As soon as you get in the car with your child, you make them buckle their seatbelt for many reasons. You want them to be safe, you don't want any tickets, etc. But, wouldn't it be nice if there were never any arguments about whether or not they want to buckle their seat belt? There are a few things you can do to make your child want to wear a seat belt just as bad as you want them to.

• Lead by example—this is a very important one. You should always wear your seatbelt, and your child will want to wear theirs as well. No matter what reason you give your child that they need to wear theirs (that you don't need to get pulled over, that you want them to be safe, etc.), that same reason will apply to you. Just as with everything in a parent-child relationship, you have to be a role model. If you tell your child that they have to wear their seatbelt because they would be safer if you were in an accident, but you don't wear yours, you are essentially telling your child that you don't care if you are safe or not. And, while this may or may not be true, this is irrelevant. Your child does want you to be safe, and you told them that wearing a seatbelt is the way to do that, so they will want you to wear it, too.

• Begin in the beginning—when your child is at the age that they ride in a carseat, never give in and let them go without it, no matter how much they beg you to. As they get older, and move into a booster, never give in and let them go without it. If you do ever let them ride without what is normally required, it will become a habit, and they will just expect to not have to follow the rules in the car.

• Make it fun—just as with everything, children are much more willing to do something when it is fun. You've heard the slogans such as "click it or ticket" that so many states have begun using, so why not have your child make up their own? You could give your child an example, such as "buckle or knuckle". Whether it makes sense or not, it is fun to think them up, which makes it fun to put the seat belt on. The trick with finding one of these that will actually make it fun is to do one of three things (it is the most fun if you do all three):

• Rhyme the phrase
• Make it silly
• Let your child make some up

By doing these things, your child will begin to look at wearing a seat belt as a fun game, a choice they are making, which means that they will be a lot more apt to do it with less argument.

• Explain it to them—while all of the above methods assume you have already explained to your child the real reason they have to wear a seatbelt, you may not have. If this is the case, the first step would be to do this. They need to understand that you aren't making them wear it just because you feel like it (which is what they might believe). Instead, they will see that you are making them wear it for some very valid reasons. And, as your child gets older, those reasons will make a lot more sense to them, and they will tend to argue with them less.

Copyright 2004. All educational materials are the sole property of Childrens Marketplaceand are available for the benefit of our parents. Duplication or use of any material requires the express consent of Childrens Marketplace.