Winter coats and car seats

[Unregistered]

Hi there! I have a 9 month old.

When I attended my prenatal class, we were told that winter coats or thick coats should not be worn in a car seat. Can somebody please explain further... why?? Everybody keeps asking me why and I cannot give them a proper response.

Thanks!
Theresa

[becca011906]

B/c you have to lossen the car seat harenss to fit the coat in there with the child... in a crash the forces will compress the coat so that the space that you had to lossen the harness will not have slack in it... it's leaving them in a harness that's not properly adjusted... does that make since..... i'm kinda sleepy and not sure if it did or not! LOL

there use to be a pick online of a child's coat that was still in a car seat harness but the child had been ejected out of the car from the crash forces... but it's no longer online i guess i've only heard of it never seen it.. .

[Jeanum]

From http://www.carseat.org/Resources/FAQs.htm#coats

During cold weather, what is the best way to keep my child warm in his safety seat?

Clothing worn by children can present compression and harness routing problems. Bulky jackets and snowsuits can compress in a crash and leave the harness slack on a child, allowing excessive movement or even ejection. It is best to have children travel without coats, to put coats on backwards, or to add a blanket over the child after the harness has been buckled. Jackets that are worn the regular way should be no heavier than lightweight fleece fabric or be unfastened to allow contact between the child and the harness or vehicle belt. An option for an infant in an infant seat is a shower cap-style seat cover. This style of cover fits over the top of the infant seat, has an elastic band around the edge, and has no fabric behind or under the child. For more on this topic, go to Padded inserts, blankets, and bulky clothing. (http://www.carseat.org/Technical/tech_update.htm#pad,blanket)

[CDNTech]

:yeahthat: A winter coat generally makes the harness of the carseat too loose. All that material will compress in a collision and cause slack that may allow a child to be ejected from the carseat.

Here's a link to explain how to safely wear a winter coat in a carseat...http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=29772

[Kalinky]

Imagine your child's body putting 65mph worth of force on the harness straps, all of the filling in a bulky coat is going to compress to virtually nothing. Essentially, it's the same as leaving the harness straps several inches too loose during the crash.

Fleece jackets like the ones at Land's End/LL Bean (or Wal-Mart even!) are acceptable because the material is already compressed. They also make these www.carseatponcho.com . For infant bucket-type seats, they make items that fit on top of the 'bucket', like a shower cap. These are safe, like this one http://www.babypolargear.com/infant_car_seat_cover.htm. Do not use items that interfere with the harness straps or that go in between the child and the car seat.

If you must put a thick bulky coat on your children, please do them the service of removing it before getting into the carseat, then they can put it on backwards to keep warm. Always keep blankets in the car - pile them on when needed.

[Niea]

I also like to provide a visualization when explaining this. . .

You know those Space Bags, where you can put your comforters/clothing in them and use your vaccuum to suck all the air out? The result is a perfectly flattened bag that's easy to store. Well. . imagine that coat going through the same process in a crash. The sheer force of the crash will cause that coat to flatten to nothing, just like in the Space Bag. . .and the kid will be left with a harness that's much too loose.

[grneyzz]

Or another way you can acutally SEE what would happen...

Put on your fluffy winter coat with an empty backback snuggly on your shoulders. Now, drop a college freshman's book load in the back and see what happens.

The fluffy (that the coat needs to hold and warm air and keep you warm) gets crushed and the backpack will be at least a few inches lower then it was.

Same things happens with a child, but its the child that moves not the seat. And, as a point, adults should not really be wearing coat under seatbelts as well for optimal functioning in a collision.