Question Disabled / Athritis sufferer about to have baby, can't use most car seat buttons - suggest a seat

I've got a problem that I didn't think was that unusual but after wasting hours online searching I'm at a loss...

I'm 34 and I have a version of Rheumatoid Arthritis. While I can drive (my current car is a 6 speed manual) and function in just about every aspect of life I've discovered car seats are my latest nemesis. Specifically, the buttons on car seats that release the harness/buckles require a great deal of pressure...far more than I can must with my thumbs. What are those rated at 200 PSI? I'm a grown male, I can build a fence, I carry scuba-tanks and all my gear on my back to the oceans and yet these blasted baby seats are making me feel like a monkey with a lighter.

I need an infant car seat (I'll be dropping the boy off at grandma's every day before work) that ideally has a button/trigger mechanism that requires the same level of effort as your average car seatbelt mechanism. Combi's Zeus seems to offer such a buckle (of course that's not an infant carrier but one problem at a time). Is that the only manufacturer with a normal button?

Any suggestions for an infant car seat (or carrier) has either a normal buckle or a low effort button?

Babies R Us has nothing to offer; their staff shrugs at me. I guess I'm just not supposed to care for my kid or so their corporate stares of confusion convey I've contacted manufacturers, the arthritis foundation, you name it...apparently I'm the only male with arthritis to ever to father a child in the early 21st century. Weird. 200 years ago i would have been burned to death as a witch's son (I really may be) but my baby could ride in a cart simply swaddled. Today, put him in the Cooper without a car seat and I'm considered evil anyway.

Cost is not an issue. If it's european/asian/martian, I'll get it shipped here. If it must be custom-made, I'll get the design done up. Seriously, I'll gladly drop 2-3-4k for a carseat if it means I get ease of use (and hopefully can keep my Cooper s).

I've never encountered something I can't defeat. Until the babyseat. Help me, my fragile ego is breaking and I'm on the verge of just making an employee transport my kid every day while I watch on with a mix of envy and malice.

Good for you for looking for a safe solution! Motor vehicles are the number 1 cause of death in American children, and child safety seats significantly reduce that risk!

Unfortunately for you, US safety standards for child restraints require that the buckle must use a certain amount of force to unlatch. Further, buckles that are designed to be easier for someone like you are easier for young toddlers to open while the vehicle is in motion, so companies have moved away from those designs.

What about using a tool to unlatch the buckle? I'm thinking of maybe a handle that's thick enough to be easy to grip with a narrower end that can easily trigger the button.

I know someone on here mentioned using a spoon to help push the button. The first thing I thought of when you mentioned not being able to push a button, was the buckles on the Graco safe seats. Instead of having to push towards the child's tummy, you push it down. I found them to be a lot easier to open. I am trying to find a picture of one and can't find one! I know there are some on here though!

My mom also has arthritis. We had the Graco Safeseat (rear faces to 30 lbs) which is a infant only seat (the carrier type). Like PP said, you pushed the button down instead of in. Once she figured it out, she had no problems.

Same with our Graco Nautilus that has the same buckle. No problems there. It's worth stopping at a store to check out.

Good luck!

My mom has RA (that usually means Roundabout here) but I mean Rheumatiod Arthritis. The only seat she was able to do was the Graco Safe Seat. She can do my Britax Marathon, but require a tool......some kind of scrapbooking tool that is basically like a plastic plyer.......she uses it to pinch the buckle. A spoon may work, and pushing toward the child in that seat shouldn't be as bad since there is a crotch pad but I wouldn't call it ideal.

The Graco Nautilus is another one you push down which may help. You may not be able to rear face as long if you do the SafeSeat (30 lbs RF) followed by a Nautilus, but any seat is way better than no seat.

Kudos to you for being so involved!

I remember hearing the spoon trick.

And I agree that the buckle on the Graco SafeSeat1 may be worth a try since it has a ledge you push down rather than a button you push in. You might be able to get your fingers more involved than your thumb.

And more kudos to you for looking for a safe solution. Not all parents think that way.

Susan

I can empathize, I have a disability with my arms/hands and I do not have thumbs. I don't have any problem applying pressure to release the button, but i always made sure i released it BEFORE loosening the harness, otherwise it was a challenge. We used a chicco keyfit infant seat and now he's in a roundabout. I second the suggestions of using a tool for pushing the button. I'm no car seat guru so I don't have any suggestions for which seat is easier. Good luck in your search :thumbsup:

My great aunt loosens the harness, puts her hand under the buckle, and then uses her other hand to push a screwdriver (backwards) into the red part

sunnymw said:

My great aunt loosens the harness, puts her hand under the buckle, and then uses her other hand to push a screwdriver (backwards) into the red part

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I think it's much easier to do if you don't loosen the harness first, that way you have the tension to help release it when you push the red button.

Another vote for either a Graco SafeSeat 1 or finding a tool to work.

I have RA also. I love my Nautilus (same button as the SS1) because I *can* use my fingers instead of my thumbs to pull the button downward instead of pushing in.

I also trained myself to use my fingers on an inward pushing buckle (thumb behind, pincher in with my index and middle finger).

It takes work - but you'll figure it out soon enough Another thing that helps is to work on your hand muscles if you don't already do PT. Grab a tennis or raquetball and squeeze away.

One other note - a sling may become your best friend. Carrying an infant carseat by the handle can be very painful for people with joint problems. Learn to carry it on your hip like a laundry basket OR remove baby and put him/her in a sling.

brooklynsmommy said:

Graco safe seats. Instead of having to push towards the child's tummy, you push it down.

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These have indeed been easier for my parents with nerve damage & severe arthritis :thumbsup:

We've gone through the gambit with my parents trying to find an easy solution so they could keep my DD harnessed (specifically back when she was 3-4 years old) but we were all too nervous about using any kind of tool to more or less pry the buckle apart Mostly because of the chance of hurting kiddo....

What did work for a while was for them to have easy to loosen harness straps. They would just flip the lever & pull the straps all the way loose each time to get kiddo out without unbuckling, then yankyankyank to retighten when kiddo got in. Seems this could be easy enough for newborns & was a bit amusing when my kid was in the ME DO IT stage Just more time consuming than normal. Eventually the yanking got to be too much for them as they can no longer pinch to hold very thin objects.

Good luck & CONGRATS

AlisonR80 said:

I think it's much easier to do if you don't loosen the harness first, that way you have the tension to help release it when you push the red button.

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Depends on the seat. My Nautilus is actually easier to unbuckle when there is less tension on the harness.

What about some kind of nylon covered pliers? Does it work better if you can use your whole hand instead of a finger/thumb?



you could attach them in a pouch to the side/base of the car seat with velcro so they aren't a dangerous projectile in a crash.

Nisha said:

you could attach them in a pouch to the side/base of the car seat with velcro so they aren't a dangerous projectile in a crash.

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Velcro isn't reliable enough to hold during a crash :twocents: But, storing it on the floor, under the vehicle seat if possible should still be easy & safe.

papooses said:

Velcro isn't reliable enough to hold during a crash :twocents: But, storing it on the floor, under the vehicle seat if possible should still be easy & safe.

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Thanks for that bit of info - I didn't really think of how strong it would hold!

I don't have anything to offer, but your posting made me comment. It's obvious how frustrated you are, but with humor in such a frustrating time, & such a commitment on your part, you baby is one lucky guy. A committed dad who's funny? Kudos to you!

Good luck on your search....I know you got some great advice here.

Oh, & forgive me if I neglect to tell my dh that you have a Cooper. He is lusting after one & I keep bringing up the lack of room in the backseat as an issue. I'm gonna keep your story on the downlow.

I have RA. The car seat was one of the most frustrating things I encountered when I began to have children. I ended up going to multiple baby stores and trying every car seat they had. The buckle was only the beginning of my frustration and pain. Make sure you also try out the mechanism to release the seat from the base, the mechanism to put the handle up/down and the harness adjusters. Some of those are worse than the buckle. A pp mentioned carrying the seat- I put it in the crook/bend of my arm/elbow to carry it. I have my baby in a Roundabout now. I don't have any issues with that buckle.

ali's mom said:

I have RA. The car seat was one of the most frustrating things I encountered when I began to have children. I ended up going to multiple baby stores and trying every car seat they had. The buckle was only the beginning of my frustration and pain. Make sure you also try out the mechanism to release the seat from the base, the mechanism to put the handle up/down and the harness adjusters. Some of those are worse than the buckle. A pp mentioned carrying the seat- I put it in the crook/bend of my arm/elbow to carry it. I have my baby in a Roundabout now. I don't have any issues with that buckle.

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I also had the same issues 10 years ago when I was looking for an infant seat. I could not push in the buttons on both sides of any carriers to put down the handle. My dad ended up removing one, which i'm sure was a big no-no. Luckily nothing bad ever happened as a result, but i wouldn't do that again. So when i was searching for an infant seat for my third child it had to be easy to get off the base, easy to put the handle down...the same things you describe. The chicco keyfit met all of my requirements for ease of use with my disability. It is incredibly easy to use. If there is tension the red release button is not too hard to push, i pushed it with my very small pointer finger since i do not have thumbs. So if you are testing it out in a store I would bring along a baby doll to buckle in so you can simulate what it would be like with tension and see if it's easier to push the button. My hands are weak and small and i can very easily use the keyfit. HTH

The SafeSeat Step 1 is already our number one choice expressly because of the release button's design! The SafeSeat may win but that definitely assures the Cooper's going away as the SafeSeat's a tad unwieldy in the tight confines of the Cooper - we tested it with a load of granite doubling as a baby. The poor substitute baby was traumatized by the event - I can only imagine how my child will view cars if I put him through that hazing daily.

Regarding the jewelry pliers. Last night we tried the Irwin QuickGrip Handi Clamp - boy did that look weird to the folks at the baby store. "Hey, that guy's assaulting all the baby seats!" Regardless, the Irwin device was a tad cumbersome and fragile for the task. The Jewelry Pliers - in fashionable stainless steel - look slimmer and more robust. That could be a winner. Warm up the eBay account, I'm going shopping...

I'll try the spoon and tension method tonight. If we can find it, the Chicco Keyfit gets a second look too.

Thanks again. Your suggestions are all very much appreciated.

The Chicco keyfit is at Babies R Us for sure. Hopefully you can find something that works for you.