car-seat/booster seat Q??

DandR

at what age CAN a child wear a coat in the car?  I've been letting my girls wear their coats..and Mitch when its not the big bulky coat.  My girls are in boosters and Mitch is a BIG boy so I doubt the jacket would cause any slippage out of the belts.....

But is there a guideline?  Or should none of us wear coats in cars??

heyitsme

The issue isn't about slippage with the belts, it's about compression with the coats, so really, it depends on the coat. The best way to figure out how much compression a coat has is to put them in their seat with their coat on and tighten the straps. Then take them out of their seat (don't loosen the straps) and take off their coat and put them back in. Buckle them in again and note how loose the straps are when the coat is off--that's how much room they'd have to move before the belts "caught" them in a crash.

3-in-1 type jackets (remove the outer shell in the car seat) or even fleece jackets are the best bets, I think, because they provide the warmth and also leave very little room for compression...

When we were in NY for a week last week I did find it to be a total PITA to keep taking off DD's jacket and putting it on every time she got in/out of the car... this is why we live where winter isn't cold enough for that. ;-)

DandR

but what about boosters?  Its not really easy to measure the "compression".....hmmmm....

Neither of my girls coats are TOOOOO bulky though. And Mitch DOES have one that has the liner....We haven't been using that one though so the one we use we have to take off...it is pretty bulky.  But its his favorite..might be hard to get him to switch coats...hmmmm....

But I think moving somewhere warm IS a great idea.....anywhere warm.  25 inches of snow is annoying.

heyitsme

I think with seat belts it's not as much of an issue because they automatically lock with the jolt of a fast stop/crash. It seems to me as if they'd lock around whatever's there.... but good point. I'm not sure.

goodheartedmommy

Coats aren't supposed to be worn by anyone in the car--even with a seatbelt. A coat compressing lengthens the amount of time it takes the seatbelt to lock, and every nanosecond counts in an accident. I will say I wear one occasionally in the car (but I rarely wear a coat at all). I do think it's better for a boostered child to wear one than a harnessed child, as the compression just lengthens the reaction time of the seatbelt. In a harnessed seat, the coat compresses, and could cause the body to absorb too much of the force, or even cause a child to be ejected from the car. I think fleece is an excellent option for kids who are harnessed. Mine wear hooded fleece jackets with a couple layers underneath. As the PP said, any coat is okay if it doesn't require you to loosen the straps at all in the carseat.

Angela814

I just assumed that once we're using a booster seat, a regular coat would be okay. DD still have a light weight one that she uses in the car, and then the big bulky one for playing outside.

I had no idea that adults weren't supposed to wear coats in the car. I'd say the entire north of the states doesn't know that one. It was probably 5 degrees when we left this morning. There's no way either of us could go without a coat.