Angel Guard

Have you seen the Angel Guard
http://www.dmartstores.com/ansebebugu.html

I think it would be great when the seats are close together so seatbelted passengers next to them don't unlatch the wrong belt ... which I have had happen.

If you flip the lathchplate 180 degrees, put a sock over the latchplate, put velcro (the sticky side) over the latch, or put a paper towel tube over it you can usually solve those problems.

Honestly, this is an aftermarket product, and even though it might not be a potentially deadly aftermarket product, we don't really know how it would act in a crash.

I used the fleece seat belt covers made for adults... it is just a square that velcros around. So I used it and it worked wonderfully! Never had another issue.

I would worry that EMS wouldnt know what to do with something like that if they had never seen it. A sock or paper cup or something would be more ovbious that they could just pull off.

Or just remind your kids to be careful

I like the looks of that!

I would worry that it might be in the way if I had to unbuckle really quickly in an emergency... I don't know, I'm just paranoid like that!! LOL

I know you're not supposed to put aftermarket attachments on the seat .. but this doesn't seem to interfere with or attach to the seat at all. It just covers the belt, and I guess push came to shove, the EMS could cut the belt off, I assume they do that quite often. However, I like your ideas .. they sound cheaper! I think I will try an old sock.

A paramedic told me the other day that she cuts the seatbelt to get someone out whenever she has time. That way the used seatbelts will be replaced. I guess that's her personal soapbox.

pj2rc said:

I know you're not supposed to put aftermarket attachments on the seat .. but this doesn't seem to interfere with or attach to the seat at all. It just covers the belt, and I guess push came to shove, the EMS could cut the belt off, I assume they do that quite often. However, I like your ideas .. they sound cheaper! I think I will try an old sock.

Click to expand...

There's also the potential of needing to quickly remove your child's seat in an emergency and being unable to (or a good samaritan not being able to), or not properly latching the seat in (if the buckle somehow got caught up in the "guard", giving a false sense of security). Or it could just confuse a first responder for a moment, and that moment could really matter.

CelticLabyrinth said:

If you flip the lathchplate 180 degrees, put a sock over the latchplate, put velcro (the sticky side) over the latch, or put a paper towel tube over it you can usually solve those problems.

Honestly, this is an aftermarket product, and even though it might not be a potentially deadly aftermarket product, we don't really know how it would act in a crash.

Click to expand...

Imagine I took that sock & velcro, packaged it up, and sold it at Babies R Us for $15. Would we say it's an aftermarket product and not recommend it?

I don't like the Angel Guard and I would never use it. I did have a sock over my buckle but it bugged me that I couldn't also visually check the buckle when I tugged on it so it gave me less peace of mind but I do agree that a sock or paper cup is a much better option.

2mykids said:

Imagine I took that sock & velcro, packaged it up, and sold it at Babies R Us for $15. Would we say it's an aftermarket product and not recommend it?

Click to expand...

Absolutely I would say it's an aftermarket product. I also say that a toilet paper tube is an aftermarket product, and don't recommend it. Then again, twisting the belt is allowed up to three twists, but only as many as are necessary to get a secure install. So if you give your female buckle an extra half twist to hide the button, and it wasn't necessary to get the seat tight, technically that's wrong to do. Also, having the button on the inside could confuse a first responder (professional or good Samaritan) for that critical moment, or nearly completely obstruct its use. For example, having the button on the inside with the TrueFit in my car is a bad idea. I did it once, and it took me about 5 minutes to weasel my finger in there and press the button.

When there's a situation with no clear-cut answers, it's the parent's decision about what to do. The parent has to weigh the risks of a potentially unbuckled seatbelt from the passenger next to the seat, versus adding an aftermarket product or giving an unnecessary half-twist to the buckle.

In my car, with the Radian, I did an extra half twist of the buckle. It was not only passengers that I needed to worry about, but DD liked to kick the buckle and I was afraid she would release it herself. After the aforementioned incident with the TrueFit, I realized that the TF is too wide for anyone to sit next to in my car, and DD can't reach the buckle, so I left it on the outside. I had initially hidden it on the inside out of habit, because that's what I did with the Radian.

An individual on another board thought this was the greatest invention so that her 3 year old couldn't unbuckle his booster. For that reason alone I wish they didn't sell stuff like this.