Winter coat/carseat safety ?

DanandVan · November 2013

I recently read an article about how unsafe it is to place babies in their carseats wearing winter coats or snowsuits. We live in Chicago, so its going to be a long, cold winter! I was looking at jj cole bundle me covers, but reviews claim those aren't safe either!
Any insight or advice? What is everyone doing to bundle their little ones? Thanks!

SLGILL1978 · November 2013

I am using a fleece and blankets. She has a couple nice thick blankets I only use for the car. Since baby is more mobile I will probably get her a coat for when she's not in her car seat. Like if I am at the grocer's and she is riding in the cart.

ASmallWonder · November 2013

Unfortunately, you're right that heavy coats and Bundle Mes aren't safe. The Bundle Mes require the harness to thread through it and since they weren't tested that way they can cause the car seat to fail in a crash. But they do sell other covers called shower cap style and those are totally safe. Beyond that, a single layer fleece (I like the micro fleeces from Old Navy or Carters) along with hat, mittens and a blanket work really well. Another popular option is a fleece car seat poncho

Jbosarge85 · November 2013

I just take the coat off when we get to the car, strap her into her car seat and then put it on backwards. She gets a kick out of it.

LisaLisa1980 · November 2013

You can wrap them in a blanket to the car, or put them in a light fleece jacket, but no puffy snow suits! They compress in a crash & baby will eject

Leni410 · November 2013

We are in the chicago burbs and I just bought a fleece snowsuit thing from old navy. I figured between that, her clothes and a thick blanket she should be warm.

kmc84 · November 2013

@Leni410
If its the same snowsuit I saw in Old Navy the other day, it's way too thick! Make sure the one you have is just a single layer, no fill or 'puff' to it

nanabanana06 · November 2013

You don't need anything more than a fleece jacket and a blanket going to and from the car. Once in the car you run the heater. Over heating is pretty bad as well dince babies can't take off a layer like we can. We either take jackets off once in the car or I buy special fleece car jackets.

Leni410 · November 2013

Its the same thickness as a hoodie just goes over the whole body

kmc84 · November 2013

Leni410 said:
Its the same thickness as a hoodie just goes over the whole body

Nice! I wish our store carried them! We tried it on our baby and it was so puffy, she looked like Ralphie from A Christmas Story-'I can't move my arms!' Lol!

Leni410 · November 2013

Which one did you try? We put her in it today Ave she was her usual wiggly self. I should probably mention that she's 7.5 months wearing 12-18 month clothes

Agordy13 · November 2013

im SO GLAD someone else is voicing this concern as well! I got so frustrated trying to get my son in his car seat this am with his coat so I just took it off him all together and put on his fleece and hat. I live in Jersey so fall/winter will be long for us as well.

kmc84 · November 2013

Leni410 said:
Which one did you try? We put her in it today Ave she was her usual wiggly self. I should probably mention that she's 7.5 months wearing 12-18 month clothes

This one https://m.oldnavy.gap.com/product.html?dn=op633872012&dv=1&shopid=1&pdn=oc73891
I wound up ordering a different one from North Face that a friends baby
had.

My lo is almost 8 months and is in 9 month clothes.

Leni410 · November 2013

Yep that's the one we have but it doesn't seem that puffy to me.

nanabanana06 · November 2013

Yeah, that jacket isn't safe, at all. It really should be just a jacket and a thin one at that.

Leni410 · November 2013

https://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/a/carseatcoat.htm

Thankfully when I tested the coat tonight I could only get one finger between her and the strap

LisaLisa1980 · November 2013

Leni410 said:
https://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/a/carseatcoat.htm

Thankfully when I tested the coat tonight I could only get one finger between her and the strap

Are you going to be putting that fleece thing over her clothes each time? You run the risk of over heating

Leni410 · November 2013

Yep, over a onsie and leggings (that seems to be her uniform

)

ASmallWonder · November 2013

Leni410 said:

https://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/a/carseatcoat.htm Thankfully when I tested the coat tonight I could only get one finger between her and the strap

Just a note - the finger under the straps isn't the way to test for slack anymore because someone finally realized that everyone has different sized fingers

You want to make sure you can't pinch slack in the harness at their collarbone (you don't put a "helper finger" under the strap - just a straight pinch." The thing is though, the pinch test is irrelevant if you've got something puffy on them because the "puff" is just going to compress in a crash no matter how tight you've gotten the harness. You want to put baby in the car seat in regular clothes and tight the harness. If you can put the baby in with your chosen coat and clip the harness without having to make it bigger, it's ok. If you have to adjust it more than a hair, it's too puffy.

kmc84 · November 2013

If you read the discription of the outfit it says fleece with a double lining, way too thick for carseat use. You can only use a single layer of fleece. (As a side note, if my LO wore that outfit if the car, she would be soaked in sweat. I know your miles may vary

)

LisaLisa1980 · November 2013

kmc84 said:
If you read the discription of the outfit it says fleece with a double lining, way too thick for carseat use. You can only use a single layer of fleece. (As a side note, if my LO wore that outfit if the car, she would be soaked in sweat. I know your miles may vary )

Exactly. OP, I'd look for something else.

green867 · November 2013

Thanks for posting this! We live in Minnesota so obviously this is a big concern for our family as well. We'll be sticking to our single layer of fleece and blankets then!

JPinkman · November 2013

We use blankets on top of the straps but no coat underneath for the carriers. I did that with DD#1 and will do so with DD#2.

Once DD#1 was older - her second winter - so she was probably about a year and a half and out of the carrier, if it was a short trip (30 minutes or less), she will wear a coat in her seat. For any long trip, I would take the coat off once in the car and then put it back on to get out.

MrsWindyCity · November 2013

We live in Chicago and just use a thin fleece in the car. We've always done the 3-in-1 coats so if the kids need the outside part, we just add it after getting out of the car. But as others have said, there is really no reason to be super warm when you're INSIDE the car.

=Lee=B · November 2013

I'm in Canada where it is not unusual to have long stretches where -25 to -35 celcius (-15 to-31 F) is the norm. While I get the 'there is no need to be layered up in the car' idea please note that many of us are strapping an infant into a frozen cold car seat and in a car where it will take a good 5minutes for any heat at all to be blowing through the vents. Then the time needed to dethaw everything in the car. Here the car is still quite cold before we get to our destination. So...layers are needed. Of course, the layers can't be under the straps but the layers are needed.

For my 8month old right now (-5C, 23F) I am using a warm fleece sleeper with blankets. When I unstrap her I shove her in a ridiculously massive snowsuit that turns her into a immobile star fish. But...we've yet to actually hit cold so the fleece sleeper will not cut it in the car seat for long...I might find a fleece jumper to wear...or just a warn layer under a fleece sleeper. It would help if she could wear a hat in the car. Right now the hat gets pulled down over her face when she moves in the car seat. The other day I found her with it over her eyes and nose when we got home. So now I need to investigate what hat works in the car seat!!

Crequito · November 2013

On cold mornings when DD has to go to my MILs for the day I just keep her microfleece sleeper onesie on her, put on a hat and tuck a fleece or other warm/soft blanket over her once she's in the carseat. The hard part is getting her to keep the hat on!

Angela814 · November 2013

You need this style of carseat cover:
https://www.amazon.com/JJ-Cole-Seat-Cover-Khaki/dp/B003ZUXQXU

We have a cheaper version from Walmart that has worked just fine.

RibbitGrl930 · November 2013

Jbosarge85 said:

I just take the coat off when we get to the car, strap her into her car seat and then put it on backwards. She gets a kick out of it.

Oh, my gosh! That's a great idea!

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