My son is 22 months old, 34 lbs, 36 inches in height. I am currently using my older son's old Britax Marathon car seat which by the way is 5 years old, so I think I need to replace this seat due to its age; however, my little guy wiggles out of the car seat straps on his own. I've tried everything with this kid to tell him not to get out of it and I have numerous times adjusted the straps, nothing seems to work. He loves a challenge. My older son stayed in the Britax until he was four years old, but he never got out of it on his own. My older son has a booster seat where the car belt goes across his chest. I'm not sure if for my little guy is ready for this type of seat. I know that some of the booster seats are weight/height appropriate for him, but I'm hesistant for some reason. What do you think?
Thanks. I will not put him in a booster. Off we go to Babies R Us for a new seat.
When my kids try to get out of the seat, I immediately pull over or off the highway and give them a strict tongue lashing. If it happens more than once and you are headed to something that he is excited about I would pull over get it back on and then take him home. You might have to miss out on some stuff, be late, and disapoint others, but teaching him to stay safe is the most important part.
No, a belt-positioning booster is not a safe choice for him yet. He's not even two, and he cannot sit responsibly in a five-point harness. In order to sit in a belt-positioning booster, he needs to be able to sit reliably with the seat belt positioned properly- not leaning over or falling asleep and sliding out of it, much less wiggling out of it on purpose.
You need to find a five-point harness solution that he will stay in properly.
Frankly, I would keep him in a 5 point harness as long as possible.
I realize it is a rare event, but check out this video on You Tube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgCcqkEufFc
Their son was secured in a booster seat, yet the car seatbelt failed, and both the boy and the booster seat were ejected.
The recommendation now is to keep them in a 5 point harness as long as possible... there are many other stories of children in booster seats being killed in accidents.
At 22 months, he really is not ready for a booster seat.
They just passed new recommendations that a child stay in a rear facing 5pt harness until 2! I agree - too soon for your son to move to a booster. I'd get a new 5 pt harness. We have two marathons and I love them - 4.5 year old (for a little longer only in this seat for height reasons) and a 3 year old.
Kids are not supposed to move to a belt-positioning booster until a MINIMUM of age 4 or beyond. If you read age limits on booster seats, he won't quality, even though he might for size. 2 or 3 year-olds don't have the mental awareness to sit in boosters. My choice for my own kids is that they will stay in 5 point-harnesses until probably age 8, so I have bought boosters with 5 point-harnesses (Britax Frontier 85), which they start only once they have outgrown their convertible seats (Britax Boulevard). If your old seat is 5 years-old, check the sticker, it may be expired anyway. They only last about 6 years from date of manufacture. Might be time for a new seat.
At Babies R Us, they sell the clips that snap together that they can't get out of in the car seat section (end of aisle at my store). So if he hasn't hit weight/height limit, that could extend it a bit before purchasing a new seat. I would also keep him rear facing as long as possible, so if that is a factor, a new seat has higher weight/height limits. I love my Radian XTSL for that purpose, but have a Britax Diplomat in the other car. The Britax is a bit easier to adjust.
My daughter is 7 years old and 45 pounds and is still in a 5-point harness. She uses the Britax Frontier seat that is a booster type seat that uses a 5-point harness and then later you can switch and use the car's seat belt with it.
Actually, the pediatrian told us a couple of months ago that as a child gets older/bigger the 5 point-harness does become UNsafe because a child's bigger body can actually break the harness. I'll have to check with her again regarding what size she actually is talking about, but I believe she this isn't until about 60 pounds and that for my daughter to remain in a 5-point harness is the safest for now.
It's just their age to not want to sit still and strapped in! I would stop the car, buckle her back in, and go home if possible when she did that. Or give her something like a book, snack, etc to distract her long enough to get where we needed to go. Check the expiration on your marathon, I think it's seven years? We still use the marathon and can for a long time with our big and tall 3.5 year old. Our six year old just recently outgrew it! She has the britax frontier, harnesses to 85lbs then uses the car seatbelt to 120lbs. Five point harness is always safest for as long as possible! Check them out at babies r us, we considered the nautilus for a second seat in our other car but after having the britax we aren't. There are always good deals at albeebaby.com and new in box items on eBay!
It is definitely safer to keep your little guy in a seat with a 5 pt. harness. You can find many boosters, including one's from Britax, that have them. It is recommended to at least 60 lbs. I have the Safety 1st Apex 65 Booster Car Seat that I have trouble getting the latch undone, so I am sure my son would be hard pressed to get it open! Any kid can be Houdini and get his little arms up and out of the straps, so it will be difficult to find one that is escape proof! A regular seat belt is waaay easier to release and get out of, though, so I think you are still better off with a booster with a 5pt. harness. Good luck!
Check your state laws. Alot of the laws have changed and most children can't be in boosters at that age any longer. I would check out a newer 5 point harness car seat and let him test it out also. Sometimes the kids aren't comfortable in the older ones as strange as that sounds.
My sil had problems with her son unbuckling the car seat at a young age. They took one of those shoulder pads, the ones that people use for infants so that the seat belt doesn't dig into the baby's neck, they put that over the buckle and sewed it together. It was a little tougher for them to bucket the seat belt, but impossible for the kid to do so.
Good luck, that must be frustrating and scary.
I see you've already had a lot of replies and know what you want to do so I just want to mention that some local fire stations and/or hospitals will install a car seat for you and they'll tell you if the one you're using is too old or unsafe. I had our fire department install one before our 3rd child was born and I learned A LOT. I wished I had known that stuff when I installed the other childrens'! Thank God nothing ever happened.
A 22 month old, even if by size meets the minimum requirements, is not ready to be in a booster seat. If he is coming out of a harness car seat, there is nothing to keep him in a booster and it is not safe for him. He should be at LEAST 3 (but should be older).
Car seats do have expiration dates but I think it is 7 years after manufacture (either the manufacture or expiration date is on the carseat). I don't remember for sure what the timeframe is but you can check w/ the manufacturer to be sure.
If you need to get him another car seat because it has expired or because you need a better one for him, please don't make it a booster seat.
When my kids were little the Massachusetts law required kids to be both 5 years old AND over 40 pounds before they could go in a belt positioning booster. A 5 point harness is very difficult to get out of. I would go to a good store and ask for advice since laws and mounting methods have changes since my kids were in car seats (all cars now have those clips on the rear deck and I believe there is a whole new restraint system in new cars where carseats clip into things where the seatback and backrest come together. 10 years ago you just put the seatbelt through the back of the carseat.)
Five point restraint is definitely the safest. DS is 5 and we just got two Graco Nautilus seats. They can be used with the 5 point harness until he is 65 lbs and as a booster (high or low back) until he is 100 lbs. They are also $137, about 1/2 the price of the Britax Marathon. Or you could just replace your Marathon - it's also good up to 65 lbs.
