coats and carseats?

I was told at the hospital and by other moms not to put your child in a heavy coat in a carseat because of the slack of the straps. Is this right? My mother keeps insisting that they need to have heavy coats on. right now i always warm up the van, they wear a light jacket and they have a blanket for their legs. Should i put them in heavy coats or this dangerous?

 

I was told at the hospital and by other moms not to put your child in a heavy coat in a carseat because of the slack of the straps. Is this right? My mother keeps insisting that they need to have heavy coats on. right now i always warm up the van, they wear a light jacket and they have a blanket for their legs. Should i put them in heavy coats or this dangerous?

 

Mine wear heavy coats but I let the straps out and then tighten them back down. Then I check to make sure there is no slack. The next time they ride in the carseats I tighten them back down. I have never heard of it being dangerous, maybe the parents forgetting the next time to tighten the straps back down?

 

We always observed this rule (no heavy coats or snowsuits in the carseats) when the girls were infants. They were so small in the infant carriers anyway, I could see how the snowsuit would really interfere with the fit of the straps. Now that they are bigger, I still try not to put heavy coats on them if I can help it, but on those really cold days, they wear coats. I always have to loosen the straps to get them into the seat anyway (coat or no), so I just make sure they are aligned properly on their shoulders/chests, and tighten them down well.

 

Actually, that is correct. No matter how much you tighten them, the straps will be "loose" in an accident because the force of a crash will take the air out of the jacket, and cause the slack. The recommendation is to use polar fleece winter clothes, or a light jacket with a blanket. The bundle-me products are great as well.

 

We usually take jackets off when we put them in the car and then we put them back on at our destination.

 

If possible, they shouldn't wear heavy coats because you just can't get the straps tight enough. Sometimes you can't help it though so don't feel guilty. It sounds like your method is working perfectly and it's usually what we do here as well (although I don't use the blankets anymore now that they are older). You can always put warm caps and gloves on the babies as well.

 

I'm a big fan of lightweight fleece and lightweight sweaters. Layers work the best on babies anyway. I still hate coats (2 1/2). I put the kids in the car while it's still in the garage. Then we add hats etc when we get out somewhere.
A blanket over helps too. I don't think our weather is quite as severe as yours (SE Idaho), but the reality is.... how long are they really in the weather?

 

the overly strict place i get my car seats installed (rear facing 'til 30 pounds, yada yada) also says to not wear heavy coats. The closer your baby is to the actual seats the safer it is for them...(or something like that).0

 

We also follow ths rule.In addition, the kids would get to hot in the car with a jacket on once it warms up. We use the gap fleece hoodies and a blanket over their legs sometimes. When we get to grandma's house we sometimes put a hat and another coat on them so she doesn't give us a hard time insisting the kids are going to get sick