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what to do when child can loosen car seat buckles?

smitt2619smitt2619
in Pre-School and Daycare
My 4.5yo has figured out how to loosen his car seat buckles.  We have the graco nautilus with the 5pt harness.  What do I do?  Any way to stop him?  What is the safety risk?  Should I get him a car seat that uses the regular belt? 
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Re: what to do when child can loosen car seat buckles?

  • UsedToBeGoldieUsedToBeGoldie member

    at 4.5yo you should be having a talk about why he needs to keep it on, safety, etc.

    My son is 4.5 and knows how to buckle and unbuckle the whole thing- but would NEVER take it off when we are driving, etc.... He actually would tell me if I forgot to buckle him (back when he couldnl't do it himself) b/c he will not let me drive if he's not buckled - he knows the risks and dangers...

    and how much trouble he'd be in if he did take it off when he shouldn't...

    I used to be Goldie_locks_5 but the new nest is so screwed up that I was forced to start over.
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  • smitt2619smitt2619
    When we got back in the car again tonight, we had another chat about it before leaving, and I think he understood the severity of it.  When we pulled over to the side of the road earlier, I think that scared him a bit, and then with the long discussion tonight, I hope he's being to understand.  He hopefully knows the only time it is okay to loosen it is when we are done driving.  We'll just have to keep having the discussion as long as we need to.   
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  • karleegirlkarleegirl member
    I make an official announcement when we can undo aeatbelts. Then another when we can open the door. I do it kind of like a train conductor so ds2 thinks it's funny. He undid his buckle once while driving, and my freak out scared him a lot. We had a long talk about it.
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  • April37April37
    DD used to push down the chest clip and take her arms out of her harness straps.  She hated being strapped into a 5 pt harness.  At first I would talk to her about safety and pull over to the side of the road and refuse to drive until she got back in her harness. After a few weeks, I moved her to a booster seat.  Wow, what a difference!  She's happy as a clam and never tries to get out of the seat belt.  I figure having her properly belted in a booster is WAY safer than having her in a 5 pt harness but not strapped in properly.
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  • MirandaHobbesMirandaHobbes member
    I just wanted to add the my son with autism has been doing this. Explaining him about why we don't take it off doesn't work. So in a blind rage (because he did it on the freeway and I couldn't pull over) I told him "the policeman's going to come if you don't put your belt back on!!!" He hasn't taken it off since and always reminds me to put my belt on so the policeman doesn't pull us over. I love it.
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