I have a 2 year old son who is tall for his age (he's 3 ft) and is way too big for an intermediate-toddler carseat and has been using a "big kid" car seat for the past 4 months, where the restraint is the cars own shoulder seatbelt. Up until a few days ago, this was never a problem. Now my son has figured out how to maneuver out of the seatbelt (not unbuckle it, but actually wiggle out of it"). Needless to say, this practically gives me a heart attack, particularly if we happen to be on a highway and I cannot immediately pull over to get him back into his seat. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this? Saying "no" "don't do that" or explaining that he could get a "really big owie" have no effect whatsoever.
Hi E.,
At 2 he should definitely still be in a 5 point harness seat. We have the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite (also sold in an Eddie Bauer version), and my tall son (at age 2, over 3 feet) fits it just fine, with room to grow. Other options include a Graco 5 point harness booster and Britax offers one, too. It is dangerous to have him just in a shoulder harness at this age...his body is just too little to handle the impact of a crash. Good luck!
Sounds like you need to go back to a 5-pt harness type of seat. We used an Apex 65 seat for a while with my daughter. It's a really big seat, so your car has to be big enough to accommodate it, but you can use the 5-pt harness w/LATCH up to 65 pounds. It should work great for a tall 2 year old. We got it at The Right Start, but you're more than welcome to come give ours a try if you want to see how well your son fits in it! :)
I agree with trying to find a seat w/ a 5pt harness big enough for your child. I think Eddie Bauer may make a 5 pt harness booster seat which converts later on down the line. I suppose the only other thing if you have to keep the seat you have is figure out a way to discipline him while on the road. Does he have a favorite blankie / toy, etc? If so, make it his car buddy (or get a new toy for this), but the instant he unbuckles, he looses the toy. Just an idea!
As others have stated, I would use a 5 pint harness car seat. You can turn the bucke backwards, so when you buckle the clips in, the button is facing backwards. I don't believe in the spanking method. It should be very difficult to climb out of a 5 point harness that is snug fitting and with the bucke facing backwards. Good luck.
My son is also really tall! He is 4 now and 4 ft. tall and I just took him out of a 5 point harness system car seat. I really think that they should stay in those till at least 3-4 years old. There are a lot of good car seats out there that fit tall children, so I would keep looking. I read up on this a lot and kids under the age of 4 don;t have bodies strong enough to withstand impact with only a seat belt protecting them! Try this website! http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/Baby_Car_Seats_... Good luck!
hope you get lots of reponses, sweetie.
Love,
Mom
I'm extremely serious about carseat safety and at 2 he should still be in a 5 point harness. My 5 year old is still in a 5 point harness and will stay there until absolutely positively she cannot fit anymore. There are several models out there to accommodate any age. Try these websites, they should help. :)
http://www.kyledavidmiller.org/pages/home/index.htm
http://www.carseatsite.com/recommended_car_seats.htm#Nich...
http://www.elitecarseats.com/Sunshine-Kids-Radian.pro
Hope that helps!
M. Steele, CLD (CBI)
www.artisticbirth.com
My 2 year old and I got in a car accident recently and my Durango was totaled. I have done a lot of research on car seats since (we are OK).....
A child should be in a five point harness until at LEAST 40 pounds. Really as long as possible. I have my son in a Britax regeant now and it is very adjustable for height and will go up to 80 pounds. I have a large vehicle though...
If you don't, another option is this booster with a harness and it eventually converts to just a booster.....we use it for travel becuase it folds and can be taken on a plane as a carry on
http://www.safeguardseat.com/go/index.htm
You need latch and thether for this. THey have some other good seat options, so does Britax.......
These seats may cost more....but if the worse ever does happen...price doesn't matter....
Right Start in Naperville has a lot of these so you can see them for yourself!
Okay, after reading the 5-pt harnesses, I feel like a bad mom. My 6 and 5 year old are in the seats that use the car seat belt, but they do stay in their seats. They use to get out, even in the 5-pt harness car seats and I would yell etc. Did they listen to me? Yeh, of course not. They liked the independence, but they listened to Dora the Explorer. I can't say specifically which shows, but Dora always says something about putting on seat belts "so we can be safe" and now they also do it with lifejackets because Dora likes to be safe. The 5-pt harness is great, but if your child can get out of it, it doesn't matter. Maybe a cartoon character can reinforce safety since they never listen to us.
With our first when we both couldn't figure out anything else and would suddenly have a child behind us putting their hands over our eyes and saying guess who, we bought(as at that time we had no money for a new car seat) a child safety harness, the kind you use when you have a child that is unable to safely walk with you holding a hand and won't stay in a stroller any longer. We used the straps and put them through the part of the chair where the chairs straps go and fastened it in back. Okay I know this is not "safe" as it will probably not hold as well as the designed belts will, but it did do the discipline action that they would stay in the seat. After about 1 week she gave up undoing the regular belt and understood she was there to stay. Not a great way, but it solved our problem.
