Winter coat/ car seat

Huahine · January 2013

Okay this one is for you folks in the frozen north - how are you keeping your kid warm outside?

I've been doing a sweater and fleece jacket, hat and mittens, and booties over his socks, but it is 6 degrees here today. I feel his usual outfit isn't cutting it. I'd like to get him in something warmer, and I could use a puffy jacket when we are using the stroller in town, but I'm afraid of it compressing too much in the car seat if we have an accident.

Ideas?

Mama2TwoBoys · January 2013

It's not an option really to not have the winter coat on in the car for my kids. I just make sure to smush it down when I tighten the straps. We aren't driving for very far, as daycare, grocery store, library are all about 5 minutes from our apartment.

I know it's not recommended to have winter coats on in the carseat, as it does add extra smush if there's an accident, but I'm not going to freeze my children in 10 degree weather either. I at least try to think that in an accident, the youngest is rear facing, so the impact would be absorbed throughout his entire back, and extra squish shouldn't be too bad. For the forward facing one, I can't imagine that adding a half inch of dense coat would be detrimental in an accident, as I tighten him pretty good so that he can't bend forward or get his body away from the carseat. The only time I can think that it would be very bad to have a coat would be in the case of roll-over, as the extra give between straps and body along with rotation could make for too much movement inside the carseat. However, my Honda civic isn't likely to roll over anytime soon... (ok, engineering hat off).

Ok.. ignore that paragraph if you want - it comes down to the lesser of two evils. Freeze your kid every day, or risk that there may be too much movement inside the carseat if they wear a coat.

If it is a longer car ride, we don't wear coats, mainly because we'd all be roasting after a while. And the likely hood of an accident out on busy highways scares me for the coat thing too.

jnickers98 · January 2013

We warm up our car before going out. She wears a fleece coat with hat and mittens and boots. This is for a trip to the store, straight from car to store and vice versa.

If she is going to be spending time outside I add a puffy coat (and possibly snow pants) after she is out of the car seat.

Brit's Luna154 · January 2013

I put DD in a jacket. It was 4 degrees here this morning. I pre-heated the car for 15 minutes, but it was still ice cold when we got in.

She has this one for very cold days: https://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/infants-0m-24m-jackets-amp-vests/infant-reversible-perrito-jacket_2.html#

And this one for less cold days: https://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/infants-0m-24m-jackets-amp-vests/infant-oso-hoodie_2.html

She also wears Uggs to keep her feet warm.

If she is in the stroller for a long time and it is cold outside, I layer the two jackets together.

dizzycooks · January 2013

I am in the minority apparently. DD wears a thin pea coat out and about. It comes down to her knees so I figure it keeps her warmer out and about than her fleece. I feel like I can tighten her carseat tight enough that she can't move around and I double check that its up on her shoulders. I would be concerned about a puffy jacket, but I put a light fleece blanket over her in the car as well. We haven't bothered with any shoes for her since she doesn't walk and I don't want to fight stuffing her feet in then.

bigbear · January 2013

With it being so cold, I'm skipping the jacket all together and doing the one piece suit. I feel that a jacket doesn't cut it. First off the legs are not as well protected and the jacket just seems so bulky and rides up all the time.

the one piece is super warm and I can have good layers underneath as well. No issues with car seat or stroller either. The hood is also big enough where she can wear a regular hat underneath and this just adds an additional layer. We also preheat the car before going out with her.

shortstuff15 · January 2013

I use a coat. In warmer weather (anywhere above -10 with no wind chill) I will un-do the zipper, pull the sides of the coat through with their arms and then do the harness up. After -10 or if there is any sort of crazy windchill the coats stay done up. For my 2 year old I don't re-adjust her harness at all unless I have washed her carseat (which I did right before Christmas) so I know that her harness is the same with her coat on as without the coat on. For my youngest I just tighten as much as I can.

On long trips I don't put coats on them because they would get way to hot. When it's -35 with a windchill of -45, yeah then the coats are staying on regardless. If we were to get in an accident at those temperatures (or even -20) and they didn't have a coat on, well they would freeze very quickly.

-10 is about 14 F, -20 is about -4 F, -35 is about -31 F. And just so you know, over Christmas it was actually -40 where we live. It is rarely above -10 from November to March here so we are dealing with these temperatures most of the winter.

talitha712 · January 2013

We just use a fleece with DD in the car. If it is really cold I keep a warm blanket in the car that I'll put over her or use to wrap around her to carry her inside somewhere. But I will not put her puffy coat on in the car. I know the chance of getting in an accident is small, but I cannot imagine the guilt I would feel if we were in an accident and DD was hurt even more than she would have been because I put her in a puffy coat. She's plenty warm enough in her fleece, hat, and blanket.

lp0 · January 2013

dhviel:
I use a coat.nbsp; In warmer weather anywhere above 10 with no wind chill I will undo the zipper, pull the sides of the coat through with their arms and then do the harness up.nbsp; After 10 or if there is any sort of crazy windchill the coats stay done up.nbsp; For my 2 year old I don't readjust her harness at all unless I have washed her carseat which I did right before Christmas so I know that her harness is the same with her coat on as without the coat on.nbsp; For my youngest I just tighten as much as I can.On long trips I don't put coats on them because they would get way to hot.nbsp; When it's 35 with a windchill of 45, yeah then the coats are staying on regardless.nbsp; If we were to get in an accident at those temperatures or even 20 and they didn't have a coat on, well they would freeze very quickly.10 is about 14 F, 20 is about 4 F, 35 is about 31 F.nbsp; And just so you know, over Christmas it was actually 40 where we live.nbsp; It is rarely above 10 from November to March here so we are dealing with these temperatures most of the winter.

Holy cow I would die in cold like that lol. I'm in New England and even that's too cold for me. Do you mind me asking where you live?

I always heat up the car before we get in. When I lug ds's car seat inside, I will put him in it with no coat and cover him tightly with a blanket and put his hat on. If I left the car seat in the car and I have to carry ds out there, I bundle him up in a thick fleece coat and hat. But I usually take it off when we get in the car if its more than 10 mins. Ds sweats to death in there if I leave it on him. We are going to be switching to a front facing car seat shortly so at that point I will probably leave the coat on because its much more open and I can't lug that big thing into the house. We don't spend anytime in the stroller or outside this time of year so I can't comment on that.

shortstuff15 · January 2013

LP0198:
dhviel:
I use a coat.nbsp; In warmer weather anywhere above 10 with no wind chill I will undo the zipper, pull the sides of the coat through with their arms and then do the harness up.nbsp; After 10 or if there is any sort of crazy windchill the coats stay done up.nbsp; For my 2 year old I don't readjust her harness at all unless I have washed her carseat which I did right before Christmas so I know that her harness is the same with her coat on as without the coat on.nbsp; For my youngest I just tighten as much as I can.On long trips I don't put coats on them because they would get way to hot.nbsp; When it's 35 with a windchill of 45, yeah then the coats are staying on regardless.nbsp; If we were to get in an accident at those temperatures or even 20 and they didn't have a coat on, well they would freeze very quickly.10 is about 14 F, 20 is about 4 F, 35 is about 31 F.nbsp; And just so you know, over Christmas it was actually 40 where we live.nbsp; It is rarely above 10 from November to March here so we are dealing with these temperatures most of the winter.
Holy cow I would die in cold like that lol. I'm in New England and even that's too cold for me. Do you mind me asking where you live?

I'm much further north and a lot west of you.... I am about 12 to 15 hours north of the Montanta Canadian/US border.

ETA: and over Christmas we were the second coldest place on earth next to some place in Russia. This is, of course, where people actually live. I'm pretty sure it was colder in the Artic/Antartica

namara5532 · January 2013

My carseat tech friend would have a long winded argument with most of you about puffy jackets in the carseat, but I won't argue on her behalf. I'm in NC, so I won't pretend to know much about keeping a baby warm in the car.

RN4Babies81 · January 2013

talitha712:
We just use a fleece with DD in the car. If it is really cold I keep a warm blanket in the car that I'll put over her or use to wrap around her to carry her inside somewhere. But I will not put her puffy coat on in the car. I know the chance of getting in an accident is small, but I cannot imagine the guilt I would feel if we were in an accident and DD was hurt even more than she would have been because I put her in a puffy coat. She's plenty warm enough in her fleece, hat, and blanket.

Same here. I always warm the car up first, put her in her fleece jacket, hat and mittens and wrap her in a warm, thick blanket to get her to the car.

For those that put their kids in carseats with puffy jackets, you need to do the jacket test. Put LO in the jacket and strap them in the seat. Then, without moving the straps, take LO out of the jacket and put them back in the seat. If you have to tighten the straps, the jacket is too thick. And the risk with jackets is that the child could be ejected from the vehicle in a crash. Not a risk I am willing to take. Warm your car up first!!!

natsgirl12 · January 2013

it is NOT safe to wear a bulky coat in a car seat. not ever. if you want to do a proper test to make sure the coat you're having your child wear is okay, do the following:

put the coat on
put the child in the car seat wearing the coat
tighten the car seat restraints
take the child out of the car seat without loosening the restraints
take the coat off
put the child in the car seat without the coat
put the restraints on
can you pinch the straps?
if you CAN pinch the straps, it is NOT safe to wear the coat while in the car seat
if you cannot pinch the straps, you can wear the coat in the car seat

it drives me crazy when people say stuff like, we aren't driving too far so it'll be fine. car accidents are car accidents. you don't have to drive a certain distance to have one. you're in the car. it can happen ANYWHERE! don't skip on car seat saftey. it's basically the MOST important thing you can do.

Huahine · January 2013

Thanks for the responses everyone. Apparently there are down coats that are safe for car seats. They just have to be thin enough to not compress too much.

https://thecarseatlady.blogspot.com/2011/01/coats-n-car-seats-are-not-safe-combo.html

We got him the Patagonia Down Sweater. I had an REI dividend check burning a hole in my pocket, so it wasn't too painful. And the orange version was on sale. All I need to do now is slap some ducktape on it and he'll be ready for his first bouldering adventure. snort. I probably negated the safety advantages of the thinness by buying a 2T, but I was determined that the kid was going to wear this thing for 2 winters.

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