Best choice for keeping baby warm in and out of seat?

jamijesse

New member
Along with tons of other knowledge I've gained from this wonderful site, I've learned that coats are not safe in carseats. We've just been having my five year old wear her coat out to the car and then take it off as soon as we buckle in. Then we put it on again when we get to our destination. This has not be very convenient and it's been pretty darn cold too. (we do cover her up with the coat once she's in the seat and we try to warm the car up first whenever we can.) Of course though no amount of inconvenience will keep me from keeping my kids safe.

The problem I'm having now is what to do with my four month old. He's in his snugride now but I think we will soon be moving him to his marathon. So since we'll no longer be able to just keep him in the seat with the cover on when we're walking in or out of the store or whatever, we'll need something else to keep him warm. Obviously getting a four month old in and out of a coat is not an option. I know I could just cover him up but for the times when we can't get the car warmed up ahead of time the seat itself will be cold.

So with help from this site and others I've found a few different products I'm looking over to use with my little guy. I was hoping some of you experts could check them out and let me know what you think would be the best. It would be really nice to be able to use something that he could keep on in the car but that could be unzipped or opened so he wouldn't overheat, but that he could also keep on to keep him warm when we're going from car to store or house or whatever.

So the products I'm considering are the Car Seat Poncho. The Car Seat Coat and the Hugs A Lot Car seat Blanket. Okay I just read on the car seat poncho website that it's not intended for children under twenty pounds and my guy is about sixteen pounds so I guess we cant' consider that one. I'm wondering why weight would make a difference with that?

Also if anybody has any other ideas or products I'd love to hear about them. Thanks!
 
ADS

jamijesse

New member
Just wanted to apologize for the horrible spelling and punctuation in my post. I'm one hand typing while holding my snoozing baby...LOL you mom's know how that is!
 

didymama

New member
do you use baby carriers? i do and i use a fleece pouch in the winter. my son also has a thin fleece suit that is thin enough for me to get a good fit. i don't use that as much, but definately a fleece pouch or a wrap. these are nice because you get to be hands free and keep your baby warm. then once they are in the car you can put a blanket on them.
 

CarSeatPoncho

New member
Hi JamiJesse,

My name is Donna and I'm the mother of the Car Seat Poncho. Thank you for considering my product!

In answer to your point about the weight limit, my guidelines for are driven more by type of seat than by specific number of pounds or inches. If your child is long and/or heavy enough to be in a convertible seat, then he can wear the poncho!

Right now there is a coupon for 20% off the regular price. Use the coupon code: car-seat-org-20.

I hope you will re-consider the poncho for your son. I will be making some revisions to my site tonight, so I will clarify the height/weight specs.
:)
 

CarSeatPoncho

New member
The coupon code is valid through 12/24/06.

Disregard the date in my sig; I am trying to change it but having some trouble!

Also, consider that with the Car Seat Poncho, you do not have to bring a coat in addition to a blanket. The poncho goes with your child out the door and into the seat, and then out of the seat to whereever you are going.

Thanks,
Donna
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
What I did was to just wear a coat big enough for my sling underneith. Joyjoy went in the sling, I tossed on my coat, and fastened it around both of us.
 

Morganthe

New member
What I did was to just wear a coat big enough for my sling underneith. Joyjoy went in the sling, I tossed on my coat, and fastened it around both of us.

LOL -- so did I. It was a GEAR jacket with one big huge kangaroo pocket in the front and a zipper from the neck to the upper seam of the pocket. I got it on sale for 75% off long before my daughter even was a dream.

Size Large worked great even though I usually wear an XL or XXL. I just pulled it over my head and there we went. I knew it would fit with a sling because I had carried one of my 18lbs dogs this way when she got really cold several times when it was under 25 degrees out. We definitely got the stares when people noticed a black doggy head sticking out of the front :D
 

menfusse

New member
I followed the reccomendations about a single layer of fleece and went on a mission to find a 1 piece fleece "snowsuit". It is made like a snowsuit complete with feet and a hood, BUT it is only a layer of fleece. No filling or extra layers. I am not sure where you are located, but the only place I found this specific style is at K-Mart. Most everyone else has the huge bulky, can't fit them in the seat style seat. Anyway, for super cold days, I took an extra blanket to throw over her between the car and stores or to put over her once she was buckled in.
 

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs

Senior Community Member
I always just used a blanket for my dd (born in October in Idaho). Granted it doesn't get nearly as cold here as it does in some other places, it's below freezing. That's not to say I wouldn't have used another product that was safe and affordable (and that was nothing for me at the time!), but I did just fine a blanket. I didn't leave the blanket in the car b/c it just got cold...I took one out to the car with us so it was already warm and then put it over her in her carseat. Then I wrapped her up in it when I took her out of her seat and took it in the store/church/friend's house with us.
 

vatechgrad

New member
I climbed in the backseat (of a tiny civic crammed in beside seat installed in the middle) and put his snowsuit on him after I took him out of the seat. Then I took the snow suit off in the store, then I did it all over again to put him back in the car. I don't know why that is out of the question. I did this the whole time as I don't think those car seat covers keep them covered enough, just my opinion but way too much cold air can get in those covers.

Janet
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
I climb in the vehicle, too -- I keep fleece throw blankets in the vehicle for extra warmth & I climb in to shut the door against the cold for taking off/puting on winter gear....
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
I did have a shower-cap style cover for her first winter when she was in the infant seat, it did a great job of keeping her warm and (more importantly!) dry.
 

wendy1221

New member
I started filling up a hot water bottle before I go out to start up the van. Then I put the hot water bottle on the baby's seat (he is 15 mos old and rf in a Britax Blvd) and cover it with his coat. THen when the car is all nice and warmed up, I take the baby out wrapped up in his Snugglewool blanket. I remove the hot water bottle, keeping it wrapped in his coat to keep his coat warmed, and put him in the toasty carseat and cover him w/ his blanky. Then, depending on where we're going, and how good of a parking space I get, I either put his coat on him when we get there and keep his hot water bottle and blanky on his carseat or wrap him up in his blanky and leave the coat. The hot water will keep his seat warm for up to 2 hours when it's about 15 degrees out I've found so far. :)

I tested my 3 yo's coat bulk by buckling him w/out his coat and then buckling him w/ it to see if I was able to w/out difficulty. I had no problem so I assumed it was ok for him to wear his coat. Is that ok? I also then buckled him in w/ his coat on, tightened the harness, unbuckled and took the coat off and rebuckled to see if I could tighten the harness. I couldn't. I feel like there is no difference in how tight the harness is w/ his coat on and off. But I thought it was best to ask the experts. ;)
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
Wendy1221, yes thats fine. That is how you're supposed to check coat thickness to see if its okay. With really bulky coats, you would have to loosen the harness in order to get it buckled, and that is not okay. With my babies, I've always used a 1 pc fleece snowsuit (just one layer of fleece). Columbia makes them (I'm lucky enough that DH works for a Columbia retailer) and I've also seen several LL Bean ones listed on ebay, used, for under $10. Patagonia makes them too. The fleece is warm enough for riding in the car, but when outside the car, I also wrap a (fleece) blanket around them to carry them inside. And I basically do the same thing with my DS now that he is 2. I put a Columbia (yes, we're junkies because of DH's discount) fleece on him, and wrap him in a blanket for carrying him to and from the car. I leave the fleece jacket on him in his car seat and cover him up with the blanket. Its really easy and keeps him toasty warm!
 

wendy1221

New member
My 3 yo's coat is Columbia. :) It looks bulky when it's on him, but that's b/c it is loose fitting. It's actually quite thin. We love our Columbia coats. THey're so warm for being so thin. THe whole family has them, except for the baby. He has a Hanna Andersson coat I got cheap on eBay (and MAN is it cute!) Thanks for answering my question. I've been worried about it.
 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member
I know what you mean... the Columbia coats are nice & thin for using in car seats because they have just the fleece liner and the nylon shell. I have found some LL Bean ones that are very similar and gotten them cheap on ebay (DH has a fit about it though! ;) )
 

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