Seat belt buckle cover?

[m2h]

Hi, we are getting a puppy who will be about a 50lb adult dog. The plan is for him to travel in the third row (passenger side) in our Odyssey, restrained in a sleepypod harness. But my youngest is travelling in a Grow with You on the driver's side...the seat belt buckle is on the dog side of the car seat. Is there a safer way to cover my son's seatbelt buckle so that doggie doesn't step onto the red button loading or unloading or even, if he's long legged, while driving? Also, has anyone used the sleepypod harness? I watched their crash test videos and wondered how much side-to-side movement dog would travel in a collision (esp a side impact); any thoughts? I'm worried about passenger side dog still impacting driver side child with his 50lb body in an accident.

 

[ketchupqueen]

There isn't any approved solution. Some people use a cup or aluminum foil; the ideal would be to switch sides so the dog doesn't have access.

The dog being restrained there shouldn't be any different than an adult passenger riding there in terms of side movement in a crash. Car seats are designed with that kind of thing in mind so I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[m2h]

Thanks for this; glad to hear the side movement shouldn't be any extra distance. Switching sides still puts the buckle on the dog side. My oldest is 11 now, and for 11 years, I've wondered why automakers can't ensure the buckles are toward to outsides of the car seats, between the passenger and the outer wall of the car. Yes all the belts would come from the ceiling (who cares?!), but the damn belt buckles are always right there for the adjacent kid (or now dog) to unbuckle by mistake or on purpose (I have one of those). We did a roadtrip a few years ago where one of two kids kept uninstalling the seat next to them over and over at highway speed.

 

[ketchupqueen]

Ah, I thought you meant they were right next to each other. Unfortunately, there's not really a solution if you can't put the seat center.

 

[MelodyoftheForest]

My puppy unbuckled herself once (3rd row Pacifica), but I don't think you need wo worry about a puppy unbuckling the buckle way on the other side of the 3rd row. My puppy is bigger than yours will ever be, and I don't think she could put the pressure at the correct angle to unbuckle a buckle that far away.