How Hug-it was invented 
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the SnugSit / Hug-it story
The Science of Hug-it: why Hug-it is so important -
for real children and not crash test dummies!
The Invention
It was out of necessity. I had a little Houdini who could get out of anything. It wasn't until the police pulled me over, that I knew I had to do something. My daughter at 14 months had wriggled her arms out of her child restraint and was leaning out of the window, waving at the police! I was let off with a warning, that next time I would have a hefty fine plus points on my license.
My child restraint had cost me over £100 - how could I make my child safe in it? After some experiments I had the answer. A simple hook that was put on and taken off using the same movements you normally use to put your child into their seat.
The Hug-it works on the principle that children under four cannot think laterally; they just do not think of pulling straps inwards to get out of them!
Hug-it was designed to keep straps in the correct position for maximal safety. Unlike chest clips, it will not slide up or down the harness, it can be applied to straps of differing thickness, and it supports and protects the upper body. Harness clips are common in the USA and provide some benefit compared to the UK where they are not often seen.
The UK and EU do not support harness clips because they can delay release of the child in an emergency, for example if the straps are twisted or the clip is jammed too high on the harness. Hug-it is not a clip.
Hug-it is self-positioning, will not allow straps to twist, and once the main harness buckle is released, the straps are no longer held in place - the child can be taken out using the same manoeuvres you normally use to release the shoulders.
Hug-it is not a substitute for the harness buckle or lock. It is designed so that no additional movement is necessary to remove it once the buckle is open - you remove it by pulling one strap off the arm or shoulder and out of the Hug-it at the same time.
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Hug-it |
Chest Clips & Belt tensioners |
Fabric devices & belt positioners ( SnugSit) |
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Helps keep straps in correct place |
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No Fastenings- quick and easy application |
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Impact-absorbing |
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Stays in place- does not ride up or down |
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Use on baby seats and adult belts |
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Supports and braces the wearer |
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Protects the chest area |
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Does not distort in use |
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Can be fitted to twisted straps if necessary |
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Fully washable and hygienic |
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Transfers easily to all harnesses |
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No fragile clips, springs, levers, arms,....... |
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Does NOT pull up on the lap belt when used with adult seat belt |
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Helps to stop children putting the shoulder section BEHIND the arm and body |
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Has NO additional fastenings to main harness |
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Hug-it was invented to prevent children getting their arms out of five point harnesses - one arm, both arms or their whole body. It acts as a secondary safety device, allowing the harness to do its job.
If the child is free of the shoulder straps, the harness cannot work - so neither can the main seat belt, or the child seat, or the whole set-up.
A child out of the harness is a projectile, a missile, just waiting to hit the adult in front, the seat in front, the windscreen or the road ahead.
A child partly restrained is risking Seat Belt Syndrome (SBS) - damage to the abdominal organs which can be severe or fatal. Head face and shoulder damage is also a possibility. The child with the arms and shoulders free is in reality restrained only by the lap belt - in an accident he or she may shoot out of this, or suffer the damage of SBS :
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There are two types of injury associated with
using a lap only belt:
Head and/or neck injury. This is caused when the individual is thrown forward and has no upper body restraint. They continue moving forward until they are stopped by something. Many times, it is the head that contacts the interior of the vehicle - dashboard, front seats, consoles, door frames, even the floor of the vehicle or the individual's knees. The injuries can be severe brain trauma from impacting something at a high rate of speed, cuts, abrasions, skull fractures, broken neck, jaw fractures, orbital fractures, etc. The neck can also be severely injured including the spinal cord being severed. The spinal cord is not able to be stretched beyond a certain point. In frontal crashes, a lap only belt will hold the lower body in place, but the heavy head will pull the upper body forward at a high rate. If the head does not contact anything to stop the rapid forward motion, the neck will eventually stop the head, but the force of this will stretch the neck bones, muscles and even the spinal cord - often beyond its limit. Children and adults both have been paralyzed or killed in this manner - their spinal cord simply wasn't capable of stretching enough to withstand the crash force.
Seat Belt Syndrome. Seat Belt Syndrome, or SBS, is a phrase that was originally coined by the medical community in the late 1950s and early 1960s to describe injuries that physicians were seeing as a result of occupants wearing lap-belt-only restraints in frontal collisions. These injuries typically include: (1) severe abdominal injuries, (2) fractures of the lumbar spine, and (3) serious closed head and facial injuries. These injuries are primarily the result of the occupant's body jackknifing over the lap belt, at the waist, during the collision. Under such circumstances, the lap belt causes extreme force to be applied along the pelvis to the mid-section of the occupant. Securing the waist without securing the upper torso leads to increased head and neck velocities, which can cause serious head and neck injuries following either a head strike or inertial loading of the spine. A majority of these injuries can be prevented by the installation of an integrated three-point belt or other upper-torso restraint.
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The Homepage for Hug-it
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