do not put your infant or toddler in coat in car seat

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Toddlers

Do not put your infant or toddler in coat in car seat

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wife2

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 10:22 pm

Just a reminder as it is beginning to get cold out. Do not put a bulky snowsuit or coat on your baby or small child in a car seat. Making the straps looser with the coat is not safe as the child can ch"v be ejected from the car seat in the event of an accident. The straps need to stay tightly secured.

For ways to keep your child warm:
http://thestir.cafemom.com/bab.....r_car

1. Fleece jackets, such as polar fleece or performance fleece, are incredibly warm, soft, comfortable, and most importantly, safe for use in a car seat.
In much colder climates, a little more money can get you extremely cold weather rated fleece.

2. Thermal/long underwear. My son loves to wear these for the layered look, but he also will wear them under his normal clothes during the coldest parts of the year. Often sold as thermal pajama sets these fit comfortably under clothing.

3. Warm ponchos. A lot of work-at-home moms have created their own versions of fleece or other warm fabric ponchos that your child can wear. The idea is that your child keeps this warm shawl/poncho on, and when you put them in their seat, you flip the back up over the top of the seat and strap them in under it, so there is no bulk between them in their seat.

The Car Seat Poncho ($40 and up) is the most commonly known version, though you could easily make your own for a quarter of the cost.

4. Warm up your car.

5. Blankets. For some reason, this option is often overlooked.

6. Put the coat on backwards. This solution can really be as simple as taking off the coat, buckling your child in, then putting the coat back on them backward. Especially if they're sufficiently dressed underneath, these five seconds of being exposed without a coat on isn't going to be a problem.

There are MANY options to keep your child warm. Buckling them in with their coat still on just isn't one of them. A lot of the items you can find at outdoor-stores are going to be higher quality, and have temperature ratings. Gloves and a hat will also keep your kid warm and won't interfere with the harness.

acccdac

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 10:47 pm

I dont live in an area where my kid needs a coat during the winter so this question is coming out of ignorance but.....

why cant you loosen the straps, fit your child in, and then pull the string so its nice and snug on them?

bamamama

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 10:56 pm

acccdac wrote:

because you won't be able to tighten them enough. In and accident, the force will compress the coat more than you possibly could and you risk the child being ejected from the seat because the harness was not tight against her body. There are youtube vids that demonstrate how loose the buckles are on your child's body under a heavy coat.

out-of-towner

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 11:00 pm

Is a BundleMe okay? I just bought one for my infant and while I am not thrilled with it, it seems to do the trick. Is it safe?

bamamama

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 11:16 pm

out-of-towner wrote:

Is a BundleMe okay? I just bought one for my infant and while I am not thrilled with it, it seems to do the trick. Is it safe?

I don't know. I won't put my kids in carseats in anything thicker than a thin fleece. I'd google bundle me and carseat if I were you.

busydev

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 11:31 pm

the way to make bundle mes safe is to cut out the part that is between baby and the back of the seat. only have to do it by the straps part (so can be behind his head and under his legs from the strap till the end of carseat)
tho technically I dont get why its not ok? after all its fleece like a fleece jacket no? also cutting it will mean that some cold gets to the baby thru the back so not as perfect a solution anymore.

cs1

Tue, Nov 12 2013, 11:46 pm

Bundleme is not ok because it gets bumpy and the baby isn't in as tight as it should be.
I either put on his coat backward or wrap him in a blanket (In addition to a sweater n hat)

Its a pain, getting from the house to the car in this windy crazy weather

Miri1

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 1:03 am

Thank you for bringing this up.

Would you consider a four year old with a coat on while strapped into the car seat to be equally problematic?

seeker

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 1:22 am

busydev wrote:

I would not be at all worried about the baby's back getting cold, there is a CAR SEAT there and usually they have quite the opposite problem! The opening just around the straps area won't be letting in the cold, because it is usually pretty far in from the sides.

Personally I think the bundleme looks thin enough not to worry about but because all the car seat people are so against it, I didn't use mine. However, they do sell a similar idea that goes over the top of the carseat without that back piece. It's shaped like a shower cap sort of.

Thanks for the timely reminder, wife2. I had it on my mind too as I bundled the kids in and out of their coats today... maybe I will request some additional fleece or thermal layers as chanukah gifts... brrr

bamamama

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 3:05 am

Miri1 wrote:

Thank you for bringing this up.

Would you consider a four year old with a coat on while strapped into the car seat to be equally problematic?

Yes. None of us should even be wearing a seatbelt in thick winter coats.

shabbatiscoming

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 3:11 am

Here in Israel, the winter (usually) means rain, rain, and, yup, more rain. Its bone chilling cold. I took my daughter, when she was smaller, in a now suit into the car. I never even thought to take it off of her. I just made the straps tight. If she cried a little because it was tight, that was fine, but I knew that she was safe. I also could not have brought her outside in a fleece, that would have gotten soaked, just until the car.

I would just tighten the straps, and they definitely can be made tight enough.

smss

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 3:33 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

the snowsuit would compress if there was c"v an accident, and then the straps would not be tight enough anymore.

smss

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 3:38 am

smss wrote:

shabbatiscoming wrote:

the snowsuit would compress if there was c"v an accident, and then the straps would not be tight enough anymore.

actually- just read bamamama's first post on this thread- she explained it better than I did.

bamamama

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 5:19 am

I promise you, shabbatiscoming. We are not being extremists about this. You can't make them tight enough. If I can find a youtube vid in the morning, I will.

bamamama

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 5:21 am

I promise you, shabbatiscoming. We are not being extremists about this. You can't make them tight enough. If I can find a youtube vid in the morning, I will.

seeker

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 11:13 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Yes, it gets cold here in the winter too. Yes, very bone chilling plus driving winds cold. You put on the thermal shirt and the fleece layers and the hat and the mittens, put the rainproof coat on over that, go to the car, get into the car. Now that the car is preventing the rain from soaking you through, you turn on the heat and then go to the back seat to remove the coat from the child and then strap them in. A bit of a hassle, yes, but I don't think it's that difficult to understand, that people are all up in arms about how you can go without a coat Confused

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 11:26 am

Today I took my baby, in his coat, and strapped him in to his car seat without adjusting the straps. If they were good enough before, I don't see why his wearing a coat should make a difference.

Do you also take your coat off before strapping yourself in, by the way?

SplitPea

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 11:29 am

http://www.diapers.com/p/jj-co.....26703

this is a good solution for infant seats.

for those of you who put a snow suit on but put it "tight" do that then take the child out and take the snow suit off and put the child back in. if you can pinch the straps around the shoulder it was too loose. In a crash with several Gs or force going onto your child. that show suit will compress like its not even there...

we live in nyc., it gets bone chilling cold. we do thin fleece jackets and a carseat poncho as well as a hat and gloves. warm the car up first and its only a few seconds outside.

better 30 seconds of cold than a lifetime of dead.

MamaBear

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 11:35 am

If you don't have to readjust the straps after putting the kid in a coat, then the straps were too loose to begin with. I wear a coat in the car but I don't sit in a harnessed seat and I'm not a child. We do fleece "coats" for harnessed kids.

Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNGT9eBL_gg

SplitPea

Wed, Nov 13 2013, 11:37 am

here is a VERY helpful video showing why not to do it Smile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7tVWF6suM

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