Snow pants in car seat?

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canadiangie

New member
Providing you work to get all the air out (ie: puffiness) and snug his harness down properly, there is no reason snow pants cannot be used safely. Generally speaking it's the puffiness combined with a harness that is already too loose to begin with that is the problem. You know to pull all the slack out of the hips and how to do the pinch test, so things should be fine. :)
 

amelia222

New member
You can test them by buckling the kid in without winter gear, then taking them out without loosening the harness and seeing if you can buckle them up again with the snow pants on. I tried with dd's snow pants and they failed :(
 

Mommy0608

New member
You know, I used to say the same thing about the not having to loosen the harness idea. However, the more I think about it, the more I'm not sure I agree with it. Even light layers (that are perfectly safe in the car) can warrant a slight adjustment of the harness, and that's not always a bad thing. The important factors are compressibility and bulk. For example, if a child is wearing a t-shirt with a fleece sweatshirt over it along with a thin fleece jacket, the harness will probably have to be slightly looser than if he were just wearing the t-shirt. However, as long as the harness is tight over those thin layers, it's safe. There's no poofiness in those layers. Also, even if a material is thin enough to be safe, it might not actually be safe if it's too loose-fitting and gets bunched up under the child and/or harness.

That said, some snowpants really wouldn't be acceptible in a car seat. Some are just way too poofy or loose-fitting to provide an appropriate harness tightness. I think I know the material the OP is referring to because I have some snowpants that are not a poofy material too. I think if the pants fit properly (not too big and therefore not too much extra material to bunch up) and are not a compressible material, they'd be fine. Just make sure that the material is laying flat under the child and harness and that all slack is removed and any compressibility is flattened. :)
 

leighi123

Active member
Ds had some pants that weren't even actual snow pants, they just had that 'swishy' layer on the outside and a warm inner layer, yet they made the harness too loose. I usually ended up having him wear long johns with semi-waterproof track pants over instead (they are in my siggy pic)

I'd give them the same test as coats - adjust the harness to fit wearing light clothing, then put the pants on and see if you have to loosen the harness to make them fit.


Last year when we were in tahoe in the snow and ds was learning to ski I had to remove his top layer of pants/jacket every time we got in the car. Carseat poncho came in handy, I need to make a new one!
 

Angela

New member
Thanks for the confirmation! I assumed as much too, but just wanted to see what others thought. Normally I would just have him put them on in the car, but it's just so much of a hassle with getting in and out of the car for school drop off and pick up (we park and walk about 4 blocks). I'll test him out with them tomorrow. I definitely don't need to worry about them being loose fitting. He actually has a bit of a tough time sitting down in them. We need to get some new ones sometime soon. :)
 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member
I have allowed snow pants in the carseats on a few occasions. I prefer not to, but when it's already super cold out, or there is no way for the kids to get undressed/dressed in the vehicle, then I'll do it.

I don't see how the snowpants add any more bulk than our cloth diapers did.
 

Baylor

New member
You know, I used to say the same thing about the not having to loosen the harness idea. However, the more I think about it, the more I'm not sure I agree with it. Even light layers (that are perfectly safe in the car) can warrant a slight adjustment of the harness, and that's not always a bad thing. The important factors are compressibility and bulk. For example, if a child is wearing a t-shirt with a fleece sweatshirt over it along with a thin fleece jacket, the harness will probably have to be slightly looser than if he were just wearing the t-shirt. However, as long as the harness is tight over those thin layers, it's safe. There's no poofiness in those layers. Also, even if a material is thin enough to be safe, it might not actually be safe if it's too loose-fitting and gets bunched up under the child and/or harness.

That said, some snowpants really wouldn't be acceptible in a car seat. Some are just way too poofy or loose-fitting to provide an appropriate harness tightness. I think I know the material the OP is referring to because I have some snowpants that are not a poofy material too. I think if the pants fit properly (not too big and therefore not too much extra material to bunch up) and are not a compressible material, they'd be fine. Just make sure that the material is laying flat under the child and harness and that all slack is removed and any compressibility is flattened. :)

That makes perfect sense. I have to adjust my kids harnesses for added layers all the time and different clothing all the time. I don't see anything wrong with that.
 

Mommy0608

New member
Right. I adjust the harness on my kids' seats daily. Do I feel that's necessary for everyone? No, particularly those in climates where the weather (and therefore clothing thickness/layers) doesn't change much. However, here in MI, the amount of clothing they wear does change daily, so I adjust the harness accordingly (plus I think it's easier to buckle them if the harness is loosened first). :twocents:
 

Baylor

New member
Right. I adjust the harness on my kids' seats daily. Do I feel that's necessary for everyone? No, particularly those in climates where the weather (and therefore clothing thickness/layers) doesn't change much. However, here in MI, the amount of clothing they wear does change daily, so I adjust the harness accordingly (plus I think it's easier to buckle them if the harness is loosened first). :twocents:

I agree! here in Pa, The weather has been 30 degrees one day and then 60 the next.. So there is no way that harness is not getting adjusted.
 

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