Restraint popped open! What do I do?

Polola0628 · Mar 11, 2009

We have a cosco scenera. DDs coat was a little on the puffy side but It wasnt really bursting tight tight, just secure. I was looking at her and playing, when all of a sudden, POP! It came apart (this is the top chest restraint)

Has anyone heard of this happening?

What should I do?

What will the company do if I call them/email them about it?

TIA

Pixels · Mar 11, 2009

I think it was tighter than you think it was. First of all, coats aren't a good thing in the car because they interfere with getting the harness tight enough. In a crash, all that puffiness will compress down, leaving the harness loose, possibly loose enough to eject your child.

Chest clips are known as pre-crash positioners. This means that they don't have to take any of the crash forces. Their job is to make sure that the harness is in the proper position at the moment of impact. Chest clips will often pop open, or slide down, during a crash.

Leave the coat off in the car. If you want, you can put it back on backwards, after the child has been buckled. If the chest clip pops again, then I'd look further into it.

Polola0628 · Mar 17, 2009

Thanks so much- we usually take the coat off in the car seat because the harness doesn't seem to fit right as you stated... Not sure why we didn't take it off in this instance, but what you say makes sense. We are getting a different car seat either way, I'm not happy with the Scenera and the difficulty of adjusting the straps and uncomfy lack of cushioning since we tend to do lots of driving in one day to keep trips at minimum. Thanks so much again!