My son is 2 1/2 and has found out how to get out of hie Britax Marathon carseat while I'm driving. How do I handle this? Does anyone know of another carseat that is "child proof"?
I was driving on 270 when it happened, and I did pull over immediately. I don't agree with spanking, but I did, and he just laughed at me. But I was very firm with my tone and explained to him how dangerous it is for him to do that. I bought a Britax because it is known as one of the safest carseats available, so I am hesitant to change the straps around. However, I called Britax and they are going to send me a "training tool". It is suppose to help with this issue. I'll let you know if it works.
I don't know how the car seat is assembled, but would truning the buckles around so they are backward work? I'm thinking the crotch strap so that the button to push is against his body and not as easily accessible. Maybe check with the local fire department. Since they do inspections on them, maybe they would know how to prevent this situation.
My friend flipped the part with the button over on her seat. Still latches but her son was unable to get it open. Heck, I was unable to get it open. Not sure if you can do this with your seat.
Well to be honest I did what a lot of people would find a bit shocking. While driving down a side street, I noticed that my son had yet again unbuckled himself. I slammed on the brakes tossing him to the floor. He was unhurt, I was only going about 10 mph, but he was really freaked out and Never did it again (he is now 9). Sometimes they need to be shown how dangerous not wearing a seatbelt can be. He was about 3yrs old at the time.
we have a costco carseat in my husbands car and we can't even unbuckle it without getting frustrated... my almost 3 year old can't do it either. it's not too pricey either, so you can just get it for a few weeks until he understands the importance of staying in.
Turn the buckle between his legs around, and snap it with the release button on the inside. Should keep him busy for awhile. ;)
It wasn't easy but I learned how to turn the latches around so they were behind my child's seat and he couldn't get to them.
I had the same problem w/ my son who is 3. It was so bad at one point I was driving down the expressway and I heard "Hi Mommy" and he was standing up between the seat with a huge smile on his face. I got off the expressway, got out of the car and got in his face and made sure he knew it was not ok to EVER get out of his seat. I might have scared him but it worked and we haven't had the issue since. If your son wants to get out he will doesn't matter what kind of seat you have. Make it clear to him that he is not to get out.
We had this problem with my daughter in every car seat she had. What finally worked for us was safety pinning the straps together instead of using the little plastic slider, and the car seat we had we could fasten the buckles upside down so the button was against her pants. She couldn't see it to get it undone.
My twins are now 8yo so I've not had to deal with that for sometime now and I'm not even sure what carseats there are, but if you don't find another kind, you've got to make him understand this is not ok. I don't agree with the other responses saying to do this or that to the seat belts to fix it so they can't undo them. Sorry that is the easy way out and it's the totally unsafe way. Their seat belts need to be done the way they are made to be done for safety reasons. What if you "turn them around backwards" or "safety pin it" and then you're in a wreck and something happens to your child, you'd never forgive yourself. While your driving if and when he does this you pull over immediately, no matter where you are or what you're doing. You've got to pull over tell him this is not ok and you're not going to start driving again until he does it back up and leaves it alone. This is just like anything else, he's got to know that this behavior is unacceptable and you've got to be consistent and firm about it.
