Winter jackets and boosters?

fyrfightermomma · Dec 17, 2008

I obviously know about the no puffy coats in car seats

What about kids in boosters? And adults for that matter?

Does the pretensioner in adult seat belts kind of act helpfully in that since it tightens and forces you into the seat, thus compressing the jacket and tightening the seatbelt before impact.....vs a car seat that doesn't?

So in boosters and adults for that matter-jacket, or no jacket?

Maedze · Dec 17, 2008

NO jackets for boostered kids OR adults :thumbsup:

same problem. the belt doesn't fit the way it should and introduces slack, meaning you get thrown further forward before the belt locks (also not all locking belts have pretensioners, in a lot of cars it's just the front seats that has them i think)

fyrfightermomma · Dec 17, 2008

Maedze said:
NO jackets for boostered kids OR adults :thumbsup:

same problem. the belt doesn't fit the way it should and introduces slack, meaning you get thrown further forward before the belt locks (also not all locking belts have pretensioners, in a lot of cars it's just the front seats that has them i think)

Thanks

So I have to ask, what do most of you do in the car? Do you just unzip the coat and put it under like the car seat trick or what? We obviously can't drive with blankets over us

hehe

What do people do with boostered kids? Just fleece or the under the jacket thing?

Maedze · Dec 17, 2008

i usually unbutton my coat and pull out the hips and position the seatbelt on my body like usual. my older boy wears thin fleece in his booster, just like his car seat

QuassEE · Dec 17, 2008

We often keep jackets on, but we don't use super puffy ones.. We do have medium-thickness Columbia jackets, however... And my 11 year old unzips his, and routes his seatbelt over with any additional bulk outside the belt area...so there's one layer of jacket behind him..he's in a LBB. My 5 year old takes his jacket off completely before buckling his booster, since he's still used to being in his harnessed seat and insists that we can't move the bulk aside. We've trained him well...too well, when you're standing in the freezing cold.

I suppose it may depend on the thickness of the jackets, but for us having that one layer behind them only works well. I wouldn't do it with a puffy down jacket, mind you. I think the answers here may differ depending on where someone is geographically located. When you live in a climate where people die from exposure versus a climate that never sees snow, you may assess the risk differently.

-Nicole.

AtTheSouthDam · Dec 17, 2008

I can't stand wearing winter a jacket so I take it off before I get in the car just like my girls. With a garaged car and a sweater I find I am warm enough until the van heats up. If it is really cold I put on a thinner fleece and throw my parka on over it when I am out of the car. I don't know if this is possible in colder climates like Canada but it worked for me during the unusually cold snap we just had, -2 monday. Nothing compared to -45 but that is COLD for us!

christineka · Dec 17, 2008

I usually wear a sweatshirt in the car if it isn't too, too cold. I have a fleece coat and believe it to be fine as long as I don't have too much in the pockets. I just hate getting in the car with the coat, then becoming excessively hot when the heater finally kicks in. Short drives in below freezing temps will find me in my coat.

I make my girls remove their coats if they wear the puffy one. They are worse than me as far as running around without proper coverage. They think a long sleeved shirt is comfy in 30 degree temperatures. They will utterly refuse to bring the sweatshirt. As long as they won't be outside for very long I don't mind. One kid has a thin, fleece lined coat that is just fine in the car.

fyrfightermomma · Dec 17, 2008

Thanks guys

A parent came in for a seat check today and one was in a booster. I've been a tech for almost a year and have never checked a booster before!

I was telling mom about snowsuits for her younger baby and she asked about the booster and I honestly had no clue what the answer was.

I told her I'd give her a call back

Better than spouting off some wrong answer I guess....I felt kind of dumb though

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* · Dec 17, 2008

I just take off my coat in the car so does my husband(we have always done this though, before we knew even that we were suppose to). I just am so uncomfortable with a coat on.

Michael takes off his coat in the booster as so does my daycare girl. Then they put it on backwards till the car is warm. They don't complain.

tiggercat · Dec 17, 2008

I unzip my jacket, and route the belt correctly on myself, pulling any bulk out of the way. When it's very cold, I add a fleece underneath my jacket.

My booster kid takes off his jacket, or I buckle him with it unzipped, bulk pulled out from under the belt, and pulled tightly across the hips. I don't quite trust him to pull it tight enough especially if he is wearing snow pants (try to avoid them, but sometimes...)

tanyaandallie · Dec 17, 2008

I take my coat off in the car and my dd is so used to taking hers off that even when she is in her booster she takes it off.

That said, I do not belive that a coat in a booster seat or in an adult seatbelt is the same thing as a coat in a harnessed seat. Compression can be an issue in a carseat b/c the harness is stationary. It does not retract or interact with the child. If the child is in a puffy coat there will be slack in the harness. Obviously that's bad.

In a booster or in just an adult seatbelt, the coat would compress but the seatbelt will eventually settle against the body of the person in the seat. I just can't see how the risk would be the same at all. An adult or a child in a seat belt is at any risk at all of ejection.

I do agree that it does depend on a the type of coat and if the coat causes the seat belt to fit incorrectly. If you wear a huge puffy coat and the seatbelt is falling off your shoulder or riding up on your belly, obviously you need to take it off. But if the coat still allows the seat belt to fit you correctly, it seems to me that it would still function correctly in a crash.

I do think that when educating, it is best to recommend removal of coats so that you don't have to worry about fit issues.

BW1426 · Dec 17, 2008

My big concern is the lap portion. I always make sure that is fitting underneath my coat. No, I don't take my coat off in the car. It's too cold.

Victorious4 · Dec 17, 2008

I always remove my coat. It's just a comfort thing with me. I'd rather be cold than feel crowded.

As long as the coat is pulled out of the sides of the harness so that the harness is snug against the child's body, I don't worry while FF. I only have my father's anecdotal evidence of treating a child who was paralyzed as an infant because her coat was bunched up behind her back during a crash. RF crash forces are on the back while FF are on the hips/shoulders. Good winter accessories (hats, mittens, warm slippers, heat packs for older kids & fleece blankets) can go a long way to keep kids warm, even here where it's frequently enough between -10 and +10 degrees in the winter before the windchill factor....

When DD rides in a booster in the center of the vehicle I always let her keep her coat on: it's unzipped so the lap portion is snug on her hips/thighs, she usually wears her hood so it doesn't bunch up behind her head & always attempts to engage the locking shoulder belt on her own. She also wears her Ride Safer Travel Vest under her coat.

In cars without locking retractor shoulder belts and/or with lap only belt in the center requiring her to sit outboard (especially with minimal room between the front & rear seats) I make kiddo take off her coat & wear it backwards after buckling.

bobandjess99 · Dec 17, 2008

fyrfightermomma said:
Thanks guys A parent came in for a seat check today and one was in a booster. I've been a tech for almost a year and have never checked a booster before!

I

LOL..my first check I got a minivan with 4, yes 4! AOE's being used as boosters in it. All with thick towels under them and with the recline foot being used!

I just called the CPST-I over and was like...

we unfolded the towels for her, leaving a single layer between seat and CRS and unpropped the recline feet, and recommended she look into a HWH seat for the 3 year old instead of using the AOE as a booster. (He was too tall to use the seat as a harness.)
nice first vehicle.

emandbri · Dec 17, 2008

I always thought the lap belt was what was important and was told years ago that it was okay to have the shoulder belt over a zipped coat if the lap belt was under it. That is what I've been doing and having Jacob and Daniel do as well. The van warms up fast so I unzip it at the first stop light that I hit.

Shanora · Dec 17, 2008

Hmmm, I leave my coat on, and so does my DH and my DS#1 who sits in a booster......I make sure that the lap portion is sitting correctly over my hips (and currently under the belly) same with DS#1, but I don't expect them to take their coats off at -40

Kat_Momof3 · Dec 17, 2008

I do the cheat or just remove them.... just depending on time constraints and what is comfy.

skaterbabs · Dec 18, 2008

My boys will take their coats off and put them on backwards if they're cold. I rarely wear a coat at all, but when I do I prefer the coat that does NOT get in the way pf the seatbelt. I have one coat that does and I do not wear it in the car... or often at all actually.

Maedze · Dec 18, 2008

I don't understand the people who are saying it's too cold to take your coat off. You have to take a coat off in a harnessed seat. If those kids can manage, I think grown adults can manage :twocents:

bobandjess99 · Dec 18, 2008

Maedze said:
I don't understand the people who are saying it's too cold to take your coat off. You have to take a coat off in a harnessed seat. If those kids can manage, I think grown adults can manage :twocents:

i think part of the issue, which was mentioned, is that while you can pile blankets over the kids in seats(which I do), the driver really can't. And sometimes, it's too cold even to do the "cheat" and have your coat unzipped in the front, let alone take it completely off......I mean, -20 is COLD..if all you have on is a shirt or sweater, even if you are double layered like I do, with a tank and topshirt/sweater...it's too cold. There is huge difference between places that get to be 10-30 cold, and the -20 to -40 colds...there just is. Taking off your coat at -25 literally puts you at risk of death.

Winter jackets and boosters?

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