Tips for Car Seat Escape Artists

Your child has become Houdini in the car, you are already likely familiar with the safety concern, frustration, and daily difficulty that this can cause. Children who discover the ability to unbuckle their car seat harness or seat belt are a challenge unlike any other. Here are some tips to prevent car seat escape from our Child Passenger Safety Technician to get you back on the road safely. We need to consider the reasoning – finding the right cause will likely lead us to our most fitting solution.

Attention Seeking

Bobby thinks it’s funny for mom to get flustered when she’s driving. He repeatedly unbuckles his seat belt from his booster and laughs, waiting for a loud reaction.

Solution: Stop the increase in attention. Use consistent, simple responses. Stop the car and calmly tell Bobby to re-buckle (or help him to do so) and give it no other positive or negative attention. Be extra mindful of your wording here. Asking “can you please put your buckle on?” leaves an opening for him to simply say, “nope!” and spiral into a power struggle. Instead, try a statement. “That is not safe, please buckle your seat” or “that is not safe, I’m going to help you buckle”.

Solution: Have a conversation about why it is important to stay buckled in the car. Sometimes, a fireman or police officer may be willing to help you with this if you ask ahead of time. Set consistent boundaries and talk through them with your child if they are able to understand. Example: “We’re headed to the park to play. I need you to stay buckled so we can get there safely.” The expectation: we stay buckled, car moves; we unbuckle, car stops. The longer it takes to get there, the less time there is to play (or make it to the birthday party on time, or get to Grandma’s in time for dinner). Natural consequences can go far.

Discomfort

Discomfort is an important consideration to not skip over, though one that is often missed. Check that your child’s car seat fits them properly. Our CPST can help with this for free if you have questions. Harness straps that are too low, too tight, or incorrectly positioned can leave toddlers just wanting to escape and be comfy. Consider their recline, crotch buckle, and belt positioning.

Solution: Ask your child if something hurts, and schedule a car seat check to work out the problems.

Solution: Look through your manual for anything you may have missed.

They are Practicing Car Seat Escape Skills

Sometimes, kids discover they can do something, such as escape, and want to keep trying:

Solution: Make a sticker or reward chart to motivate making a more positive choice in the car. Each safe ride gets a sticker, price, race car, whatever works for you!

Solution: Wear mittens or gloves that make it harder to push down or open a harness clip or access a seat belt fastener.

Solution: Button Up Shirt Trick – put your child in a button up shirt, harness the straps appropriately, and button over the top. A reminder for our fellow Montanan’s, snow gear and puffy jackets are NOT safe for the car and you should not use them in this fashion.

Sensory Tips for Car Seat Escape

In our clinic, we often have children who are refusing standard car seats due to sensory needs or differences. They may not like that a harness has to be pulled tight, leading to an unsafe sit; or not be able to handle sitting still well enough to graduate into a booster, but they’re past the weight or height limits from a harnessed seat.

Solution: Schedule a free seat check with a CPST, or talk to your occupational therapist. Some supports may include: a special toy or fidget that stays in the car to keep their attention while moving, having a safe snack in the car to keep us busy, or at times, a special show or song playlist. A weighted lap pad may help calm a busy body.

What if These Tips Don’t Work?

If these tips to prevent car seat escape aren’t enough, it may be time to consideration a special or adaptive car seat. Or, consider a standard car seat with different features than your own. We have options of adapted vests or seats with buckle locks if our development does not allow us to work through these escape behaviors in a successful manner. A few safe options you could consider:

• Evenflo Seats with Sensor Safe Buckles. This chest clip is generally harder to move up and down, as well as open for small hands. An alert will sound, notifying parents if the chest clip becomes unbuckled.
• Maxi-Cosi Seat with Magnetic Chest Clip: Another seat that can be harder for small hands to disrupt.
• EZ-ON Adjustable Vest
• RideSafer Travel Vest
• Roosevelt Special Needs Seat with Chest Clip and/or Buckle Guard

Driving with a loose harness, adding additional padding that did not come with your seat, or using zip ties or gadgets off of Amazon are NOT a crash tested solution and should be avoided. There are better ways to keep you child safe in the car. Let’s work together to keep you moving safely again.