Dressing Baby for Winter

alizabethanne · October 2012

How do you plan on dressing baby for outdoors during the winter when in a carseat? I am in Canada and its already snowed today (barf) and I need to pull out the baby snowsuits very very soon.

Do snow suits or thick coats get in the way of a carseats straps? Should I just use a carseat cover? I have also noticed my LOs head isn't in the right position with a hood, should I remove them when using a carseat? Who new a cute coat would create so many questions...

mylittlesunshine · October 2012

I think the general rule of thumb is that coats shouldn't be used with carseats because it can interfer with the effectiveness of the carseat straps.

With DD2 (and when DD1 was a baby) I have one of those Eddie Bauer covers that fit over the carseat and have a zipper so you can leave it one at all times and zip up once you put your lo in it. I like it because it doesn't go in the carseat (rather over it). On cold days I put a blanket on top of baby, and then zip up the cover so she is nice and warm. If the car is warmed up I will unzip the cover and just keep the blanket over her so that she isn't too warm or cold.

piedpiper07 · October 2012

We had a safety talk with public health nurses at our mom group and he said that a coat was ok as long as you tighten the straps as much as possible and try not to get the fluffiest coat out there. I know most moms from the US say do not do that, but he said it is too cold, where I live anyway, not to. It's a lose lose when frostbite is the other option.
We had a blizzard for 3 days straight last week :

khill86 · October 2012

I've been thinking about this for the last couple of weeks. I'm in Canada, too, but in Southern Ontario so no snow yet!

They do say snow suits and fluffy jackets aren't safe in a car seat because you can't tighten the straps effectively.

I was thinking about this though, your car will be heated. I think a snow suit in a heated car would be too hot? We have a one piece fleece suit that I plan on using. I'll put a blanket over the car seat when I bring LO outside, then take it off in the car. I figure DS shouldn't be too hot in the fleece. If we're taking a long trip somewhere, we'll probably just make sure the car is warm before we get in and skip the fleece all together.

So far, on a cold or windy day, I've just dressed DS in appropriate clothes and hat, covered the seat in a heavy blanket outside, then covered his belly and legs with it in the car. That seems to be working so far.

I'm thinking I'll keep the snow suit in the car just in case we end up somewhere or doing something where we'll be outside for a bit, but I doubt it will get much use.

piedpiper07 · October 2012

khill86:

They do say snow suits and fluffy jackets aren't safe in a car seat because you can't tighten the straps effectively.

I was thinking about this though, your car will be heated. I think a snow suit in a heated car would be too hot? We have a one piece fleece suit that I plan on using. I'll put a blanket over the car seat when I bring LO outside, then take it off in the car. I figure DS shouldn't be too hot in the fleece. If we're taking a long trip somewhere, we'll probably just make sure the car is warm before we get in and skip the fleece all together.

So far, on a cold or windy day, I've just dressed DS in appropriate clothes and hat, covered the seat in a heavy blanket outside, then covered his belly and legs with it in the car. That seems to be working so far.

I'm thinking I'll keep the snow suit in the car just in case we end up somewhere or doing something where we'll be outside for a bit, but I doubt it will get much use.

I agree but depending on where you are, that would not be enough. You can't always preheat your car and DS is too big for an infant seat, so his seat is frozen when I take him out to it. And I know my car doesn't heatup unless we drive at least 20 minutes in the winter so it would be pretty mean to let him freeze that whole time. I just want OP to know that depending on the climate, you might have to put a thinner winter coat on, and I've been assured by health nurses as well as the public insurance carseat safety guy that this is ok. I know I asked questions like this lots and got all the same responses from people who don't live in the same climate so it wasn't very helpful and I was still looking for answers. Hope that helps/ offers a different perspective.

Samiantha101 · October 2012

Oh man, Im glad this was brought up. I'm moving from a tropical climate to the Midwest towards the end of dec. I've bought a couple snowsuits that were heavily clearanced last year. I can't find hats or mittens anywhere. My baby doesn't even sleep in a sleepsack. She's going to go into shock. I guess I can't be too sure how I'll dress her at this point.

snicksnack · October 2012

I love my auto start because I can warm my car up. The rule of thumb with coats is it should not cause the straps to be any looser once you take the coat off. To test this put the coat on and put the baby in the seat, tighten the straps and then take the baby out without loosening the straps, take the coat off put the baby in and check the tightness. If there is any slack that causes you to have to tighten again the coat is too fluffy. With DD I had a fleece style snowsuit that could be used in the car seat with no issue if needed. Most of the time I did not use a coat.

ETA: Make sure to always keep a winter coat or suit in the car. My MIL got stuck on highway for 6 hours once in a freak snowstorm so you just never know what can happen

acbfreire · October 2012

snicksnack:
I love my auto start because I can warm my car up. The rule of thumb with coats is it should not cause the straps to be any looser once you take the coat off. To test this put the coat on and put the baby in the seat, tighten the straps and then take the baby out without loosening the straps, take the coat off put the baby in and check the tightness. If there is any slack that causes you to have to tighten again the coat is too fluffy. With DD I had a fleece style snowsuit that could be used in the car seat with no issue if needed. Most of the time I did not use a coat.
ETA: Make sure to always keep a winter coat or suit in the car. My MIL got stuck on highway for 6 hours once in a freak snowstorm so you just never know what can happen

this. You can do fleece prams, though.

AliciaS1411 · October 2012

layers layers! We're going to do a basic white onesie under almost everything. then probably long socks, pants, and cardigans. Blankets over him in the carseat, and a jacket/coat when he's not in it. Thankfully where I'm at it doesn't get too cold and we get maybe one good snow a year.

alizabethanne · October 2012

Thanks for all the good info! I put aside a snowsuit for the car I case of a break down...that would be a nightmare. I'm going to try a few before we head out.

I'm so not ready for snow!

mkflower3000 · October 2012

For the carseat we put DD in a sweater and hat, and cover her with a really warm blanket. If we're going somewhere where we don't have to take her out of the car more than just to quickly transport her indoors, that's plenty. If we're going to be outside, we'll bring the snowsuit along and then change her into it in the car when we get there (and while the car is still warm). The way that our carseat is, it would just be too annoying to have to change the straps from the extra bulk to less bulk every time we travel.

Hoods can be a challenge too, especially if they're a little big - one time DD's hood slid right over her face even though I had tucked it behind her originally (she was just wiggling that much). That kind of scared me away from putting her in the carseat in something hooded. That said, she also has a small head, so that may have been part of the issue.

rebecca4980 · October 2012

I think I will be thinking about this! I'm from Michigan, and its getting nippy here too (but thank goodness no snow yet). I usually dress him in long sleeves, a sweater coat, pants, and then throw a blanket over him in the car. For short trips (like to daycare) I don't think I'll use a snowsuit. If I'm taking him in the stroller for a walk or something I will use it. My mom made some hats for him and I will be looking for mittens soon. With his small hands though, I might have to resort to socks again!

Sawyerplus1 · October 2012

piedpiper07:
We had a safety talk with public health nurses at our mom group and he said that a coat was ok as long as you tighten the straps as much as possible and try not to get the fluffiest coat out there. I know most moms from the US say do not do that, but he said it is too cold, where I live anyway, not to. It's a lose lose when frostbite is the other option. We had a blizzard for 3 days straight last week :

I'm glad to read this, to be honest. I've always felt guilty about using coats on my LOs in winter. But in winter, in Canada, when you don't have remote start or a garage, and it's minus 30 degrees, a fleece sweater and a blanket just wont cut it!

OP, when it's been super duper cold I have used winter jackets and snow suits in their car seats. DD was born in January so we used one of those fleece car seat covers.

georgi611 · October 2012

We got one of those things to go over the carseat. Not the JJ Cole but something similar. DH didn't like how the JJ Cole one messed with the straps, so the one we have is perfect as it just goes over and the material is stretchy and goes around it.

My MIL also bought her a little fleece suit thing to wear that isn't too bulky that she can wear in her carseat.

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