[bblost]

My daughter learnt a new trick.
Getting her hands out of the harness belts.

At less than 2 years, she has no concept of fear and I am feeling a little lost.
Any advice would be most welcome.

[gandalf]

Originally Posted by bblost

My daughter learnt a new trick.
Getting her hands out of the harness belts.

At less than 2 years, she has no concept of fear and I am feeling a little lost.
Any advice would be most welcome.

Tighten the belts. they are able to pull out because the belts are not tight enough. if it is tightened they wont be able to come out of the belts.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by gandalf

Tighten the belts. they are able to pull out because the belts are not tight enough. if it is tightened they wont be able to come out of the belts.

Belts are tight. Any tighter and I would not be able to buckle her in. She has figured out how to twist and turn and get out of the belts.

[ACM]

Faced the same issue with my kid, the solution was to tighten the belts further, a bit of love and a bit of negotiation like stopping by the side of the road with the AC off till the kid agrees to put the belt back on. The degree of problem would vary between car seat models. The kid tends to figure out the escape route for models he/she is close to the age and wt limit of. In older kids the (more than 15/17kgs) wt only a booser seat is provided with used the existing 2 or 3 point seat belts of the car itself.

But yes I guess for most seats if the kid indeed figures out how to get out of a belt strap that is not much one can do. I guess since this would be like the racing harness type belt the kid would still remain fixed to the base of the seat due to the two lower arms.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by ACM

But yes I guess for most seats if the kid indeed figures out how to get out of a belt strap that is not much one can do. I guess since this would be like the racing harness type belt the kid would still remain fixed to the base of the seat due to the two lower arms.

Yes its a 5 point harness. Her lower body is still within the belts. She managed to get her arms free.

Negotiating with my daughter is a lot of fun, for her.

Is it safe to have a kid in the front seat?
In case I have 3 adult passengers, its easier for me to fit them on the rear seats together.
But 2 adults and 1 child seat don't fit in together.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by bblost

Is it safe to have a kid in the front seat?
In case I have 3 adult passengers, its easier for me to fit them on the rear seats together.
But 2 adults and 1 child seat don't fit in together.

I believe its not really recommended, especially with forward facing childseat. But if you have to, do make sure that you are turning off the passenger-side airbag.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by bblost

Is it safe to have a kid in the front seat?
In case I have 3 adult passengers, its easier for me to fit them on the rear seats together.
But 2 adults and 1 child seat don't fit in together.

Nope 2 adults + child in the rear bench is still the way to go. I manage this the Laura and the Aria but cannot do it in the i10. In smaller cars if one has to accomodate 2 + child in rear seat it is easier if the car seat is placed on the side (preferably behind the driver with child lock enabled on the door and windows.)

Originally Posted by vb-san

I believe its not really recommended, especially with forward facing childseat. But if you have to, do make sure that you are turning off the passenger-side airbag.

Yep one should turn off the passenger-side airbag - but this is not possible in all vehicles. So with you on that..

But NO it is absolutely NOT recommended with rear facing childseat (smaller children) - the child would be pushed towards the seat in the event of an accident irrespective of there being an airbag which would make it more dangerous. Seating a child in the front seat is more acceptable if it is in a forward facing seat but even this is not recommended till the child is minimum of 15 kgs plus (about 4/5 years old) (using booster seat 15-22kgs with car seatbelt itself or without booster seat beyond 6 years and about 22-25 kgs).

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

That should not be the case. Is this how it is indicated in the manual? Try to put both straps over the back of the seat such that the top one goes in the hole provided for securing and the bottom one goes across the bottom of the car seat. The seat belt in the rear should normally extend that far.

Yes, this is how it is designed. It is not possible to put both the straps behind. Also, the guys in mom&me told that it is not advised to put both the straps behind the child seat.

Originally Posted by vb-san

I believe its not really recommended, especially with forward facing childseat. But if you have to, do make sure that you are turning off the passenger-side airbag.

Originally Posted by ACM

Yep one should turn off the passenger-side airbag - but this is not possible in all vehicles. So with you on that..

Is it possible to turn off the airbag in Swift/Dzire(prev gen)? I will try to check in the manual as well.

[navin]

Originally Posted by ACM

(preferably behind the driver with child lock enabled on the door and windows.)

Actually, in my view, the best place would be the rear seat DIAGONALLY behind the driver as this allows the driver to view and talk to the child in the rear view mirror. This is more true if the driver is a mother/father (alone with child).

Originally Posted by bblost

Yes its a 5 point harness. Her lower body is still within the belts. She managed to get her arms free.
Negotiating with my daughter is a lot of fun, for her.

Is her chest and torso still withing the confines of the seat belts?

Negotiating is highly over rated. If you guys are going some place she likes to go tell her you will turn back if she does not behave and then if she challenges this actually do turn back. Children learn fast if you can execute the punishments you threaten them with.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Negotiating is highly over rated.

Yep. This is one situation in which I believe in absolute power!

Many youngsters are used to some sort of rcoker or chair in which theymay even be strapped, in the house. The concept can be easily extended to the car. It's their chair: make them feel privileged to have a special seat! Also, start young, from the very first days baby is in the car. That way it will always be normal for them. Of course, they should see the adults wearing their belts too.

Well, I'm unlikely now to ever be the father of a small child --- but my idea would be to look for an inside/outside product for the early months: baby's special chair.

Anyway, too old now (or more appropriately, Mrs G is) so this is all theoretical, except in that I would not carry any child in my car without a proper seat. That means I'm never going to be giving a lift to my step-grandson, so I suppose it is not so theoretical after all. So far, the situation has not arisen, but I think the family is aware that I am a stickler on this.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Yep. This is one situation in which I believe in absolute power!

Many youngsters are used to some sort of rcoker or chair in which theymay even be strapped, in the house. The concept can be easily extended to the car. It's their chair: make them feel privileged to have a special seat! Also, start young, from the very first days baby is in the car. That way it will always be normal for them. Of course, they should see the adults wearing their belts too.

My son has seen everyone in papa's car wearing a seat belt. He believes that he needs to be belted in too, so over a period of 6 months (he is now 1yr 9mths) he has completely accepted that this is the way we ride in a car.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by bblost

Yes its a 5 point harness. Her lower body is still within the belts. She managed to get her arms free.

In my case the seat had a clip on the belts that holds the belts together when buckled. This prevents any her from slipping her arms out of the belts. If you don't have one, I advise you to device a way where you can hold the belts together near the chest. It will definitely help.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

My son has seen everyone in papa's car wearing a seat belt. He believes that he needs to be belted in too, so over a period of 6 months (he is now 1yr 9mths) he has completely accepted that this is the way we ride in a car.

Same in my daughter's case. Here in Singapore seat belts are mandatory for all passengers. Now she is on vacation in Kerala, and I hear that is having a horrid time in asking everyone to belt up while traveling with her. Unfortunately her fellow passengers (my sister, mom etc.) think of it as silly comments from a 4 year old. But the good thing is, she don't give up so easily

[ACM]

Originally Posted by navin

Actually, in my view, the best place would be the rear seat DIAGONALLY behind the driver as this allows the driver to view and talk to the child in the rear view mirror. This is more true if the driver is a mother/father (alone with child).

A few points to ponder on.

1) My suggestion of kid being placed on child seat pertains to the mentioned specific situation of having 1 or 2 adults accompanying him in the rear seat. As then the adults have to get in from the passenger side and not the driver side. One is not supposed to use the driver side door rear door on main roads except the driver of course.

2) in cars like the Aria and a few others the access to rear last third row seat is only from the passenger side diagonally opp the driver. So one can't keep the car seat in that location if one wishes to use the last row.

3) In cars without child lock facility on windows besides the doors the middle row becomes safest. My kid likes to fiddle with the windows and so I have to keep them disabled as it is quite risky.

4) Mother care from shoppers stop and Mon and me from mahindra retail have a child rear view mirror that one can fix onto the sun visors or windscreen glass. I have fixed one of those in the Aria it can be seen in the konkan experience snaps on Aria thread. It is panaromic and let's the driver see the passenger seated behind him without having to fiddle with or disturb the inside rear view mirror.

5) My kid prefers the middle seat over the ones on the side due to the better view from the front and is hence easier to handle over there.

[amk_2009]

While searching for options I found this one - http://dx.com/p/car-safety-seat-for-children-93063

I believe primary objective to have child seat is to have correct seat belt mechanism and this seat seems to achieve it. Only missing thing here I see is additional padding that is available with common child seats.

If there is no safety compromise with this seat, I think it is a very good alternative for common and more expensive child seats.