Car seats & Coats: Finding the right Gear for your child

As the first snow falls I realize that it is finally time for me to make one of the biggest decisions of the season when it comes to my toddler: what winter coat should we get? Of course I want to get her something very cute but more importantly, we need to get something that will keep her warm and safe. Baby P is in the car quite a bit, going to and from the sitter and on outings with mom and dad, so in this area, we have to make sure we are on our P’s and Q’s.

Everyone has seen the crash dummy tests and news show segments showing how puffy coats + seemingly tight straps can leave your child open to serious harm during an accident, big or small. If you haven’t please go over to youtube and scare yourself straight like I did. Because of this I have been putting off buying the cute, pink marshmallow coats I’ve seen at Target until I find the right safe coat.

Currently, she is wearing a jacket with a fleece liner, on top of a hoodie from Carters and long sleeve shirts. This along with a hat, boots, and jeans has been keeping her warm but soon the weather will dip and layering might not be enough.


Jennie of carseatblog.com has a pretty good test of car seat- coat safety. She writes:

What constitutes a good coat for the car seat? Anything that doesn’t add a lot of extra compressible bulk to the child will do. That might be a sweater, fleece jacket, or a packable down jacket.
 To see if your child’s outerwear is ok for the car, do the Jacket Slack Challenge:
 1. Put the jacket/coat on your child, put him in his seat, and tighten the harness.
2. WITHOUT LOOSENING THE HARNESS, unbuckle your child and take him out.
3. Take off the jacket, then put him back in the seat and re-buckle.
If there’s only a little bit of extra slack in the harness (or none at all), the jacket is good! If there’s a significant amount of slack, consider another option.
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