only removed his seatbelt once. I told him everything about why you don't remove it, before I put it back on him so he didn't have a chance to cry first. I told him that Mommy would get an expensive ticket that cost well over $100, so I would no longer be able to afford to by him any more toys to play with....Why shoot, the officer might even decide that I am an unfit mother and take him away! Then I also explained how people love to run stop signs and might hit our car and he would go flying through the window. Then he'd be in a hospital with bland yuky food like cold soft cooked eggs and have needles stuck in his arms... Anyhow, he got the hint. When he started refusing to wash his hands, I explained all about the germs that get under your finger nails. Then I sang the "Lambada" song and had him laughing and singing with while we beat our soapy hands to the rhythm under the water. Yep, I'm an "evil Mama" just like the guy in "DespicableMe."

Is he in a booster seat or harness? If it's a booster seat switch back to the harness. I had to do this with my son when we initially made the switch. He got one warning that if he did it again we were going back home and getting the "baby" (his words) car seat. ANd I followed through, even though it made me late for an appointment. Later, when we went back to the booster he stayed put. My daughter went through a phase when she was escaping out of her car seat (harness) too. She was younger than your son and cops and threats meant nothing to her. I wound up attaching velcro tabs over the button. She didn't like the way it hurt her fingers when she tried to push the button. I don't know if that would deter a four year old, but it may be worth a shot.

I am not sure if talking to the cops would affect my kiddos or not, but it might be worth a shot for your son. But I do know that the first time he missed story time or a play date he had been looking forward to because he was not safely in his seat, that would have made a big impact on my son.

What you can do is purchase a safety buckle to go over the seat belt buckle to deter your son from being able to push down on the mechanism. You also need to make sure he understands why what he is doing is wrong. It doesn't sound as he is necessarily ready to be in a seat belt. In order for him to be ready to do so he needs to sit appropriately and not mess with the buckle.

If he's in a booster, put him back in a five point harness. If he's already in a 5 point harness, then pull over immediately the instant he unbuckles and refuse to drive again until he buckles. You can also create a sticker chart so he gets a sticker for each ride where he doesn't unbuckle. Or take something away every time he does.

Wow I'm surprised at how many people voted for spanking. I would say that many times reinforcement is stronger than punishment. Explain to him why it is dangerous and why he should not do it. Find something that he will find reinforcing and then when he keeps his seat belt buckled he can have the prize. It doesn't have to cost money. It could be a sticker chart and he gets stickers on his chart for staying buckled. Then he can get naturally occurring reinforcement like staying up for an extra 5 minutes, or choosing dessert, or whatever's handy.

I don't know if this would apply to your son or not. My grandson would continue to have melt downs. You couldn't reason with him either when these happened. A lot of times it would be after he was over stimulated. One day we were told he may have sensory processing disorder. We checked into and even found a therapist. It has done wonders! We keep a blanket in the car and he will put this over his head during a meltdown now. Another thing is something weighted to put on his lap has also helped. I hope this helps.

I remember those days like they were yesterday but my son was the one kid that would open the door while I was driving. Imagine a car full of kids all screaming at the top of their lungs because the baby just opened the door and you are moving at 25 miles an hour on a winding road. Scarry stuff.

Yes the swat on the butt works but so does stopping short intentionally. I say stop short first because it will give you a laugh. Tell him I told you this could happen now put your seat belt back on. If he does it again definitely go for the swat.

My son is 17 now and we have different driving the car stuff. If I could turn back time I probably would.