Help! 2 Year Old Escaping from Britax Marathon

Hi S.,
We have the same car seat for both our kids. My daughter is five and has been able to do it since she was two and half or so. She has only unbuckled herself once while driving to pick up something she dropped on the floor. We disciplined immediately and sternly, making sure she knew it was a safety issue. It seemed to work, but I feel for you because it could easily become a chronic problem depending on the kid...I think at two, they just like to be able to do something independently. Unbuckling is more of a problem for us when she's angry and doesn't want to buckle in to go home, etc. That's when she likes to pull the Houdini. Let me know if you find the solution to your problem, though, because my son is almost two and is well on his way to learning how to unclip himself as well.

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Wow! You have a very highly skilled little one! My daughter has 2 Marathons and I can barely get the thing undone!

Please put the Britax chest clip back on your daughters seat, you can't change anything on a carseat. Sorry!

As for the unbuckling, some techs on car-seat.org recommend putting the selfstick velcro (the harder, pointy side, not the soft side) on the buckle releases and the chest clips releases. It won't feel good on her fingers, but you should still be able to unbuckle her without too much pain.

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I dealt with the same thing, and I finally decided to instill a fear into my daughter. I started telling her that if she didn't stay buckled, the policeman was going to stop us and we would get into trouble. And we talked about what could happen to her if we got into a car crash and she wasn't buckled (not in a gruesome way). This worked! But Mine was more like 3 when we did this...so I am not sure about a 2 yr. old. Another idea, would be to give her something to do in the car that would keep her hands busy? An etch-a-sketch? Good luck to you!

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I know you don't want to hear it, but a 2 year old is old enough to be diciplined and to learn to obey.

In the meantime though, install the chest clip backward so the button is pressed up against her chest and not facing outward. Then, twist the crotch strap before buckling (if the design allows) and then she can no longer reach the buttons.

Good luck. My son just turned 2 and is learning the magic of the "red buttons". Don't you think they should make the button blend in more.. like black?

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i would take her and the seat into the carseat inspection place at childrens hospital and make sure she is in it right they may also be able to help out with lots of ideas to help you out. I did that when my twins learned how to get out of their seats turns out i did not have them buckled in tight enough

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Explore the options you have for not taking her in the car. She sounds like a bright young lady. I assume you probably have to transport her to daycare or something like that -- but any other trip -- tell her if she unbuckles again, she can't be in the car for "x" amount of days, trips, times -- whatever can work for you. Check out some of the "Love and Logic" books or tapes. They are wonderful, and they work. It's all about choices and consequences. And it allows you to say "Yes, .... when: ...... Good luck.

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