Hey all, I need some advice! My little boy is in a group 2 seat and everyday when I pick him up from school he falls asleep, the problem is that as soon as he falls asleep he flops around the car cos the belt just isn't holding him in place. I have moved him into the front seat so that I can hold him up with my other arm whilst I'm driving but it's really not safe. I find it so difficult to concentrate cos I'm always worrying about him. Does anyone else have this problem/solution?
Car seat nightmare, can anyone help???...
- Thread starter ClareF
- Start date
I've never heard of it being dangerous to fall asleep buckled into a car.
I assume your son is using a booster seat, where the car's shoulder strap is securing him directly, instead of a strap attached to his car seat. In that case, it will not lock up unless the car triggers it to do that, such as when you slam your brakes. If you want a strap that doesn't loosen when he sleeps, then you will have to use a car seat with its own straps. They do manufacture them to accommodate larger children, who would otherwise qualify for a booster seat.
I assume your son is using a booster seat, where the car's shoulder strap is securing him directly, instead of a strap attached to his car seat. In that case, it will not lock up unless the car triggers it to do that, such as when you slam your brakes. If you want a strap that doesn't loosen when he sleeps, then you will have to use a car seat with its own straps. They do manufacture them to accommodate larger children, who would otherwise qualify for a booster seat.
Could you move the car seat to the other side of the car (in the back seat)? So that when he flops he flops against the door? Not sure if this is making sense, I can picture it in my head! 
Or try to keep him awake? Although that feels a bit mean, but maybe he can have a little snack and look at a book? It probably wont be long until he stops napping then but that doesn't help now.
Hope you find a way to fix this.
Or try to keep him awake? Although that feels a bit mean, but maybe he can have a little snack and look at a book? It probably wont be long until he stops napping then but that doesn't help now.
Hope you find a way to fix this.
OP must have disappeared but I wish they'd answer my questions. There is no reason a child should be flopping around in a car seat if strapped in properly, and if the child is in the appropriate seat for his age and size. In a high back booster (I think that's the kind op is referring to) the seat belt should be positioned and tightened properly across the lap and shoulder and asleep or not the child should be secure and not able to flop, unless OP is using a lap only belt or tucking the shoulder belt behind the child, which is totally unsafe and unacceptable. If OP only has a booster (no back) for the child, and the child is flopping around, then he needs to be in a high back booster that will position the shoulder belt properly and hold him in place. They are not expensive.
I am scratching my head over the floppy child. I can't picture it correctly.
Even when my older two were young 'uns, before the new car seat laws and kids were out of boosters at 5years old there wasn't much flopping going on, they would slump against the door, or, if yhe went forward the seatbelt would lock.
Even when my older two were young 'uns, before the new car seat laws and kids were out of boosters at 5years old there wasn't much flopping going on, they would slump against the door, or, if yhe went forward the seatbelt would lock.
I'm confused. The seat belts in my car only lock when triggered to do so, such as when I tap the breaks. During normal driving, any passenger can lean forward. The shoulder strap will loosen to accommodate that. The car doesn't know whether you're leaning over to grab something on the floor or slumping over in your sleep... it'll loosen either way.
My oldest is in a high-back booster and it doesn't put the shoulder strap in lock mode either. It simply positions the strap to go over the child's shoulder, instead of over their face or something. It's just a notch that the strap slides through freely... it doesn't clamp onto it or anything. This is the only style of booster I have ever seen.
My oldest is in a high-back booster and it doesn't put the shoulder strap in lock mode either. It simply positions the strap to go over the child's shoulder, instead of over their face or something. It's just a notch that the strap slides through freely... it doesn't clamp onto it or anything. This is the only style of booster I have ever seen.
The belts in both of my vehicles have to be pulled suddenly in order to lock, but in order to pull it slowly like leaning forward you really do have to actually use a little force lol. If a child fell asleep and leaned a bit I don't really know if it would work, especially if it was hooked onto the positioner on a high back booster. Don't know for sure. If my ODS falls asleep in the high back booster in DH's truck (he is still in a 5 point harness in my car), his head just slumps against the side of the seat and the belt and seat together seem to just kind of hold him there. If it didn't, I wouldn't let him ride it in because kids fall asleep in the car and that's not safe to be all over the place when asleep. I just kind of think either a shoulder belt isn't being used, or he isn't being strapped in properly or in the proper seat. If there's no back to the booster, or no car seat at all, then depending on age and size and whatnot, it's easy for a child to be small enough to slide all over because the shoulder strap wouldn't even be effective.
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I tested it out today just because of this thread. Slumping over, bolting forward, leaning slowly, or collapsing dramatically... don't trigger the seat belt to lock. Leaning over at a red light, yes, because you've (hopefully) just braked! Although, it seems like every time I ride with my mother, it stays in lock mode. I always tell her she drives so erratically that the car is always prepared to crash!
My kids always fall sleep to the side, so it's not an issue.
My kids always fall sleep to the side, so it's not an issue.
I should add that I did say that this was before the new car seat laws, my older two were on plain old regular seats with no boosters from the age of 5, 4 for Dita from memory, as was the laws at the time.
Also, my car is 21 years old, so I would hope that seatbelt locks have been improved by then :laugh: but my back seatbelt still catches Sash in his backless booster when he decides to dive for something on the floor while I'm driving. Then he is stuck in the locked position because he hasn't figured out how to jiggle it to unlock it. He isn't a car sleeper though, so I can't really comment on that.
Also, my car is 21 years old, so I would hope that seatbelt locks have been improved by then :laugh: but my back seatbelt still catches Sash in his backless booster when he decides to dive for something on the floor while I'm driving. Then he is stuck in the locked position because he hasn't figured out how to jiggle it to unlock it. He isn't a car sleeper though, so I can't really comment on that.
I remember riding with just a lap belt (no carseat or booster) since I was four. They didn't have shoulder straps in the back seat back then, and more relaxed car seat laws. I thought it was so fancy when I first saw a car with shoulder straps in the back seat! Now they all have them (even in the middle seat) and those enormously high head rests. I hate those. They make it hard to see out the back window, and since they pitch forward, they make car seats and boosters harder to install. Which seems silly to me... back seats are mainly for children, aren't they? Unless you sponsor an adult carpool. They should be a better fit for children and child restraints.
Oh I didn't ride in any kind of seat as a child lol. As a baby maybe one of those carrier things I guess but from as early as I can remember I was just in the back seat of the car buckled however. Lots of times just the lap belt. But obviously we've improved our knowledge of how to keep kids safe in the car drastically since I was a child.
In both of our cars, there is no need to hit the breaks or even turn on the car. It drives me nuts if I am trying to buckle myself or the five year old into his booster and I am in a hurry and I yank on the belt just a bit too quickly and the damn thing locks and I have to thread it back up and start over again lol.
In both of our cars, there is no need to hit the breaks or even turn on the car. It drives me nuts if I am trying to buckle myself or the five year old into his booster and I am in a hurry and I yank on the belt just a bit too quickly and the damn thing locks and I have to thread it back up and start over again lol.