Car Safety

We have just got new car harnesses for James and Charlie which I fitted yesterday. It got me thinking about the different things we've tried in order that we can travel in the car without worrying about boys jumping out of their seats! We used the Britax Special Needs car seats for a while and whilst they were very comfortable and fitted well, the boys were still taking the shoulder straps down (even though they have an extra clasp - they are really intended for children with physical disabilities I think) so at that point we moved onto Crelling Harnesses. They work well for us on the whole and can be used with booster seats for smaller children but they do need to be worn with the ordinary seat belt which has presented us with a few issues. It's supposed to go on top but for the first few years we had to put it on underneath because the boys would just pull it all around and tie it in knots!! They don't do that so much now so we can use them as advised. We did try out some others but as they had Velcro as their main fixative the boys would have undone them in no time.

So we are using the next size up Crelling harness which seems ok so far. I'd like to get to a point where they are not needed and I don't actually think that's far off.....but only with another adult in the car. We have to be safe driving around and I don't think I would be happy driving on my own without them as the boys behaviour can be unpredictable so although they may at first look restrictive, I think they actually give us more freedom and flexibility as a family than going without them would as I am still able to take the boys in the car on my own.

The other thing we use are these stickers....

...I'm not big on Autism Awareness, it sometimes seems to be doing more harm than good and quite honestly, it makes me feel really uncomfortable. On the other hand because the boys are at the more severe end of the spectrum, I'm never really in the position of having to explain that they have a disability like some families so perhaps I might feel different if their autism presented less noticeably.

Anyway I find the wording of these stickers very useful, should we ever be in an emergency situation.