Can too tight be harmful?

JerseyGirl'sMama

New member
DD is 4.75 years old and rides harnessed in a ProSport. The last couple of weeks she has been driving me bonkers with her incessant 'it's not tight enough! I can move around!!' bit. She grabs the adjuster strap and wrenches on it while seated. She does it almost the entire ride. I've tried warnings and loosing privileges, distractions like watching movies in the car, playing 'I spy,' etc. I've also explained to her how I check to make sure her harness is tightened properly and assured her she is safe. It doesn't matter.

I understand she could be influenced by the great emphasis I put on car safety, but it seems she is more upset that she can wiggle her hips around a tad in her seat than concerned she isn't safe.

She wants me to physically tighten the harness until it won't tighten any more. This is like 3-4 clicks past proper tightness. She doesn't complain about it hurting her.

So what wanting to know is 1.) Is this safe? and 2.) do you have any other ideas for stoping this behavior? I'm going bonkers.
 
ADS

Brigala

CPST Instructor
The only reason I've ever heard for not over-tightening is because it makes the child uncomfortable... If there's a safety concern I'm not aware of it.

I know that's not terribly useful... hopefully someone else will know for sure.
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
Unless she's cutting off circulation, she's fine. :) She won't tighten it to the point of discomfort, so I'd allow her to tighten it as much as she likes.
 

bnsnyde

New member
My son does the same thing with his Prosport. Weird!
And yeah, we really go all out with car safety so I get where HE gets it from, lol.
We keep the harnesses pretty darn tight on all the kids. Probably too tight, I suppose. Not that there seems to be any harm.

Maybe something about the Prosport is really easy to yank and tighten. He seems to love doing this but won't do so with his Radian (well, maybe b/c that thing won't tighten easily. He could not do it; I can barely do it, especially once buckled).
 

TiaxMarie

New member
My daughter is riding in a ProSport and does the same thing. She says it never feels tight enough. I'm not worried about her breaking it because she's a child and not really that strong.
 

JujuMama

New member
Could you use some small pillows or blanket to pad around her hips (outside of the harness, of course) to make her feel more secure? I'm envisioning something similar to how you use a rolled blanket for head support with an infant.
 

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