carseat and wearing a winter coat

mpk3 · Feb 26, 2010

I know it is unsafe to wear a heavy winter coat while in a carseat.

Britax.com quote from FAQ:

If a child wears thick winter clothing, the safety belt cannot be tightened and is not positioned correctly. In an impact the belt first has to press the thick filling of the coat together, before it can hold the child back. This restricts the safety considerably. Therefore it is necessary to take the coat off.

My question is how thick of a coat is considered "too thick" for the carseat?

For those of you that live in climate where a winter coat is a must for being outdoors, how do you handle the winter coat situation with your children/carseats?

I was just wondering if there are any good ideas out there. Thank you!

Anne · Feb 26, 2010

To test if a coat is too thick, first put the child in the seat wearing the coat and adjust the harness. Then, without loosening the straps, take the child out. Remove the coat and put the child back in the seat. Without adjusting the straps, buckle the child in. Now test how loose the straps are. If you can pinch the harness at the collarbone, it is too loose and the coat is too thick.

I made my daughter a car seat poncho which we both love. This lays over the top of the harness so it's safe. She can also leave it on to walk to and from the car. Sometimes we just do a coat and take it off in the car. Blankets are great. I also warm up the car ahead of time whenever I can. I like to take both the poncho and the coat when we'll be out for a while. If we're spending a lot of time outdoors, I take the coat on and off. If we're just running in and out of stores, we use the poncho because the car doesn't have as much time to warm up. If it's right in between being warm enough or not, she uses the poncho as a blanket.

ETA: polar fleece jackets are also a good option. They are thin but warm.

CarSeatPoncho · Feb 26, 2010

Another factor to consider is the slickness of the coat's outer fabric. This seems to be especially relevant for girls' coats, as I've seen many puffers for little girls made of very glossy -- and slippery -- nylon or vinyl.

If you are not crafty, consider the original Car Seat Poncho. I am a CPST (12/09) and developed it when my son graduated to a convertible.

hth, and please feel free to PM me with any questions!

Pixels · Feb 26, 2010

For quick trips in and out of the car, I use a light jacket. Basically it's a thin sweatshirt with a zipper. I leave the zipper open and use the coat trick to keep it out from under the harness. If it's blustery or too cold, I will zip and/or tuck her inside my own coat. DD actually prefers to be tucked into my coat. Occasionally I will grab DD's blanket (her security object and blanket from her bed) and wrap her in that, then throw it on her lap in the car.

I don't like heavy coats in the car for two reasons. One is the safety reason, but the other reason is it just gets too darn hot once the car is warmed up. With a blanket on the lap, DD can throw it off when she gets warm.

AtTheSouthDam · Feb 26, 2010

Those 3 in 1 coats are the answer here. We keep them seperate so DD1 will put the bottom fleece layer on first and have it all zipped up and then put the slick insulated layer over top and zipped. When we get to the car she takes the top layer off and buckles only wearing the fleece. It may be a bit cool the first few minutes until the car warms but never dangerously so. And layers are a must in CO where the temps can go from 10* to 50* in an 12 hour period.
DD2 wears a HA lined fleece one peice coverall. It will be the last year for the though

BookMama · Feb 26, 2010

Anne said:
To test if a coat is too thick, first put the child in the seat wearing the coat and adjust the harness. Then, without loosening the straps, take the child out. Remove the coat and put the child back in the seat. Without adjusting the straps, buckle the child in. Now test how loose the straps are. If you can pinch the harness at the collarbone, it is too loose and the coat is too thick.

I do kind of the opposite. I adjust the harness straps for the kid without the jacket, than have them put their jacket/coat on. If I can cram them in with the coat on, it's OK.

I mostly only do this for DS, since he wears his coat to school each day (for recess, waiting for me in the pickup line after school, etc). After school, he takes his coat off as soon as he gets in the car, so he's just got his regular clothes on. The car is warmed up by then, so no problem.

DD1 is usually in the car just to go somewhere - she's not going to be out in the cold (other than walking from the car to somewhere). She has a Children's Place fleece jacket that's perfect, along with a couple of blankets to put on her legs if she cares to. On days when it's extra cold or she just insists on wearing her coat instead

, I just do the "cram her in" technique.

We don't loosen/tighten every time the kids get in and out, so this works for us. It would be more of a pain for someone who loosens/tightens every time, I think.

Jonah Baby · Feb 27, 2010

My grandmother's knit sweaters work perfectly.
She knits nice and tight - the sweaters come out about the same thickness of your average fleece jacket, but sometimes they are warmer.

I also found some zip-up sweatshirts that had sleeves made out of that thermal underwear material and had a nice, warm, fuzzy sweatshirt inside. The outside is pretty thickly woven sweatshirt material, so our February snow/slush/rain doesn't get through too quickly. Again, same thickness as a fleece would be.

My kiddo has never complained about being cold in the car. I DO NOT warm my car up beforehand unless I turn it on and defrost for the 3 minutes it might take to get snow off.
In the coldest parts of December and January, I always make sure that there is a blanket for J's lap, usually a fleece brought out from the much warmer house. Leaving the blankets in the car tends to make them too cold to put on legs, defeating the purpose.

carseat and wearing a winter coat

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