[eclipse]

DS (27 months) is rear facing in a Marathon. It is installed with a shoulder belt that only locks at the car wall when pulled taut in a fast stop situation. Well, he just figured out that he can stretch his foot out, loop it into the shoulder belt, pull the belt to his hands, and then feed it in and out of the wall. Although his seat stays steady when he does this (because it has a lock off), I assume that if we were in an accident when he was messing with it, it could be dangerous (because it could interfere with the belt's locking mechanism). I don't know what to do! I can't move him to a lap belt only situation, because the only seat in the car with only a lap belt is the middle of the third row, which would make getting him in and out impossible while rear facing. He's not very verbal, so asking him to stop has little affect, and he doesn't really care if I stop the van because he's playing with it. Add that to the fact that I have NO IDEA how long he's been doing this, because his seat is installed behind the driver seat, so i usually can't even see him while we're driving - I have no idea what to do! I don't think he'd be able to reach the belt if I turned him forward facing, but I really don't want to do that - He's only about 33 inches and 25 lbs sopping wet. Has anyone had this problem? Ideas on how to fix it?

 

[TurboClaudia]

does that seat have LATCH anchors that you could install the seat to those instead of a belt? you don't mention how old the van is... our 3.5 year old is also fascinated with pulling the seat belt out, but his seat is still installed on the LATCH anchors so it's not an issue.<br><br>
hope a tech has some more insight for you...<br><br>
~claudia

 

[Jes'sBeth]

Are you using a locking clip? That should hold the seat in properly.<br><br>
My FIL has those seat belts and they drive me bonkers. It was virtually impossible to get our marathon in properly rear facing. Forward facing, no problem but the locking clip would pop open sometimes rear racing. I was never really happy with it. In fact, when she was 13 months (she was over 20 lbs) I installed the seat forward facing in his van because I could get a good, safe install forward facing and I was just not comfortable with the way the seat installed rear facing.<br><br>
I'd call Britax and find out what they recommend.<br><br>
If there are no suggestiong... I'd duct tape the seat belt edges down to the seat so he can get his foot behind it!

 

[eclipse]

There's no LATCH in the van - it's a 99 Ford Windstar. I think the 2000s had LATCH <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad">. We actually have a aftermarket locking clip on the seatbelt, because the one that comes with the Marathon is impossible to get/keep locked rearfacing. I know you aren't supposed to do that, but I couldn't come up with another solution. I thought about duct taping the seatbelt, but I wasn't sure if that would be a problem in an accident. I hate hate HATE these seat belts.

 

[keriberry]

I love, love, LOVE these seatbelts!<br>
I have a 99 Winstar and you don't need a locking clip. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up"> This van has locking latchplates...play with it to see how it works...buckle it and try to pull up on just the lapbelt portion. It won't budge if the shoulder belt is parallel to the latchplate. These are super easy to install seats with. Just buckle the Marathon, push down on the seat and pull all the slack out of the lapbelt. Release. That's it. The shoulder belt remains loose and will lock in a crash. So, take off that annoying locking clip! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> Also, do you have it tethered RFing? There is a hook on the back of the front seat to tether to. (If the seats are power it won't be there.)<br><br>
I'm not sure how to keep the shoulder belt from baby. That's trickier. Although in an accident, I think he would just let go of it and it would snap back into place. The shoulderbelt doesn't matter for your RFing seat. The lapbelt will be holding the seat in place. I'd be more worried about him getting it around his neck. Have you considered a soft, lightweight mirror to keep an eye on him? Maybe asking him to let go and passing him a soft toy would break the habit? Good luck!

 

[an_aurora]

In this situation, because your vehicle has lightweight locking latchplates, I would not worry about the shoulder belt functioning in a crash. It would lock to protect an adult in the seatbelt, but since you don't need that function, I wouldn't worry about it. Does the seatbelt feed into the retractor directly, or does it go upwards, route over a bar, and then travel into the rectractor down near the floor of the vehicle? If it is the latter, I would take a paperclip and clip the two parts of the belt together, so your DS can't reach it. If your belt goes directly into the retractor towards the celing of the car, I'd take the shoulder portion, pull it parallel to the lap portion, and paperclip it down out of the way. In a crash, the paper clip will fly off and the belt will lock.