Carseat

I stop the car and say we're not going. That has worked for me the few times my son has gotten out. Or talk about "dangerous." Become emotional (sad/mad/scared) to emphasize the seriousness.

My disclaimer: he hasn't done it much. Other might have more useful advice.

Maybe you aren't putting the chest buckle high enough up? It should be at her armpits. Besides that I don't know what to tell you. She's definitely too small for anything else, she needs to stay in a 5 pt. harness.

On Monday give Britax a call, they have a special thing they call a "trainer" or something that helps with this issue...if you explain it to the customer service associate they'll what it is...she's in the right seat for her age (I'm assuming a Marathon, Boulevard, Roundabout or Decathalon) and the harnesses are better than some seats. You're not the first person I've heard of who has a "houdini" child!

B.

Isn't it frustrating? My daughter did the same thing. It did not matter how tight the straps were or how high we slid the clip. We had to stop and rebuckle a few times. It was a frustrating power struggle, but she did learn that we won't drive to her friend's houses without it.

Good luck.

Your two year old is basically exerting her will and explanations are not particularly useful with this age group. I would plan a fun outing with your daughter (hopefully without the 5 year old so he does not feel punished). I feel kids learn the best early on from logical consequences. Tell her we are going _________ (something she really likes), put her in the car seat and start driving. If she gets out, stop the car in a safe place and put her back in and say, "You need to stay in the car seat until we get to ____________." Start driving and if she gets out again say, "We cannot go because you are not in your car seat and it is not safe. We are going home" Do not say anything else, don't yell, don't talk about it anymore, bite your tongue, go straight home and act as if you are continuing with your day as usual. She will probably tantrum and you will wonder if she really understood what happened. Trust me, she did! If she says, "I want to go now" in whatever way she communicates that, say "We will try tomorrow and see if you can stay in your car seat like a big girl." Period. This is not convenient with how life works but just make it your goal for two days to do this even if you have to leave your 5 year old with a friend. I think it will work. Let me know. Good luck and don't feel guilty! Car seats are not a choice and that is that. A.

Hi!
This sounds more like a behavioral issue than a carseat issue. She is in the proper carseat for her size. My son tried to get out once. I immediately pulled over in the first parking lot, got out and went to his seat and told him firmly he is NOT allowed to get out or the police will come because it is against the law and they check. I put him back in the seatbelt(making sure the harness is at his armpits so he can't wiggle out) and we have not had this issue since. He sometimes does ask to be belted in good "so the police doesn't come." He is 2 years old too! Just be clear and consistent!

Good Luck!
L.

I read a post like this a while ago and someone suggested that you take your child to the police station where a friendly but stern police officer will explain that it is the law that children stay buckled into their car seats and that they have special helpers in other cars who look for kids who have unbuckled themselves. These helpers notify the police so that they can pull over the kids' moms and give them tickets. Then the police officer asks the kid to become a helper, too. This is a bad recount of the post, but it was funny and it seemed to work. Good luck!

My daughter did this for a period of time around 2 years of age. I agree that it is a discipline issue. I first tried to solve it with a variety of car seats..she got out of all of them. At the time I didn't think she was old enough to reason with her. I was wrong. After about the 3rd or 4th carseat and extra contraptions on the straps to keep her in place, I started trying the discipline approach. It was the only thing that worked. If she got out of her car seat, I would immediately pull over, put her back in (I was doing that part before) and THEN GO HOME. Every time. And she was put in her room when we got home. Now this put a damper on things that I wanted to get done, but at the same time I really couldn't get anything done anyway with a 2 year old running around the minivan and not staying in her car seat. I tested her with fun things that she ended up missing.. I told her we were going to the zoo, she unbuckled, we went home. Chuck E Cheese same thing. She got the hint after about the third fun thing that she missed out on. We haven't had a problem since.. and now she has even yelled at her little sister for trying to unbuckle herself. I find that amusing!

Call the circus! These days we can all use a little more income! Just kidding...

both my girls did this twice each. Mommy going ballistic and a good spanking solved it for them, but I bet you don't want to try that method. (we were on 355 the first time my dd did it and I was 9 mos pregnant, so I'll use fear and hormones as my excuse)

You can buy another chest clip. Some chest clips can be turned around to make them harder to open. You can get a velcro strap the put that around the harnesses with the fastener against her chest (can't describe that in words).