DS tried to strangle himself in DH's car.
DH drives a 2000 Dodge Stratus. The belts lock at the plate, not at the shoulder. DH said while he was driving yesterday, he heard a choking noise, looked back, and DS had pulled the shoulder belt out of the wall and wrapped it around his neck and was strangling
How the hell do we keep him from doing that? He's forward facing, and the crs is obviously seatbelt installed.
I have just been wondering about the same kind of thing. I just shuffled carseats about a week ago, as DD moved out of the infant seat into a convertible. In the process, DS#2 (33 months) got moved outboard in both vehicles. In our 1990 car, the belts don't lock at all, so his MA is installed using the lockoff, and the shoulder belt portion is loose. He is still RF, and can reach the loose shoulder belt, and likes to pull it out and play with it. So far no scary choking incidents, but the hazard may be there -- I'll have to check whether there is enough slack in the belt for that to happen.
I had thought of putting a stitch or two of thread through the belt to hold it lightly at the belt guide up near the ceiling. However, on second thought I have some qualms about this, as I am not 100% sure this wouldn't interfere with function of the belt in a crash. I'm sure the stitching would rip easily, and wouldn't damage the belt, and wouldn't fly around to injure anyone the way a locking clip could. But, maybe it would slow down the belt travel just enough to interfere with quick locking somehow? I plan to look further into how the belts are activated in our vehicle -- if it is done with an accelerometer somewhere in the vehicle near the belt retractor, then the stitching idea is probably OK; if it is done by the speed that the retractor mechanism itself spins as the belt tries to deploy, then I'm reluctant to do anything that interferes with belt travel, since accident forces are so unintuitive. I would definitely not put loose shoulder belt behind a FF seat when the seat is installed with the seatbelt (as in your situation), since that puts the belt in the wrong position to work properly in an accident.
Maybe this would be an application for a heavy duty locking clip (if you can't find another solution)? My understanding is that the heavy duty clips are actually made to withstand accident forces, and then one could perhaps safely tuck the unused shoulder belt away somewhere? Just a thought; hopefully an experienced tech can comment....
I had been planning to get a mirror anyway with my son, for other reasons; this is sort of the last straw, and I will definitely be getting a lightweight mirror as soon as I can find one.
I also have some concern that if DS keeps playing with the shoulder belt, he will follow it down to the lockoff, and start fiddling with that, and possibly open it. This child is fascinated with mechanical stuff and motor tasks in general; if he can feel the lockoff, he will sure try to operate it. I'll have to see if his hands can reach down that far.
Katrin