Unbuckled for school drop off

cookier

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:11 pm

My daughter is in an early childhood program at our local school. All kids ages 2-5 get dropped off at one door and older kids go to another, so our carpool line is exclusively little ones. Every day, I see little kids getting into/out of the car on their own. Sometimes I can see them moving around in the car in line. I can’t imagine 2, 3, or even some 4 year olds are getting their own 5 point harnesses unbuckled and buckled, which leads me to believe they’re just not being buckled at all. I know for a fact (untinted windows) that some carpools don’t use seats at all. From what I’ve seen it’s got to be a 50/50 split of people who get out and buckle/unbuckle their kids and people who don’t. Are 50% of people really not buckling their kids properly or is there some trick I’m missing?

amother

Apple

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:17 pm

For some reason, some frum people are not meticulous (far from it) regarding car seat safety.

I see the same laxity with other guidelines (rear facing vs forward facing, how tight the straps need to be, height for different types of car seat vs boosters, and sitting in the front seat).

It is a huge pet peeve of mine. I am by no means anti yeshivish (some would consider me yeshivish myself), but I do see a correlation with this carelessness the more yeshivish people are.

I really really don't get it. Is it a lack of education/awareness? Maybe it's a very high level of bitachon that they think they are beyond following research -based car seat safety rules.

amother

Bottlebrush

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:25 pm

All my kids were able to buckle & unbuckle themselves by the age of 3. It's something we teach them early on, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this. So those kids might very well be buckled and unbuckle by themselves or with the help of an older child. A 5 year old should definitely be able to buckle by themselves already.

amother

Nasturtium

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:25 pm

So many people aren’t careful about car seat safety. I’ve seen people buckle in a two year old without any car seat or booster. Just the regular belt. The first time I saw it I just stared. The kid had fallen asleep in the car and his neck was wrapped in the belt. I never say anything because I’m confident they know the correct way to put kids in the car. The pediatricians are always bringing it up.

amother

Nasturtium

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:28 pm

amother Bottlebrush wrote:

You teach them how to unbuckle the 5 point harness at 3? What if they decide to unbuckle a baby while you’re driving? I wait until I’ve moved them to a booster and then they learn to unbuckle themselves. It’s much easier to unbuckle the regular buckles.

amother

Phlox

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:30 pm

Many of us can unbuckle car seats by leaning in between the 2 front seats. I would expect by age 5 most kids to be able to unbuckle on their own.

Op, there's really no reason for you to concern yourself with how others do things.

amother

Bottlebrush

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:31 pm

amother Nasturtium wrote:

Yes, I teach them how to buckle/unbuckle a 5 point harness. They anyways tantrum that they want to do it on their own and figure it out eventually, so we might as well teach them to it themselves.
Never had a child unbuckle the baby while driving.

amother

Phlox

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:32 pm

amother Nasturtium wrote:

Plenty people do bad things. No need to speculate about others in the drop off lane, & definitely not stereotype.

cookier

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:37 pm

amother Bottlebrush wrote:

For sure a 5 year old, that’s not surprising. Like I said, maybe even a 4 year old. But my 3 year old has nowhere near the hand strength needed to pinch a chest clip or open the red buckle. How do you teach it?

amother

Bottlebrush

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:39 pm

cookier wrote:

I show them where and how to press and to use both hands. The chest clip doesn't require much strength.

singleagain

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:39 pm

UnbuckleMe Car Seat Buckle Release Tool - As Seen on Shark Tank - Makes it Easy to Unbuckle a Child's Car Seat - Easy Tool for Parents, Grandparents & Older Children (1 Pack, Aqua) https://a.co/d/hevIaUJ

There's also this unbuckle me tool that I remember seeing on shark tank could be some parents are using that

amother

Leaf

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:43 pm

amother Phlox wrote:

Disagree so strongly my head is hurting from banging it against a wall.

amother

Molasses

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:47 pm

I can reach behind me and unbuckle the children sitting behind me. Also older siblings can also help out and unbuckle seatbelts. The most annoying part is either all the kids climb through the front or I have to get out to open the door which is childlocked.

amother

Blush

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 12:50 pm

amother Bottlebrush wrote:

How did you do this? I want my 3.5 year old to buckle and unbuckle herself but she's not catching on. I'd love to hear tips

amother

Phlox

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 1:25 pm

singleagain wrote:

So cool! Never knew this existed

amother

Phlox

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 1:28 pm

amother Leaf wrote:

Disagree so strongly my head is hurting from banging it against a wall.

Op didn't actually see kids not in proper carseats, she just assumed based on how the kids exited car.

cookier

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 1:41 pm

amother Phlox wrote:

Op didn't actually see kids not in proper carseats, she just assumed based on how the kids exited car.

Nope. As my post said, I’ve watched people load a carpool where not a single child was in an appropriate seat. It was a 5 kid carpool in a sedan. They put four in the back and one in the front seat. There aren’t even 4 seat belts in the back of a sedan. They were directly in front of me and the windows weren’t tinted so I had a very clear view.

I also said that I’ve seen kids moving around in cars while in line. Unacceptable in itself but it also means that at some point while the car was moving, the driver either unbuckled the kids, allowed them to be unbuckled, or they weren’t buckled in the first place.

I didn’t realize people can reach around to unbuckle in some cars. I drive a sedan and I can’t do it without climbing halfway to the back, so it would never have occurred to me. I wouldn’t consider that unsafe, so say that brings it down to 25% of people being unsafe. That’s still a lot.

amother

Beige

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 1:49 pm

I can't figure it out either. I just walk or have my older child walk my kid in. I used to get out to unbuckle my kid but teacher complained that I was in everyone's way. oh well.

amother

Currant

Tue, Jan 10 2023, 11:43 pm

I am so I embarrassed.I used to be an always,every time buckling mother, and I've become lax. Going to be serious about it again iyh. Thank you for this thread.

amother

Apple

Wed, Jan 11 2023, 9:02 am

amother Currant wrote:

I am so I embarrassed.I used to be an always,every time buckling mother, and I've become lax. Going to be serious about it again iyh. Thank you for this thread.

So glad to hear. The thread was worth it just for this! What a positive, harmless way to be woken up about car seat safety.