Question Still trying to figure out winter coats and car seats - Please help

I've been reading the many posts on this topic and this will be my fourth winter as a mom, but I still don't have it figured out. What I usually end up doing is worrying so much about having anything under the straps that I take their jackets off and put them in wearing only a shirt, trying to hurry while they are exposed to the cold. This wasn't fun with one kid, but far worse with two. And on the many bad days, I give up and stay home, go stir crazy, and wish I lived somewhere nice. There has to be a better way! Meanwhile, other people disregard the rules, use jackets, live their lives, and basically get to live much happier lives than us because of this. Or I have even tried simply using a really thin jacket, only to deal with disapproving comments by others about not dressing my kids warmly enough... you know those same people who disregard car seat safety rules. But I cannot just disregard safety so what am I to do? So my specific question is - Is there an age at which jackets are okay? We wear them, right? FYI: I have two kids, ages 3 (about 40 months) in a ff Ma and 17 months in a rf Advocate. It seems like this must differ a little for a 3 year old as compared to a newborn. (With babies, we only used covers and blankets over the straps.)

Just so you know, I am very strict about following car seat safety and really do my best, but I have noticed and been frustrated by the lack of big picture thinking. For example, we must keep them rear facing for years even if it endangers others in the car. I know many people drive mini vans, they can close the door and get inside while they put their kids in their seats. But for the rest of us, we must expose our kids to other risks like the severe cold coming in through the door (and already in the car) and frankly the people in the vicinity while we are trying to perform this magic trick that takes our attention away from monitoring those around us and our can while the door is opened and we are exposed. I suppose in life I just do not find things as black and white as some people do.

Adults can't wear bulky jackets either. They'll cause the seatbelt to lock too far from us as well.

I buy jackets that are ok to wear in the car. If you can buckle your child in with the jacket on at the same setting (or like one or two clicks looser, just like you would for any other clothing change) as normal then it's fine for them to wear it. Both of my kids wear jackets in the car. As do I. But the harness on my baby's seat is at the same setting as when she's wearing just a sleeper. It's tight, but she's in.

This is my first winter in a northern climate, so I don't have a ton of tips. My baby wears a car safe jacket, and I keep blankets in the car.

Wendy

It gets cold here!! When we are leaving the house I just hit the garage door to open it and hit the remote starter to get the car warm. My munchkins run out of the house with blankets wrapped around them and jump into the car where it's warm. Their coats sort of stay in the car. Before we go into a store I unhook them, help them get their coats on in the car and we go inside. On the off chance it's freezing and I can't start the car to warm it up I leave their coats on, but here is the trick..... Put them in the seat, put their arms through the straps and then pull the coat off their shoulders. You can then hook the chest clip up and sort of move the coat away from the bottom straps and hook it all up. Then I can close their coat around them, but their straps are still on the same setting as if they were wearing just their clothes. It's sort of a pain, but you get really use to it really quickly. My only issue is getting them out of the car! With the coat pushed back like that when they get their arms out of the straps I end up having to put their entire coat back on again. (BTW: my kids exit the car via the drivers side door. This way I can get them all out together and zip coats while they stand in the drivers seat before they are out in the elements).

This thread has some pictures that illustrate the "coat trick" (though I like to pull the coat out from under the shoulder area, too.)

I use the landsend fleece jackets in the car. And they are warm enough to play with outside sometimes even when it is high 20's low 30's F.

http://www.landsend.com/pp/ThermaCh...B&CM_MERCH=IDX_00007__0000001078&origin=index

And when it is really cold, I keep their winter coats in the car, and make sure they have on hats and mittens/gloves.

You could also get a coat that unzips into 2 jackets. Wear the inside part in the car, and if you're going to be out somwhere put the outter layer on top.

it gets freezing cold here (today is a high of 31- we get a little bit colder than MA), and I haven't found it that difficult to take off coats in the car. And we have a SMALL car. I just put a polar fleece hoodie on under their coats over a long sleeved shirt, take their coats off, buckle them in, and then cover them up with their coats- this is probably the third winter we've done this. Warming up the car helps quite a bit, too, or just going out there with coats on, turning on the car to warm up, and then putting them in their seats.

Good luck! Polar fleece is the key, I think

I live in Mass & totally understand you with the cold. I've been here for 7 years & am STILL not quite used to it

My DD is also 17 months & we don't have a garage so she has to be exposed to the elements every time we go anywhere. So, with that said, my routine is this:

• start the car with full-blast heat 5 mins before we need to load up the car
• dress DD in thin layers - cotton long sleeves & pants; warm shoes & socks
• fleece zip-up jacket w/ hood or hat - cheapo Target works fine
• after strapping her in, I cover her legs with a fleece blanket

I also have a Car Seat Poncho for extra warmth when it goes below freezing - that goes OVER her after she's strapped in & stays in the car. I've yet to use it this season & find that she's hot by the time we reach our destination. I also use a Bundle Me in the stroller, which helps avoid the "your child isn't dressed warmly enough" comments.

As for age in which wearing jackets is ok, I think there is no age. It's not a matter of maturity, it's a matter of the harness properly fitting the individual & keeping them restrained in an accident. I have a huge puffy coat I got my first year up here that I love! It's so nice & warm, but not ok for me to wear in the car So I get the car warm, wear a fleece & throw it in the back to put on later when I'll be walking around in the elements. Extra steps, I know, but the way people drive around here, I want my seatbelt to work :duck:

I'm definitely not a fan of the cold! I don't have a garage. I just put my kids in fleece coats, stick them in the car, and throw blankets over them. I don't usually start the car ahead of time, unless I need to defrost the windows. :duck:

I don't care if people think they look cold in just fleece coats. If they are going outside to play, they wear warm coats. I bring a warm coat to leave with my daughter at preschool for recess, but she just wears a fleece coat in the car. I figure my kids aren't going to freeze walking from the house to the car, then from the car to the store, etc. Plus, I don't want to deal with big, thick coats on and off in the car and in way too warm stores.

I'm a little confused as to why keeping a kid rear-facing "endangers" others though. It takes the same amount of time to buckle a harness rear-facing as forward-facing, so how would it endanger others to have a kid rear-facing? With two kids in a car in cold weather, I open my daughter's door, have her hop in, close it, walk over to the other side of the car, put my son in his seat, buckle him, close his door, walk back over to my daughter's side, open her door, buckle her, and then close her door. It was the same process when she was rear-facing, and it's the same exact process now that she's forward-facing.

bree said:

I'm a little confused as to why keeping a kid rear-facing "endangers" others though. It takes the same amount of time to buckle a harness rear-facing as forward-facing, so how would it endanger others to have a kid rear-facing?

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I am confused by that as well. Is there any reason that your 3 year old can't climb over your 17 month old's seat and into his own, so you only have to open 1 door at a time & both kids are safe in the car? Maybe I'm just not understanding your process well

I have a moderately puffy coat (not thin fleece, but not those huge puffer coats either) that I wear in the car. I basically do the coat trick with it, so the only place there's any coat is between my back and the seat (most of which gets compressed by my own weight). I pull the coat out from under the lap belt and out from under the shoulder belt. Usually I leave it unzipped but on occasion I have zipped over the seatbelt.

For my daughter, last year she was in a bucket seat. She wore a Target fleece coat, I did the coat trick with it, and I had a showercap style cover over the carseat. This year, she is in a convertible. I bought her a windbreaker jacket that is too big, and I layer that over a zip-up sweatshirt when the weather deems it necessary. Most days (since it's still fall here for some reason) I just use the sweatshirt, but when I do have the windbreaker layer I remove it before buckling in the car. I do the coat trick with the sweatshirt in the car. On particularly cold days, I bring her blankie and put it over her.

We get COLD here. -20C isn't unusual during the winter.
We don't have a garage, or a drive-way either, we park in a communal parking
lot so the car is not 'right there'. Add in the anti-idling bylaws, and we can't generally pre-heat the car.

SOOO. . . .

Kids wear a thin long-sleeved shirt, and a warm sweat-shirt or sweater, and their jackets out to the car. Hats, mitts, etc.

I do leave snowpants on the kids if they are wearing them out - I don't see it interfering any more than a thick cloth diaper would, honestly, and it doesn't get in the way of the shoulder straps at all.

Get to the car, the kids take off their thick coats, get buckled in, and put the coats on over-top.

We don't do the "coat trick", never have. It takes me longer to try to figure that out than to just take the coat off and put it on over top of the straps (coat is backwards).

And I have to say that at -20C or below, a fleece coat won't cut it as an overall outerwear - but it's great for the car, it's pretty much the same as a fleece zip-up sweatshirt / hoodie. And layers great under a real winter coat too !

There are quite a few of us technicians in MA. If you want to, feel free to give your vague, general location, and I'm sure a local technician will PM you. If you're anywhere in Western MA, I'll be happy to be meet up

Kashi said:

We get COLD here. -20C isn't unusual during the winter.
We don't have a garage, or a drive-way either, we park in a communal parking
lot so the car is not 'right there'. Add in the anti-idling bylaws, and we can't generally pre-heat the car.

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It is freezing here also in the winter (although not yet this winter it's only 30 degrees F and it's December!!) Anyways I'm really confused by these no Idling laws I keep hearing about! Cars run better when they are warmed up! My car is older (low miles) and if I just start it up and go it acts like it is rejecting the thought of driving! I don't think there is a single car on the market that doesn't say in the manual to warm your car engine before driving! It's really bad on an engine! Even just starting it for 3-5 minutes before taking off will help.

If they made laws like that there they better find some way to help me purchase my next car after their stupid law helped to shorten the life of my engine!

We have some very cold weather - today it is 14. We do not wear coats in our seats. The girls know that they are not allowed to. They wear coats to the car, take them off to bucle in and then put the coat or a blanket over them. We keep blankets in the car. Upon arriving at our destination, they unbuckle (or I reach back and help them unbuckle) then I help them put their coats on.

Same thing with me. I remove my coat before buckling in and put it back on before leaving the car.

I don't preheat my vehicle and we have never had any issues.

Idling a car for 60 seconds is fine, and can help it go better. Idling for 10 minutes actually harms the engine, in addition to the pollution.

It gets pretty cold here, and my kids just wear fleece jackets/sweaters. Thin enough that I can buckle them without loosening the straps, warm enough with a hat and mittens. For my 4 yr old, I often put her winter coat on backwards over top of the harness. She finds it fun to use the hood to cover her face and hide from everyone. Even my boostered son will remove his coat or unzip and pull the coat out of the seatbelt so the straps are against his body tightly. I also unzip and move my coat out of the way so that the seatbelt fits correctly and chose my coats so that they aren't overly bulky. When we get out of the car, they just put their warm outdoor coat on top of the fleece, and we are good to go. This works fine in both our car and our van.
I think sometimes people overestimate the risks of short periods of cold on kids. A child in a fleece and hat and mittens is not in danger for the <5 minutes that it takes to get them safely buckled and then covered up with a blanket or jacket. Yes, the need warmer clothing if they are going to be out playing or walking for a while, but it doesn't take long to add a winter coat over top of the fleece.
I am also not getting how people in the area around you are at risk while you are buckling your kids in the car? Or how RFing your kids endangers anyone?
FWIW, most anti idling laws are only applicable when the temperature is within certain ranges. I know in my area, the code say that you can't idle more than 3 minutes but the bylaw doesn't apply to "occupied vehicles when the temperature outside the vehicle is greater than twenty-seven degrees Celsius (27°C) including the humidex calculation or less than five degrees Celsius (5°C) including the windchill value as determined by the Environment Canada temperature readings; ". So if it is really cold, I can warm the car with the kids in it in their winter clothing until it is warm enough to remove and buckle them.

It gets cccooolllldd here. Yesterday, with the windchill, was -22C. Today we have a winter weather warning and following right behind it is temps dipping down to -20C without the wind.. Totally not uncommon for our city.

The boys both have super warm winter jackets.. there's no getting around that here. DS can't go outside at recess in a fleece They wear a MEC fleece under their winter jackets (along with hat, mitts, etc) and then take off their big jackets once we're in the car. It IS a pain in the butt because it takes longer but it's all about the safety to me. DH & I were curious about how much their jackets would compress so we put DS in his seat with his jacket on, tightened it as much as we could... made DS get out of the seat and take off his jacket and buckle back up. I swear we probably could've fit another child in the harness! It's a big down filled coat so I know in the case of an impact it'd compress a LOT.

This is our first year with the coat issue (DS was in the infant carrier for part of last winter and then we just went with a fleece + blanket combo after that)...so I don't have much experience with this...

However, we've decided to go the coat w/ removable inner lining route. So far, it's worked really well. His coat has a fleece lining that zips right out. He wears the liner to the car and we take the rest of the jacket along. When it's time to get out, the liner keeps him warm enough to slide the coat on over it (takes about 2 seconds) and then he just gets zipped in. Easy peasy! It's nice because the liner is made to work that way with the coat...which means that it slides right on without catching, etc.

And quite honestly, I think he's much happier this way. DS is a little heat machine. If I put him in a "really" warm coat, he'd be sweating like crazy within 5 minutes. Plus, the coat combined with the car seat straps seems to end up making him feel all bound up and confined. (Ok, I admit that I did try to buckle him in with the coat just to see what difference it would make. We didn't actually go anywhere...it was an in-the-garage experiment.)

savdoc2 said:

We have some very cold weather - today it is 14.

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It's so cute what some people think is cold! It's -15°C / 5°F here today and I've been thinking, "man, is this a GREAT winter! I can't believe how nice it is!". :ROTFLMAO:

I this type of weather, DD wears a fleece with another coat over top, toque, mittens and sheepskin style boots. Vehicle is warmed up for approx. 10 minutes, then she takes off the outer coat and her boots, gets buckled in and a fleece blanket thrown over top of her.

When it's colder and the windchill is brutal, DD will be wearing snow pants out to the vehicle and we'll do like Kashi and leave the snow pants on, but take the jacket off. I don't put jackets on backwards or do the coat trick as I don't want any confusion in an emergency removal situation, so she gets the fleece blanket over top of her (while wearing snow pants toque and mittens).