[BoneCollector]

Thanks to my elder brother, my niece was conditioned to sit in a child seat when she was around 5-6 months. Since then, she has been in a child seat almost always unless they're in a cab or some other vehicle. When she outgrew that seat, it was passed on to my son and he started sitting in the seat for mainly highway runs. For city runs, he was always in rear seat with someone. He has never been allowed on the front seat. Later, he was shifted to another seat which uses the car's seatbelt.

He has seen his sister (my niece) in a car seat always. So he was comfortable using it for himself. Plus he has also been told why car seats are important for children. He has been through a major rear ending accident when he was in his seat and he did not feel anything. I feel that if one explains the correct reasons for using the seatbelt in a car to children, they grasp it better and inculcate that habit.

His old car seat, Graco. It had its own seatbelts.


The new Britax Roamer.






The owner's manual of the seat.

[mayankk]

The car doesn't move until the belts are on. Works.
Of course, the background being that my kid was brought up in a car seat. He's such a bhpian now that he'll point out kids standing out of sunroofs, that it's unsafe. Never even asked to do the same in his own car.

[lemedico]

I've had my fair share of children, and adults who couldn't be bothered buckling-up.
You know what worked better than verbal requests? Emergency braking. Twice if it didn't do the job the first time round!

[enj0y_ride]

Thanks for the countless suggestions and quite excited to see a vast majority not compromising on safety. It inspired me a lot.

Updates from my side

Last night I went ahead with the "police idea" telling them that police called me saying they watched a camera feed with me carrying kids without seatbelts and that unless I keep them strapped, they will take the car ( My kids love the car and I was sure they will be worried about it ). I thought it worked. In few minutes, they came back and said they have seen many cars on road with children not wearing seatbelts and I that I am fooling them.

As suggested by many, I was not ready to compromise this time. I decided to switch to facts and showed them some youtube videos of what will happen if they are not wearing seatbelts and then made a point that "We are not going anywhere without them wearing seatbelts". Though they were unhappy about it at night, looks like it worked.

Today morning, after they got into the car , I just went ahead and strapped them ( no booster seats though , I think they are almost there ). I didnt say anything to convince them. To my surprise, no tantrums - it seemed as if they came in terms with it.

Like many of you pointed out, the problem wasn't actually with kids. Its just that I compromised on it. I think, they are smart enough to understand what's right and only if we compromise on it, they take advantage. Anyways, no backing off on this any more - seatbelt stays if the car needs to move !!!.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Not sure what are the ages of your kids now, there is some natural resistance that comes when they are 3-4 years old. Needs to be quickly and firmly handled (keeping aside the parental love and immediate gratification for that and thinking of the greater good-Definitely not easy). Once they get used to being unbelted and have got away with it, difficult to bring back the habit.

So my advice is, if you want your kids belted, do not compromise on it at all.

Originally Posted by clevermax

Succumbing to the child's unwillingness - this has to be avoided at all costs.

If my kids aren't ready to buckle up or be in the child seat, they are not going anywhere in my car as simple as that.

Originally Posted by saket77

Sometimes when my 6 year old daughter throws tantrum in buckling up, which is rare, I just tell her that police will catch you and take you away
This does the trick. However, 99.9% of the time she gets in to the car, she buckles up without me telling her to do so.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Just be strict about it. Tell them, the car won't move until they're buckled up / in the car seat. They'll throw a tantrum once, be angry twice, the third time, they'll listen. Our job is to parent them and wearing seat-belts is non-negotiable so let's parent them right.

Originally Posted by Bhargav7

1. Refusing to start until she buckles up. Kids understand the consequences better than we think - this usually works for me.
2. Over a longer distance, kids naturally get cranky and start their tantrums. Having a small break and letting them run around will generally buy me an extra hour of buckling up.

Originally Posted by Axe77

Its non - negotiable: period!
Initially I was strict about it but now its habit for him. I simply remind him now if he doesn’t put it on immediately and he’ll promptly buckle up when told once.

Originally Posted by Rohan265

The problem is not the kids. It's usually the adults.

Children tend to emulate adults. If they see an adult not wearing a belt, they will feel wronged and tend to rebel. You can coax/bribe/force the kids to use the belt/booster seat, but the results will be short term and the kids will use every opportunity to not wear a belt when you are not present.

My suggestion would be to be strict with the adults on wearing belts whenever they are traveling with the children. The same applies to helmets too.
.

Originally Posted by mayankk

The car doesn't move until the belts are on. Works.

[Axe77]

@Enjoyride:

One thing I didn’t mention earlier. I think its better to empower them with “why” safety is important rather than trick them (of course this is nuanced and could be different for different ages). If they get mentally tuned to being safety conscious it will hopefully reflect in other aspects of their car usage as well and will be a “habit” and style of thinking.

Today, my son is far more aware and genuinely accepting of safety related measures than many other adults in our household. Its inculcated early, and firmly. I see the same thing with many young adult riders who’ve taken on to motorcycling as a serious passion following their dads. They are really responsible riders both in terms of riding style and safety kit. Its rooted by example as well as by training from young.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by subhro1988

This is a very pertinent thread given the lack of information on these aspects in the internet. The problem I am facing is different. My son is 5 years old and he is ok with wearing a seat belt. But the upper belt strap goes across his throat, which is uncomfortable and so he is using it like a lap belt where the upper portion goes behind him and thus the safety is compromised. Is there any way this can be addressed?

Another problem I face is that when he feels sleepy, he just lies down in the back seat with the belt across the lap still on. I think the seat belt pillow suggested by few Bhpians above should address this issue.

For a 5 year old kid it is recommended to have a proper car seat with a 5 point seat belt. Only after 7 years or so (usually), can a booster seat be used with adult seatbelts. Apologies for being blunt, but using the seat belt as a lap belt will not help much in case of unforeseen circumstances

[Rohan265]

Originally Posted by enj0y_ride

I just went ahead and strapped them ( no booster seats though , I think they are almost there )

Good to know that you made progress. Ensure that all adults in the family also adhere to the same rules.

Also, try to get the booster seats soon. The belt position in the photo looks both unsafe and uncomfortable.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

For a 5 year old kid it is recommended to have a proper car seat with a 5 point seat belt. Only after 7 years or so (usually), can a booster seat be used with adult seatbelts.

Depends on how tall the kid is. My son outgrew the highest setting of 5-point harness around 6, it became too tight for him. We used the same seat (ours is a combination seat) as a highback booster and buckled him with the 3-point seat belt.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by clevermax

If my kids aren't ready to buckle up or be in the child seat, they are not going anywhere in my car as simple as that.
.

Likewise here too. No Buckle, No go. Heck I even make sure the Dog is buckled up before driving if he is traveling with us.

Both wife and I insist on buckling up before driving and have done so since the beginning. Daughter is 6.5 now but the habit is there for life. She has never resisted.

[Ram22693]

My son is 15 months old today and I make it a point to always have him on the car seat no matter how short the duration of the drive is. Today is a landmark day because it was the first time he did a front and back journey of 1:30 hours without whining or crying while on the seat.

Driving had become a bit of pain with him stressing himself out on the seat to go back to his mother, which resulted in the mother sitting in the backseat with him, which was a compromise. Hopefully, we can have more such days ahead as today.

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by Ram22693

My son is 15 months old today and I make it a point to always have him on the car seat no matter how short the duration of the drive is. Today is a landmark day because it was the first time he did a front and back journey of 1:30 hours without whining or crying while on the seat.

Driving had become a bit of pain with him stressing himself out on the seat to go back to his mother, which resulted in the mother sitting in the backseat with him, which was a compromise. Hopefully, we can have more such days ahead as today.

Yes, you will have such days don't worry. Somewhere along the line, for the child it clicks and then they don't fight the car seat anymore. Happened to me as well when for the first 2 years she would randomly throw tantrums but then after one day, peace prevailed

[Mechb63]

I am speaking out of an experience of my own.

Kids are pretty observant of their surroundings, in my childhood I never saw adults sit in a car without a seatbelt and that is a practice I picked on and has stuck with me. I never saw not wearing a seatbelt as an option, simple as that.

So I guess the best way to make sure your kids buckle up is by ensuring everyone around them does and explaining the significance of wearing it to them.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

Simple, I brought my daughters home from the Maternity Ward, buckled in an age and weight appropriate child seat.

You got child seats in India back in 1999? Even today in 2022, I find good quality certified seats hard to get.

One has to cough up to the tune of 30K INR. I just suck it up, and think of it as a long term investment and buy.

The situation is tad better now than the previous decade, Chicco has a store in 3 major cities. Earlier buying online or buying abroad was the only option.

Remember responsible parents raise responsible kids!

Amen!

Originally Posted by enj0y_ride

Updates from my side

Wonderful!

You may want to consider adding a backless booster atleast for your daughter. She is a touch short for the seat belt, and she might not like on longer runs. You can consider adding something like this which can cushion the neck from belt.

[samyakmodi]

My 9 year old daughter never travelled without her car seat from the day she was born. Now since she has outgrown the car seat - she never sits in any car without buckling herself in.
My 1 year old son also has always been using his car seat (this time ISOfix) and usually never has a problem sitting in it. For him buckling up means - he is going for a joy ride!!

Only problem with his ISOfix car seat is - we can't really use that seat in other's cars which doesn't have the ISOfix mounts.

[samyakmodi]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

Educated people ride with their kids unbuckled on their laps in the front seats, even driver's seats. Educated people let their kids pop out of sunroofs as they drive down promenades, sea sides and dangerous hilly roads.

Remember responsible parents raise responsible kids!

You mean literate people and not educated people. There is a difference - right?