I’m not a parentberry, but we just had a conversation about this at the preschool I work at, and thought I should make a post about it based on how many parents we have that don’t know about this and are putting their children in danger.
Don’t have a winter coat on your kid while they’re in their carseat. Little jackets are fine, but big, puffy snow coats are super dangerous. When kids have one of those on, the harness of the carseat is too loose and far away from the child and can’t work properly, and won’t hold the kid in safely in the event of a crash. Consider putting them in a little fleece jacket for the carseat, and putting the bigger one when you’re at your destination, or saving it just for playing. If you’re worried your kid will get too cold (in the 10-15 minutes it takes for the car to warm up ), try keeping blankets in the car, putting the winter coat on backwards after the kid’s buckled, or getting a specially-made carseat coat (yes, they make those).
Please keep your kids safe this winter season! It’s really bothering everyone at my preschool to see kids going out and coming in in big snowsuits, even when the weather doesn’t even call for one, because of overprotective and overcautious parents who are worried their little angels are going to be cold for a few minutes. Kids are tougher than you think!
Okay… I’ve been thinking I’m really silly for keeping my biggest, fluffiest sweater in the car for the little girl I nanny to use as a blanket when I have her take off her coat to sit in her seat… but now I feel very proud instead. Thanks for your post, Kip, and for keeping our babies safe! I will be leaving that “blanket” in there for my Margot for the foreseeable winter.
It’s surprising how many people don’t know this or who see the social media posts about this as being judgemental…so don’t care. It’s so important to keep the little ones safe and there are so many ways to do it. I know not every person lives in a safe area where they can leave a car running but there are still ways to keep their kids carseat safe. Some parents/caregivers I know just wrap them in a blanket to get them that little distance from car to destination. We put our son in a fleece jacket and his puffer coat, then take his coar off before buckling him in, then give him blankets.
It’s also important to make sure anyone else who is responsible for picking your child up is on the same page. Car seat safety in general, let alone winter safety, is relatively “new” so we’ve gotten a lot of “back in my day” responses.
I love using bunting bags in the car too! I have two for different temps and if it’s that cold, blanket over top too! You can also get car seat covers that go over the seat after they’re strapped in
I’m with Rosebeth on this one haha when it’s gets to -40 and your flesh freezes in 90 seconds, 10-15 minutes matters, big time. And that cold lasts weeks so staying home isn’t an option.
Not dissing the safety aspect at all, and agree that awareness should be spread, coats DO need to come off in car seats, period. But not all situations are as simple as parents being over protective of “their little angels” in the cold outside. Your tone, OP, as a non parent, isn’t coming across great. I hope you use a bit more tact IRL when trying to educate parents.
Thanks for your post, [name_m]Kip[/name_m]! As someone who is not a parent, it’s baffling to me how many parents aren’t educated about stuff like this. It’s extremely important to keep babies safe in their car seats, and this is a huge part of that!
), try keeping blankets in the car, putting the winter coat on backwards after the kid’s buckled, or getting a specially-made carseat coat (yes, they make those).
