Abstract: An easy-to-use seat belt mechanism is provided for use with a child seat and includes a seat belt retractor having a reel with a seat belt wound thereon which can be extended about a child in the child seat. A pawl and ratchet form a retractor mechanism for blocking rotation of the reel and seat belt protraction to restrain the child in the seat. A manually rotatable shaft is connected to the reel to wind the reel in a rewind direction to tighten the seat belt about the child and provide an accurate sensation of increasing belt tension on the child. A manually operable release is operable to disable the pawl and ratchet mechanism to allow protraction of the belt with rotation of the reel and thereby allowing removal of the child from the child seat. The release also allows the belting to be readily readjusted if the belt is not properly tightened about the child.