Car Seat Buckle

Take the buckle off and put it back on backwards so only you not him can buckle & unbuckle it. It will still be just as safe even more so because he can't get it open.

You have to get very stern and always pull over the car, so that he knows you'll follow through each time. it only took a few times for my daughter to stop this.

My granddaughter discovered how to unbuckle her belt around this age. Each time I pulled off the road, got out of the car, refastened the belt and told her in very stern tones not to do it again because it wasn't safe for her (and I wanted her to be safe)if it was unbuckled. sometimes I dramatized how sad I would be. I sat quietly and did not say anything else to her especially not in response to anything she said. I only had to pull over a few more times, have her refasten the belt and give the same lecture before she stopped doing it. It did take several times (perhaps as many as 12-15) to get the message across. I also turned off the radio which was usually playing a children's CD.

When she graduated to a booster seat the same thing happened. Then I pulled over and sat in my seat, told her I wanted her to be safe, and waited for her to buckle the belt.

This took a great deal of patience on my part. I wasn't always able to be patient and did express anger sometimes. A couple of times I even got out of the car, locked it and stepped a couple of steps away from the car.

She's 7 now and every once in awhile she unbuckles to get something that fell on the floor. I immediately pull over and wait for her to buckle it again. I remind her that I don't want her to get hurt and she quickly buckles up. Now she asks if she can unbuckle her belt. If it's convenient I pull over so that she can pick up whatever she dropped. Otherwise I tell her to wait until we get to ...(where ever we're headed or to a nearby safe place to stop) She is careful to not drop things. We've had numerous conversations about co-operation.

Little ones don't understand how they can get hurt. When she was a bit older, perhaps 3, I showed her how something in the back seat could fly over the front seat and hit the windshield, using a Kleenex box. She was quite curious and we had a lengthy conversation with her giving examples and my showing her how it could happen. She didn't think she could go over the seat and so I told her to climb over and she saw that she could go over the seat. This included stopping suddenly, going 5 mph, in a clear parking lot and pointing out how her body moved forward. I don't know how much of this she understood but it seemed to help.

I think pulling the car over and stopping it reinforces for the child that this is serious. It's an inconvenience but the only safe way I know of to rebelt the child. I also think that babies enjoy unbuckling the belt because it's something new that they can do. An idea that I didn't try is to give him a belt whith a buckle that clicks and turn unbuckling that belt into a game. You could make one with a foot or so of webbing and the buckle found at a fabric store.

Please don't ever turn to rebuckle his seat. It just takes a second for the scene in front of your car to become hazardous. As a retired police officer I'll tell you that you are taking a greater risk turning to the back of the car than you are to leave his seat belt unfastened until you can pull over. I know it's a hassle. But worth it in the long run.

What I did when my son figured out how to do this - I took an old dish towel, bought some velcro, and made a little cover for the buckle (fastened velcro side in). I would love to have the time to pull over EVERY time he undid the buckle, but I am a single working Mom, and I don't think that my boss would understand me being late to work every day for 'baby buckle issues'.

Marda is right. You've got to pull over and make her fix it, every time.

Marda's response was awesome! I did the same thing, stopped the car (pulled over as soon as possible), whenever my son would unbuckle his top clip. I taught him a bit about safety and it took some time but I showed him that the first thing everyone does when they get in the car is buckle their seat belt. Everyone does it, Mommy, Daddy, and kids. We can't drive unless everyone is buckled in. Therefore we stop when someone is not buckled in. It does work. He is completely capable of undoing his seatbelt and he does not do this anymore. We talked a lot about being safe and what that meant.

We went to a police safety booth at the county fair and a policeman asked my son what is the first thing you do when you get in the car? He did not hesitate to say "Buckle your seat belt!" The officer was so proud!