Winter Coats

Ellie173

New member
I know about winter coats being bad with car seats so I have been taking them off and tossing them over the kiddos (of course it has only been cold a few days). But I was talking to someone about why we take them off and they said that according to AAP it is ok to leave them on. Has anyone heard of this? I looked it up and here is what it says on the healthychildren website done by AAP,

Q: Can I adjust the straps when my baby is wearing thicker clothing, like in the winter?

A: Yes, but make sure the harnesses are still snug. Also remember to tighten the straps again after the thicker clothes are no longer needed. Ideally, dress your baby in thinner layers instead of a bulky coat or snowsuit, and tuck a blanket around your baby over the buckled harness straps if needed.

We will still going to take off thick clothes in the car, but just wondering what to say in response to this suggestion? Sorry if this has been discussed before, I am terrible at searching things.

Thanks!
 
ADS

HEVY

New member
The AAP is saying to not use bulky clothing and coats. Even using fleece it's obvious the harness will need to be adjusted, slightly. And I think this is what they are referring too. An Aurora's link is excellent :thumbsup:

I don't have this problem, even though I took time to find the right coat and my DD knows the "tricks" with using coats, she prefers to take her coat off in the car 100% of the time, even in the bitter cold.
 

Ellie173

New member
Thanks! I figured I was probably interpreting it the wrong way. That is a great demonstration of what coats do, I will pass it on to the person. Thank you for clarifying!
 

Jenny

New member
I dont mean to hijack the post but I have been wondering if the same holds true with a booster seat. (please move if need be).

Is the following okay (I have seat belt pretensioners in all seatbelts): Both kids wear down jackets. For my son the belt lies flat against his pants, but the shoulder strap goes over his coat.

For my daughter her coat is longer so I am strapping her in with the coat underneath.

My thinking is that since the seatbelt would tighten if the unthinkable happened it will compress the coat and hold them in place. Is this true or is the recommendation the same for booster seats (and plain old seatbelts for that matter)

Thanks! Jenny
 

Brianna

New member
The seat belt doesn't tighten, it just locks in place. If there is already slack in the belt when it locks, it will stay there when the coat compresses. I would avoid wearing thick coats both in boosters, and as an adult in a seat belt. I warm up the car and wear a lightweight jacket in the car. Could you have them wear their coat backwards after they buckle up? It's easier to remove the coat that way too if it gets too hot in the car.
 

tiggercat

New member
Jenny said:
I dont mean to hijack the post but I have been wondering if the same holds true with a booster seat. (please move if need be).

Thanks! Jenny

Winter coats are not safe under the seatbelts either, for booster riders or adults. What we do is unzip the coat and pull it out of the way so I can buckle against the child, pull the lapbelt extra snug to make sure any coat underneath/behind the child is well compressed, then make sure the shoulder belt is taunt over the shoulder. Sometimes it is easier to just take the coats off.
I do the same for myself, unzip or unbutton my coat and move it out of the way so the seatbelt fits correctly.
 

Jenny

New member
thanks for your replies. We always took the coats off in the 5 pt seats. I will continue to do so with the boosters now as this seems to be a major factor in their effectiveness.

Brianna to clarify I do want to add that my car's seat belts do actually remove slack in an accident d/t the pretensioners if I understand the mechanism correctly.
Thanks Jenny
 

tiggercat

New member
Jenny said:
thanks for your replies. We always took the coats off in the 5 pt seats. I will continue to do so with the boosters now as this seems to be a major factor in their effectiveness.

Brianna to clarify I do want to add that my car's seat belts do actually remove slack in an accident d/t the pretensioners if I understand the mechanism correctly.
Thanks Jenny

You are correct that pretensioners do remove slack in the belt, however I believe it is a relatively small amount of webbing that gets reeled back in, and is designed to compensate for vehicle belt stretch, not belts that were loose initially.
 

Brianna

New member
Jenny said:
Brianna to clarify I do want to add that my car's seat belts do actually remove slack in an accident d/t the pretensioners if I understand the mechanism correctly.
Thanks Jenny

I just did a quick google search and I'm not sure how reliable this site is, but it describes 3 types of pretensioners and how they function differently. http://www.autobytel.com/car-ownership/safety/seatbelt-pretensioner-104251/

I was unaware of this, does anyone know how to tell the difference?
 

Baylor

New member
thanks for your replies. We always took the coats off in the 5 pt seats. I will continue to do so with the boosters now as this seems to be a major factor in their effectiveness.

Brianna to clarify I do want to add that my car's seat belts do actually remove slack in an accident d/t the pretensioners if I understand the mechanism correctly.
Thanks Jenny


You don't have to take them off, I just open them, Secure the child against their body with harness or seat belt and then zip coats back over it..

That way they are warm and safe..
 

Jenny

New member
Hi Brianna,you would need to look in your vehicle manual. Many newer cars come with pyrotechnic pretensioners with force load limiters for the front seats only.
I think the other 2 discussed are standard seatbelt mechanisms but that is my understanding not nec. correct.

The pyrotechnic pretensioners on all seating positions was one of the reasons I purchased my vehicle (xc90). THings may have changed but when I did my research the only others with this feature in second row were VW, Audi & MB
 

Brianna

New member
I don't recall seeing that in my manual, I'll keep that in mind next time I'm car shopping. I learned something new today :)
 

CarSeatPoncho

New member
Hi Sarah Ellen,

I respectfully suggest the Car Seat Poncho, which I invented for my own son when he graduated to a convertible car seat in the middle of the winter several years ago. It keeps the child cozy warm and does not add any bulk under the harness.

The Car Seat Poncho goes on your child before you leave the house, and goes around your child's car seat as you seat him or her. The zippers allow you to access the harness and buckles easily, and you can be on your way in no time.

I am a Car-Seat.Org sponsor and have links in my signature below. Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for your consideration.

Donna Eng
 

gsdguenter

Well-known member
I've heard lots of great things about the ponchos.

In our cars no one wears jackets and we have 2 blankets in each car to put on the kids if needed.
 

wildeyes

New member
i dress the littler ones in fleece, and dd1 takes her coat off totally. its very rare we have to walk more than 20 feet to the car (unless we go to walmart) and even in below freezing temps, the kids (or myself) arent going to freeze to death. now, in REALLY cold weather, or windy weather, i do bring something heavier to toss on them for the walk to the house/store/car/etc, but i havent needed to do that this winter yet.
 

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