Question about dropping harnessed kid off at school

Hi! I've read this forum off and on since my kids came to live with me, but I have a new situation that needs another's perspective.

This is the first year I'm going to drop off/pick up my kids every day. I'm not allowed to park then pick them up for security/staffing reasons and they don't want me to exit my vehicle to undo/adjust the harness for my child. I believe that I am allowed to park for drop-off, then walk him up to the building. It's the pick-up that will have restrictions.

We drive a 2010 Caravan and he's in the captain's seat behind me, the driver. He is 4, almost 5, uses a FF Radian65 and it's not the easiest to tighten. I can't imagine trying to lean over the back of my seat and getting enough leverage to get him buckled and the strap tightened correctly.

Any advice from those who've dealt with this scenario?

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Do you have other children in the vehicle, or do you have the option to move him to another seating position? Between now and when school starts, I would work with him on trying to buckle and unbuckle himself. If you don't loosen the harness to let him out, that would save the step of re-tightening when he gets back in. If he can be moved to another position it may be easier for you to step in the back seat to buckle him.

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My older two are in boosters in the 3rd row. I usually have the passenger side 2nd row captain's chair stowed for easy egress. I just tried to reach over to that side and it's not going to work. I'm short, so my arms don't extend far enough and trying to climb over that middle section is painfully difficult...as well as a little embarrassing.

He can sometimes undo the chest latch, but the crotch latch isn't easy to operate. Even most adults have trouble with it when they try to help me.

Darn, it looks like it'll be contortion time every afternoon or change him to passenger side and let the school staff struggle. I don't even know if they are allowed to fasten the harness, probably not.

I guess everyone will get a nice shot of my rear end every day. It's incentive to work out more, if nothing else!

Ew, yeah, that's going to be tough. My kids aren't/weren't able to buckle themselves in a radian when it was already tightened. I think I would switch the seat to the passengers side captains chair because that would be easier for me to turn around and tug on the strap after he buckled it.

And if the harness is still not right? I'd be getting out of the car and they can deal.

We have the Radian seats and we always leave them on the same tightness (nice and snug). It's easy for my 4 and 5-year-olds to buckle alone or even unbuckle.

If picking up, can you move his seat to curbside? That's where my child is for school. Also, in the van it's not (very) difficult to lean over and do buckles in that position, if he needs help.

Why can't you just pull forward out of the pick up line and buckle him up? We do drop off/pick up with our middle DD. She is right behind the driver. We reach back to undo her while in line. The teacher opens the door and she hops out. For pick up, the teacher opens the door while DD climbs into her seat. We pull forward about 20 feet and then get out to finish buckling her.

I know they don't want you getting out during pick up but I can't imagine they would want you holding up the line either to lean back and buckle. I think you will find a good system after the first day.

I replied under my log-in, but since I'm still in the waiting period it needs to by approved. Forgive any duplication.

My 4 yr old can't operate the crotch buckle reliably. We are working on it, though. My Radian is not user friendly unless you've been dealing with it for a while it's even less so tightened, as pointed out by kam1011. I've been experimenting and, so far, contorting myself to reach him on either side isn't great given my short stature and how high I have MY seat up to see over the dash. I'd really like to get out of the car and take care of it instead of giving myself a neck cramp but the way those people drive in the PU/DO circle makes me fear for my life. They pay NO attention.

I guess I have a mental block regarding a moving vehicle and unrestrained kids! I'd have to find an empty spot in the parking lot because of the cramped area and crazy drivers. I wouldn't be surprised if there have been a few accidents given what I've seen in the past when I've dropped one of the older kids off early.

I used to park in front of school on street and undo son and then let him walk in.

If it was a crappy day. I would pull into parking lot pull over, undo him , pull up and let him jump out and then on pick up he would climb in seat and do chest clip and I would pull out of line and to side to get him buckled before leaving parking lot.

auto correct hates me

Can one of your older kids help?

Can you get a seat that easier to buckle?

Um, otherwise, just help your kid buckle in whatever way is most comfortable to you (leaning back, getting out, reaching through the sunroof, etc).

I hate it when schools are built to where it is all crowded for drop off/pick up and they dont' let you park and walk. is he going to the same school your other two go to? If so, don't loosen or tighten, but have one of them unbuckle and buckle him. This would also work even if they don't go to the same school, if your older two get dropped off second and picked up first, but I doubt both would be the case.

babyherder said:

Can one of your older kids help?

Can you get a seat that easier to buckle?

Um, otherwise, just help your kid buckle in whatever way is most comfortable to you (leaning back, getting out, reaching through the sunroof, etc).

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As previously stated, adults have trouble so I hadn't even tried with my older kids. I don't even like to buckle it when it's tightened, LOL. Worth a shot, though. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't want to spend more money since this seat was a little on the expensive side and perfectly usable, otherwise. My frugality is challenged when I consider purchasing a different one when it isn't necessary.

Thanks all, I guess we'll have to see how it goes that first week of school. At least I have some alternatives thanks to your advice.

Are you open to buying a new seat? Maybe take him to a store and have him trying buckling and unbuckling in different seats. My daughter was able to unbuckle and buckle the Nautilus with the old buckle style at 4 years old. She would loosen the straps herself to unbuckle, and then she could buckle and almost tighten it all the way herself. But the Nauti is so easy to tighten, you could probably do that from the front seat easily. I've heard that the new buckles are not so easy. My daughter turned 5 at the end of June, and just started being able to buckle in the Frontier. She can't unbuckle yet. She buckles while the straps are tight, no loosening :thumbsup:

This also why I boostered ds1 during school year.
We're I live the school is in the middle of our section so I just drove to and from school in booster. He could unlatch and buckle himself.

Everywhere else he was still harnessed

auto correct hates me

And be careful. A teacher taking my son out of the vehicle was hit by the car behind us. It was minor.
I since moved him curbside. You are right those carlines are dangerous.
There was even a car accident last year.

And most of the kids are not restrained, even coming off the busy road. They pull up just sitting on their boosters/car seats, ready to run out.

Can you teach them to get in and out without readjusting the harness each time? That's what we do with our FR85.

I've replied, but it must be waiting for a moderator to ok it.

The kids will all be going to the same school, so I'm going to see how the older two do with helping my 4 yr. I'll adjust my seat so that I can get to him and help if necessary...even if everyone gets a free show of the cheeks clothed of course!

They will all exit curbside, those impatient parents who zip out and around the ones dropping off have taught me caution! One of the reasons I like the 2nd row passenger side chair stowed. Egress is simple for the kids.

Oh dear, our car line is tame compared to the scene everyone else is describing. I can see why you are stressing. Our drop off is in a very large church parking lot. When we pull up 20 feet, we are the only car moving. There is no traffic, no pedestrians and no obstacles.

You all have me thinking about new seats, now! hahaha

Currently, we don't have spares for DH's car. We usually switch cars if I go somewhere without kids and his work schedule is such that he's rarely available for transporting them.

So, just in case, I thought I'd put their current seats in his car for emergencies, or just convenience, and get new seats for the Caravan. This is our main family outing vehicle. We often visit friends/relatives who live at least 1-2 hrs away and my 7 and 4 yr olds always fall asleep. In fact, my 7 yr old can hardly stay awake for 10 min trips. My 8 yr old will try to stay awake, but our 12 hr trips to the Midwest to visit family 1-2 times a year will see all of them zonked out. They do not sleep upright unless they have seat support and my 7 yr old tends to slump forward. I've had to get onto my 8 yr old frequently about sitting up straight when I went backless due to being at the max height with the back on. She likes to lean toward the middle and generally move around a lot.

8 yr old is 50" and 55.5 lbs
7 yr old is 45.5" and 42.5 lbs he's a little guy
4 yr old is 41.5" and 41 lbs

I wondering if getting Frontiers for everyone is overkill? I've seen some good prices on ebay, and as long as the manufactured date is recent I'd get quite a bit of use out of all of them. The older two aren't thrilled with being harnessed again but their above habits concern me. In the end, they will be fine with whatever I decide.

One more thing, I'd like seats that don't fit 3 across. On a recent visit, my SIL took the boys in her car using the seatbelt only. This was MINUTES after she assured me that I didn't need to transfer their seats because they would not be going anywhere by car. That an adult would always be at the house with them (which was true) and they wouldn't be driving anywhere (which was false). I'd like the added reason of their seats not fitting in her vehicle to go along with my refusal to leave them with her ever again. My husband's family seems to think that it's legal to use seatbelts only once they are over 40 lbs! When I told them it wasn't, nobody bothered to read the actual law.

What booster do the two older one use? At this point I don't think I would re harness the 7 and 8 yo but if you are open to buying new seats how about boosters that are more supportive? The Vivo has nice head wings that might keep them from slumping. Of course that might be what you have already, but if not try to research boosters with better support. And then get a new harnessed seat for the younger, one that easier to buckle /adjust. A Nautilus with the older buckle would be ideal I think, they were so easy to operate. Or maybe take the kiddo to babiesrus and put him in the frontier to see if he can buckle himself up then you just have to pull on the harness adjuster from your seat. If the frontier is like the other Britax converyibles it will be butter smooth to tighten.

They are basic Evenflo that I bought in 2008 before I knew how big the kids were or ANYTHING about seats, I got what their foster mom was using. I ended up needing to buy harness seats for everyone and RF the kids for quite a while. They will work fine as backless with headrests and infrequent riding in DH's car.

I've looked at the Vivo and Parkway. I'm having a problem with information overload! Also the belt positioners have always bugged me and my 7yr old can't buckle himself in because he locks it every time. Are they easier to work on those boosters?
When I read about the Frontier, I thought I'd be able to hand those down to my younger nieces who range in age from 4yrs-20 months as well as not have to deal with the seat belts for a while.