I know this is a random post, but I get so many strange looks when we pull our kids out of their car seats in the winter and they are only wearing a light jacket. I know the people are thinking; "what kind of parents don't put their kids in a coat?" The truth is that most coats will compress in a car accident and the car seat won't protect your child like it should.
It's easy to check and see whether a baby's winter coat or infant snowsuit is too thick to be safe in a car seat. This test will show you how thick the coat is and how much the coat will compress during a crash.
- Take the car seat into the house.
- Put the winter coat or snowsuit on the child.
- Put the child in the car seat and buckle the harnesses as you normally would before car travel.
- Adjust the straps to the appropriate fit for your child.
- Take the child out of the car seat without loosening the straps at all.
- Take the coat off your child.
- Put the child back in the car seat and buckle the harnesses again, but do not tighten the straps. If you can fit more than two fingers under the harness at the child's shoulder bone, the coat is too thick and is not safe for use with the car seat.
I know this takes extra effort but it is worth it.
5 comments:
I had never thought of this before. Great info! p.s. I have never noticed that your kids are wearing light jackets.
I always feel bad putting my kids in a winter coat in the car because Jared and I can take ours off when we are hot but the kids don't have that luxury. So I am equally guilty, but not for such a noble reason.
Thanks for posting this, I get a lot of comments and teasing from family about being a safety freak, but hey, you do what you can to protect your kids. We are pretty anal about the car seats, after having a friend lose a son because he was in a booster and not a 5-point harness, we decided to have them all in 5-point harnesses until they are at least 65 pounds.
A simple solution I found for the coat problem-they wear their heavy coats into the car if it's a really cold day, and then take them off to buckle. They each have a "car quilt" that is small enough to lay on their chest and lap to help keep them warm. They can also use their coat on top of their buckles to keep warm. Sometimes we even put them in a light jacket under their coat, take the coat off at the car, and then they can put it back on when they get out of the car. Yeah it takes an extra minute every time, but it's a minute I'm willing to give up to make sure they are safe.
We learned this in our car seat safety class we took before we had Quinn, it's great info, thanks so much for the reminder.
Christina
Yeah, I agree. I have never cared a whole lot what people thought of me or what I was doing, and if it's possible, I am caring even less now that I have kids. Don't judge me, you make him get in the cart! Good luck! Why didn't I take him out of sacrament mtg. before he screamed? Believe me, if I would have had a warning, I would have.
In our last ward there was a little girl (I think she's 6 or 7) that was always barefoot at church. I wondered about it but who am I to judge? It's not like Jackson's hair is ever flat, even if I comb and gel it. But eventually I heard her mom telling someone that she decided it's just not worth the fight, which puts her in a mad mood for church. And she's right. And so are you!
So don't act like you know me, my child WILL be safe if you are on your cell phone and ram into me. (speaking of don't judge, it's late, and Blake is not going to bed...sorry for the rant but I have nothing to do!!)
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