Winter Coats and Carseats

I remembered reading somewhere that a child should not wear a bulky coat in their carseat. (Basically what I read was that the coat will compress in an accident leaving your kid in loose straps...allowing too much movement or even ejection.)

So...how are you putting on coats in your car? If it's freezing outside, I'm thinking I need to get in the back and close the door behind me. Since there are two carseats in back and not a lot of room to manuever, how do you do it? Just wondered what you ladies were planning to do (and if you followed this rule).

Shannon

 

I try to follow this rule, although I admit I will buckle them in wearing their puffy coats if I'm in a hurry. (I try to pull the straps extra tight.) For the most part, we just don't use puffy coats if we'll only be outside to get to & from the car. We just wear light jackets and go quickly from house to car, and then from car to wherever. I also try to warm the car up first.

If we're driving somewhere and then we'll be outside, I just take them out of the car in their light jackets and then put their coats on real quick. It's rarely so cold here that a few minutes is going to hurt them. It probably doesn't even bother them as much as it bothers me.

 

i had no idea about that, but it makes sense! glad i read the post.
i think i've only put them in the car in their wintercoats 1x so far though. we've worn them for walks in the stroller, but otherwise just wear fleece's with hoods and/or hats.

 

Wot we do, if we're coming from home then I just warm up the car for about 10 minutes. But if we've been out and about we have blankets in the car and we put those or the girls coats over them.

We have left them on ocassionally too and pull the straps as tight as we can usually when its minus 20's ahhhh

amanda

 

We travel a lot in cold weather, live in AZ so only have to when traveling. What I do is have thier coats on to the car, then take them off in the car. Then put a blanket over them after bukeling them in. Put the coat back on when we get back out. Is kinda a pain but I doit myself as use the heater in the car and they and myself get too hot haveing the coat on after a while so works out well.
Ps. if it's real cold in thecar have been nkown to bukle them in and then put coat back over their arms and hands then the blanket over that, then once the car heats up they can take it off them selves.
good luck

 

My husband has always insisted on taking the coats off before putting the kids in the car seats. He read the same thing about it being a hazard in the event of an accident.

However, last Saturday, we went to a car seat safety check sponsored by the local police and EMS folks. We had the kids in coats and he checked them and said it was fine. He said the important thing was making sure the belts are tight, allowing one finger to slide under it. It made me feel better knowing this b/c it was so hard getting 4 little ones' coats on and off each time we got out of the car.

The folks who checked our seats said most people don't have the heights adjusted right, nor they seats anchored properly. He did tell my husband, the installer of the car seats, that it was one of the best installations he had seen. He was proud of that!

 

I did read somewhere that if you put your child in the seat and pull the straps tight, then put your child in the coat and as long as you don't have to loosen the straps to put them in, then you should be okay.

Thanks for the help ladies! Like a PP mentioned, it's probably me who has a bigger problem with this than my boys do. I freeze so easily, so standing in the cold trying to get coats on and get them out of the car is WAY more time than I want to spend outside when it's freezing!

Shannon

 

When my boys were young toddlers, like yours, I thought it was easier to use fleece buntings, rather than coats. They are thin enough to be sfely used in the carseat, and with a warm hat and a blanket over them, they stay really toasty warm! After they are too old for the fleece buntings, I shop for coats that are warm, but not terribly thick. As a PP mentioned, a good way to see if the coat is to thick, is to put them in the seat with the coat, then take them out and take the coat off, then put them back in the seat with a regular outfit on (without adjusting the straps). If the straps are tight - meaning only one finger can fit between the child and the straps, the coat is fine to use. If the straps are loose, the coat is not safe to use while in that seat. HTH!!!

 

I'm going with fleece buntings too. It solves the problem of highwater legs when the girls are sitting in the stroller too.

 

Climb in, shut the door, and buckle them. It sucks, but with the jackets on, it doesnt matter how tight you think you have them, its not tight enough! Good luck!