Clip-on toys hold car seat straps open for easier loading

Sarah puts the baby toys to work when she buckles her kid into the car seat:

To make it easier to get infants into their carseats, attach a toy (the kind that tethers to a stroller) to each car seat strap. The toys act as weights when hanging over the sides of the seat -- holding the straps open and out of the way.

Bonus: two toys ready to be played with during the car ride!

Safety note: If you're going to keep the toys attached to the seat during the ride, I'd stick to soft toys only, and keep the tether very short. Instead of the little plastic chain links sometimes used for this purpose, use a fabric tether such as the Secure-A-Toy or a simple Velcro strap.

Also, be sure the toys IN NO WAY interfere with the workings of the straps.

(Am I missing other concerns here? It's a great hack, but something about attaching things to car seats makes me shifty. Reality checks welcome.)

This would also work beautifully for a stroller or high chair with a 5-point harness.

Related: Pop-up windshield sunshade keeps car seat cool

More: Car seat hacks

Comments

[Sarah S]

That would make me nervous too. If something were to happen, that could void the manufacturer warranty on the seat. One of the many reasons we bought the Britax seats we did was it has Velcro on the sides to hold the flaps open. Its not enough of a reason to run out and buy a new seat, but if you are looking for one it could be enough to sway from one seat to another. :)

[Lisa]

Sarah's comment made me think of another hack - could you use sticky velcro (soft side on the strap, hook side on side of car seat) to make a homemade strap holder that doesn't involve attaching toys? I agree this is a desireable tip - getting those straps out of the way to get baby in can be a pain!

[Jeannie]

My concern: If thick enough, the clip or tether for the toy might make it hard to get the straps tight. (The same reason you're not supposed to use a bundler or even a heavy coat in a carseat--anything that goes between the child and the seat and/or straps can interfere with safe fit.) But I suppose if it's an absolutely flat strap, it wouldn't compress (or dig into your child's skin) on impact. I personally would not do this though--I don't like attaching anything at all to a car seat. As Sarah notes, any after-market additions can potentially void the warranty.

[Xuan]

on our Graco Snugride seat,there is a vehicle belt hook that is used to slide the seatbelt into and secure the carseat. when we take our LO out of his carseat, we loosen the straps and slide it into that vehicle belt hook, keeping the back and seat free of straps. no extra gadgets and no worrying about possible interference/strangulation hazards.

[Jenny]

I would be worried about attaching anything to the car seat, as well. Love your velcro solution, Lisa.

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What made you think of using grosgrain ribbons? That’s very clever, actually! With the known advantages of grosgrain ribbons, I actually didn’t think about using it this way like you did it. I might be doing this in the future whenever I have my next baby, hehe.

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