teaching kids to unbuckle?

NannyMom

Well-known member
When do you start teaching your child to unbuckle the harness? Sofi is 3 and is just now starting to put her arms in and buckle the chest clip. But a friend's DS is the same age, and can unbuckle himself from his MA. I don't think I want Sofi to know how until she's FF. I'd hate for her to be angry, and unbuckle and me not know it :eek:
 
ADS

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
When they're capable of doing it without too much frustration and capable of understanding that they do it ONLY when you tell them to. That age will be different based on the kid.

My son figured it out on his own at 3, but he knew to NEVER EVER EVER unbuckle until I said so because it was dangerous otherwise. He has never unbuckled inappropriately. And he's a pretty impulsive kid, but good about car-safety stuff. (I wonder why? :whistle:)
 

Chameleon

New member
Dallas started when he was 3 also. The first time he realized he could do it, I took that as my opportunity to teach him that he only unbuckles when I say it is safe to do so. We have never had a problem with unbuckling inappropriately. He is a pro now with unbuckling and buckling his harness which is great for the car line.
 

andre149

New member
I think it's kid by kid... when they're capable of physically doing so and mature enough to understand when it's appropriate/not appropriate to do so I would be comfortable with it.
 

rachelandtyke

Well-known member
I would be OK with my DD unbuckling herself now, but she'd not physically strong enough yet. She still can only do up the chest clip when she gets in, but not the crotch straps, and she can't undo either.
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
I don't think ds ever even attempted to unbuckle his MA. Now he's in a GN and he can't do it. Even I find that buckle a little tricky. We have a small car, so I just reach back and unlatch it before he jumps out.
 

fyrfightermomma

New member
We're in the process of trying to bribe Evelyn into doing it :whistle:

It's so hard to buckle and unbuckle her in the 3rd row of our cars and she can pretty much buckle herself now (the GN is the easiest for her) and she's halfway there with undoing the GN, but not even close in the YS.

She is behind by about a year developmentally so she's about a 3 1/2 year old with fine/gross motor skills

Sophia is a little over 3 and isn't even close with either buckling or unbuckling.
 

2BunniesMommy

Well-known member
I would love for Libby to learn. She can get her GN chest clip open, but the buckle on it and everything on her FN are too hard for her. She knows it all needs to stay buckled until the car is off and I would trust her 100% to keep them that way. Allison...from what I can tell now, I do not think I will want her to know how when she is 4. I don't think I will be able to trust her not to unbuckle when the car is moving for a long time. She is trying to learn, so I am hoping she doesn't figure it out.
 

Adventuredad

New member
I tried to involve my kids in buckling and unbuckling very early. It was done with supervision and my kids are taught to never unbuckle seat belt unless I ask them to or they have asked for permission. I trust them completely with this.

This was explained to them very early and it was very easy to make them understand not to unbuckle the harness. My daughter could buckle herself in her RF Britax Hi-Way at age 3 but it's very tough to unbuckle.
 

Pixels

New member
DD buckles her own chest clip. I distract her with that (she likes to do it) while I do the rest, if she's being obstreperous about getting in the seat. Sometimes she attempts to put her arms in the straps or dig out the crotch strap, but not usually. It's much faster for me to do it for her.

She can't unbuckle anything, and like OP, I'm not ready for her to learn yet. She doesn't understand "now you can, later you can't" yet. If I tell her it's okay to do it when we're parked, she will do it when we're driving. She takes her own arms out of the straps after she's unbuckled.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Ok, Sofi won't be learning anytime soon. With her personality, I could totally see her being angry, not wanting to go somewhere, and unbuckling. I think we'll just stick to learning to buckle now.
 

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