Advice for carseat escape artist

marchofemily

Member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #1

So, awesome. My friend has extended RF her younger two kids. Her daughter is 31mo, 24lbs, 34in and so petite. She was in an Evenflo Tribute but was able to get out. Mom has the straps TIGHT and the chest clip perfect. This was a constant problem with Jennifer getting her shoulder straps completely off, and got out of her seat a few times. If not for her older daughters, 8 & 7, she wouldn't know.
So, she bought a True Fit. Same problem and she is beyond frustrated. She is a strict parent that stays on top of things. She calls the harness her 'super straps' and makes it sound so 'cool' to be buckled up. For awhile she FF her because it was so constant and distracting. She has been RF for a few months again and the problem persists. She has had to pull off the interstate to rebuckle her and even on short trips she will have to stop and buckle her again.

Right now we are trying to figure out what to do. Unless there is a solution, she will likely have to FF her so she can catch her before she unbuckles. She also bought a car seat mirror, but she can't watch that all the time or see it in the dark.

 

cookie123

New member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #2

Is the child unbuckling or just pushing down the chest clip and taking off the harness?

 

marchofemily

Member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #3

Sorry, she is pushing down the chest clip and getting out.

 

cookie123

New member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #4

This worked great when Matthew was that age - you could take some toilet paper tubes and reinforce them with duct tape and place them on the harness below the chest clip, making it impossible to push the chest clip down. I just used a pair of harness covers I had - they were actually from the Avenue. They were stiff and just the right size and were the kind you have to string on the harness - no velcro!

 

marchofemily

Member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #5

Awesome! My friend told me that she was very tempted to wrap duct tape around the straps so she can't push it down, but of course we can't do that. Love this idea!

 

cookie123

New member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #6

Good luck. It worked well for me. We were able to take them off after a couple of months and there were no further problems.

 

veggiegirl228

New member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #7

I've heard Velcro also can work

 

marchofemily

Member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #8

What would we do with the velcro?

 

J

jnamommy

New member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #9

Put the velcro on the chest clip, poky side out. Then when the child tries to undo the chest clip, they have to push on the poky velcro.

 

cupcakepirate11

Active member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #10

Have her put a button down shirt on backwards once she is in her seat!

 

marchofemily

Member

• Mar 21, 2012

• #11

Oh, she doesn't open the chest clip, just slides it down.

I don't think the shirt would work, Jennifer is constantly changing her clothes. She would just take it off.

I told my friend about the TP idea and she is going to do that. Hope it works great!

 

marchofemily

Member

• Mar 22, 2012

• #12

Yes, I understand what you mean, she will just take it off. With 4 kids to buckle I'm sure she doesn't want to hassle with a shirt anyway.

I bought some cute penguin duck tape tonight and am going to get the TP rolls all ready. Hoping to get some pics this weekend!

 

soygurl

Active member

• Mar 22, 2012

• #13

Honestly, I really hate the toilet paper roll trick. The chest chip is designed to move down (and/or break) in a crash. Duct taped TP rolls could prevent the chest clip from performing in the way it is intended, possibly causing injuries. :twocents:

I second the shirt idea, but instead of putting the shirt on backwards over the straps (um, I'm pretty sure most kids could get that off with no trouble at all!), put the shirt on her as usual, but leave it unbuttoned. Then after strapping her in, button the shirt up over the harness. If she's capable of undoing buttons, I'd put her in a zip up, and safety pin the top. If it's too warm for additional layers, I grab something cheap at a thrift store, and cut of the arms.