Thoughts, please

My dd3 is 3yr 3mos old. She has undiagnosed medical needs, varying from things that won't really impact her car seat riding to increasing muscle fatigue, low endurance, sleeping more, etc. She is a slow grower, standing just shy of 36" tall and weighing, on a heavy day, 27lbs. She is still RF, due to concerns over muscle tone issues and her 97%ile head circumference (no bone age xrays have been done, so I'm not sure what "age" her bones would be).

She has, lately, been asking to ride in her big sisters' seats (Regents), and I have not allowed that yet (not even in secondary vehicles..she's still RF full-time in all cars). She has also, on 2 occasions, pushed her chest clip down and pulled her arms through the straps, essentially riding in a lap belt situation. Only once has it happened in my car (a couple of weeks ago), the other time, it happened in my dad's car this weekend. My dd1 (who stayed with her) corrected her on it, and then told my step-mom. My step-mom told dd1 to IGNORE dd3?! When we were told about this (by dd1, not by my dad/stepmom), I commended dd1 for correctly identifying a situation that she *needed* to tell an adult (we're having issues with tattling lately...).

At any rate, any ideas on how to keep this from happening? Straps are tight, the way they should be (pinch test), etc. When it happened in my car, we stopped the car immediately and addressed the situation. However, in another's car (grandparents, etc), I cannot do that. I have also told her that if she is not going to ride in her car seat correctly, then she will not be allowed to go with grandparents' cars. But, I don't know how much of that she really "gets".

This has come to the point of, when our new baby arrives, instead of buying a new seat for the new baby, I would buy a Frontier and turn her FF so I could see her when she's doing this and pass her BLVD down to dd4 (passing the MCP down to newbie). My original plan was to buy a new convertible when my WZ expires, RF to the limits (with my younger 2 dds sizes, they will be RF for years yet, at 3.25 and 22mos, unless we choose to turn them early), and only when none of my children fit RF in the MCP would I buy a FF-only seat (probably a Frontier) for dd3 (unless dd4 actually outgrew a RF seat before dd3).

So, anyway, what do you think? How do you prevent the pushing the chest clip down and pulling arms out of it?

Raechel

I would still keep her rear facing, espcially with the low tone and fatigue. I would worry that a frontier might be too upright for longer car rides. Have you tried button a thin sweater over the harness after you buckle her. I say a sweater because at 3 yrs I am sure she can get a zipper down in no time and snaps is just on good pull. My nearly 3 yr has a hard time with buttons.
But I don't know if this would work in the grandparents car. There is the velcro idea on the chest clip. Are the hugs on the straps in BLVD? If not that might make it harder for her to slip out. And what about distracting her? A new favorite toy she can only play with in the car?

Sweater won't work, we're having issues with the AC in our van....she also seems to be sensitive to the heat (growing issues, ugh).

The velcro trick is possible, but not likely to work for her...

However, we did just recently take the HUGS off her seat. Maybe I'll try putting them back on! Good thinking

Raechel

Evan has always been able to do this, he does this now anytime the van stops in the Radian. I'll stop for like 2 secs somewhere and out the arms come, thankfully not while driving. can you tighten the straps a little more? I always find they could be tightened a little more if I gave a few tugs before buckling the crotch buckle. That might at least make it harder. Give her a small piece of candy or something after each trip where she's been good? A treat after a week of not doing it?

My 3 year old has low tone and is small as well (35.5 in tall and 27ish lbs). He is still RFing because he's able to.

A little different, but my then 8 month old pushed her chest clip down to her belly all the time. My solution (temp cause of weather) was to do what the pp suggested. Put a jacket over the harness. But, it's so freakin hot where I am that it's not a real good solution anymore for us.

About it happening in other people's cars, does your dd1 understand how to correct the problem herself (since your relative didn't seem to care much)? Could she sit by dd3 and try to help her keep the clip where it should be? I don't know how old your kiddos are and if this is an appropriate suggestion or not.