Kids , Winter Coats N Cars

oh, ppppffffffttttttt on the 'dangers'. we look for dragons in the ductwork any more.
if you're going to be in the car for a while, say more than 15 or 20 minutes, it just makes sense to take the coats off. but if you're just running an older child to school or are going to be in and out doing errands or something, leave the dang coats on.
sometimes convenience wins out over minor discomfort.
ETA- i am justly rebuked! i was thinking of them getting hot, not sliding out from the straps. i'll leave my OR up there, but take back the 'ppppffffttttt.' thanks for the eddication, dears! :)
khairete
S.

Yes, I always take their coats off. Typically, I will warm the car up for 15 minutes before bringing them out, and they wear a thin fleece under their coats. If they are cold in the car I will put their coat over their chest and lap. I also always keep extra blankets in the car in case we break down or something which they occasionally use when I don't have a chance to prewarm the car. Their safety is definitely worth a little inconvenience to M..

I had no idea. My kids are 14 and 18, and this wasn't anything that was out there when my kids were little. They are still alive! But if there were guidelines from the AAP that suggested removing coats at the time that my kids were in car seats, I'd probably have done it.

Thankfully my boys are past the car seat stage. When they were in car seats they wore their winter coats. Where I live it just is not possible to take them off. We have been 40 below for two months straight now, and there is no way you can put a child in such a cold car without a jacket. The car seat itself is freezing, the car is freezing. The risks of frostbite and hypothermia would be far greater than the risk being thrown out of a carseat in a collision. I suppose it would work if you kept the carseat in the house, along with a sleeping bag, then you let the car warm up for 25 minutes before leaving the house, then installed the carseat, put the child in, wrapped him up in the sleeping bag etc. Then there would be the getting the child into his jacket when you get to the destination. Maybe if you have a van you can do this with the doors closed, but in a car your child would be pretty cold if you have to open the door to get them dressed. I just can't see how this could work in a cold climate.

ETA: I can see how suggestions of fleece sweaters and backward coats would work when it is below zero, but not forty below zero.

ETA: I live in the coldest city in the world with a population over 600 000.

Oh man. Suz T and I usually agree about a lot, but I must respectfully disagree with her today.
Most accidents happen within a 10 mile radius of your home. That is the "drop the kids off at school" "run to the grocery store" "mail a couple of letters" close to your house!
As someone who has watched my child almost die from a car accident, and he was buckled perfectly in his car seat, I will take the extra minute to make sure that their little bodies don't get tossed about in the car if we are hit by someone.
L.

I am shocked at how many people are going "poo poo" to this like it's no big deal. It really is a big deal. There is so much slack in the straps when a child is buckled in a car seat with winter jackets that a child can be thrown from the car, and have been thrown from a car.
I share this blog post all the time. It has pictures that illustrate just how dangerous this is.
http://carseatsmadeeasy.blogspot.com/2010/12/keeping-warm...
None of the pictures are graphic accident pictures just in case you are worried about that. It demonstrates, using children in their winter gear and then what it looks like without the winter gear, all the slack that is there in the straps. It demonstrates safe ways of keeping kids warm without leaving bulky jackets on.
Isn't your child's safety worth a few extra steps to do things right?

You do things like put them in fleece jackets, run them to the car and put the coat on backwards. Or you use a poncho. Or you ask the kid to wear the jacket backwards TO the car and unzip them to let them put their own arms in (my DD can put her own arms in). I like 3 in 1 jackets because a hat and the inner lining gets us to the car and it's a simple matter to throw on the other layer when we arrive.

Infants can be in a fleece jumper or outfit with a shower cap style cover over them (NoJo makes one).

For those that say "pppfft", let your kid slide out of the seat and be thrown around the car. *I* will take a few minutes to make sure she's safe and I'm not negating the car seat by putting her in a heavy coat first. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/12/winter-co... is just one of MANY reports that say heavy coats and straps are a bad idea. It's not comfort. It's SAFETY. Remember that many accidents occur just a mile or two from home.

And like someone else posted, we keep a cheap fleece blanket in the car always. You can even buy a fleece remnant for a few bucks. Fleece can be very warm.

I also grew up in MN where you looked like the stay puft marshmallow man in winter, moon boots and all. I still think it's feasible to take coats off or wrap in a blanket and run to the car.

I can't believe someone actually said convenience wins out over minor discomfort! so, if your child DIES or has a spinal injury in a car accident b/c you're too LAZY(yes, that would be the correct word to use here) to take their coat off, that's a minor discomfort for your child???? good grief, I feel sorry for your children.

If it is really cold outside(below freezing), I'll typically quickly unzip the coat as they are getting in the car, buckle them in, and then slide the coat back over the arms backwards - they're out of the coat for all of 20 seconds, then we pull the coat off, unbuckle, put coat on the right way. If it's not super cold, I just throw the coat in the car to put on when we get to wherever it is that we're going. They usually are wearing a long sleeve shirt and a sweatshirt, they've never complained, and all three of mine remind M., they know it's not safe.

Whenever I traveled with kids when I was living in Idaho (the city I lived in was ranked #14 for the coldest cities in the nation. We even pulled ahead of several Alaskan cities...) we would have kids wear a warm, but light jacket that was safe to wear in the seat. We would walk (or carry) outside wrapped in a blanket, then quicky buckle in and tuck the blanket around the kid. It also solved the problem of kids overheating once the car warmed up. :)

If we were going somewhere the kids would be outside for longer than it took to get from the car to a heated building, we would just carry the warm coat and put it on them backwards once they were buckled in. (Using the blanket to get to and from the house to the car... We would just use it to keep our legs warm in the car, or toss it in the middle.)

I still do this with my daughter, actually. We don't have any heat in our car, and with this cold spell we have had she has needed something to stay warm in the car. So, jacket on, blanket on, safe and happy child. :)

Really, it wasn't much of a hassle at all. (Though some people like to act like it is...)

ETA: I've always been pretty anal about car seat safety. I was in a car accident right before I found out I was pregnant with my DD; the other car was a woman who sped through a red light because she was late getting her 3 week old to his well child check. We ran right into the door where the baby's seat was. Luckily, we were turning left, so it was more of a glancing blow, at a relatively slow speed. It was enough to total our truck though, and the other car that hit her as well (who was also turning left, but from the other direction.) . When I got out to go talk to the other driver her baby was hanging 1/2 way out of the seat, and she was freaking out because he wasn't reacting to the wreck. (I never did find out he was injured at all...). I hate to imagine how much worse it could have been if we happened to have been going straight, and not slowed down for that turn. It was the next day that I found out I was pregnant, so it really made an impression on M. to NOT take the guidelines put in place to protect our children for granted.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2012/12/winter-co...

Dangerous and both the AAP and NHTSA say don't do it. We have warmer light weight coats and add a blanket if it's really cold.

Cover them with a heavy afghan while in the car.

Yes it is a big inconvenience.

If they are infants they have those covers for the car seat so baby stays warm and snug. I think the article was more about baby's and snowsuits not coats per say. But I could be wrong. However I do not take them out in this weather without a coat on. It has been minus zero for 23 of the last 35 days I'm not taking a kid to the car coat of, on, of, on while I stand out in that weather. Just make sure your straps are good and snug and when possible a 5pt harness not just across the lap.

My kids wear their coats at all times. The car is -10 when we come out In the morning - I'm not going to run it for 20 minutes to get the heat up enough for them to be coatless.

When they were in car seats, this was not a recommendation.

mine's 12 and big enough to sit in the front with M......i am embarassed to say that i never heard of taking his coat off during his car seat chapter. one more blessing to thank God for; keeping us safe in my ignorance. is this new? best of everything to you all. :-) S.

My son usually doesn't wear his coat. He takes it on and off. Lately, though, he has been wearing it because it is just too damn cold to be outside in a car without a coat.

My daughters both just wear their coats.

Yes, I should take them off, but call M. dangerous. When I was their age I wasn't even in a seatbelt.

My kids will buckle in, and then just put their arms through the jacket (like they are wearing it backwards).

As an infant, I used one of those fleece covers that would go over the entire snap-in car seat/carrier, instead of a coat on the baby.

As a preschooler, I leave him in his coat. It is just too cold to get into a freezing car with no coat on. I do the best I can by tightening the straps as tightly as possible after he's in, and making sure the chest strap is chest height (not belly button) because that also makes a big difference in how well the straps hold.

I have to say I am from the old school where you wore your coat in the car. Perhaps it was because the heating systems were not like they are now. I knew one person who would heat her car so hot that you could wear a bikini in it in the winter. When you got out you were wet from sweating without your coat on. That was/is overkill on heating.

I have to agree with Canuck about heating up a car for 30 minutes to run errands at the cost of gas these days. Yes, I too, lived in Canada where it is COLD in the winter with average winter day -30 before wind chill and no one put coats on when they got out of the car they wore their coats. In fact, they had plastic sheets on the side windows so that you could see out of the window because your breath frosted the windows over and you could not see out.

So it goes if you live in the northern part of the country you do things a bit different than in the southern part where the temps are not quite the same.

the other S.

I never did. I live in south Louisiana, but we do get the occasional hard winter. My daughter went in the car seat, coat and all.

Wow - you moms are good. When my kids were in car seats (10+ yrs ago) there was never a warning about coats and carseats. We adjusted the straps to be a little longer - they buckled across the chest - and adjusted them shorter when the weather got warmer and coats got thinner. When it's 12 degrees I don't want to sit in the car without a coat on. Havent' they figured out how to make car seats with winter coast adjustable straps?

We always take the coat off and on. He just turned 3, but knows the drill and is ready to help. He wears a light weight vest in the car over his shirt. A blanket if needed. Sometimes I warm the car up for 5mins or so, that way it is warm air that is blowing. To the car we either coat on, wrap in my coat or blanket once we are out and about.

If you feel it is important to take off the coat, you can keep blankets in the car just for covering them to help trap in the body heat & keep warm. You can get cheap fleece blankets for $5 at a number of stores, & either fold them over double, or use two.

* disclaimer - I am not a mom, I don't use car seats, & I don't know if this would pose any additional safety risks, it just seems a possible solution to the issue.

T.

ETA: Great question MommyJen! Thanks especially to Katrina A. & Wee12adopt for the links to articles discussing & illustrating this issue.

My niece is 2yrs, & I have a nephew/niece on the way. I will be sharing this information with my sister - living in Chicago, they will need to deal with these weather considerations when travelling for years to come!

Even though I don't have kids of my own, I know plenty of friends with little ones. Unless they are going to be playing out in the snow, there isn't a need for a big puffy snow-suit.

It seems like the appropriate solution to the issue of safety when travelling is to have one or two non-bulky layers, and a warm coat for travelling to/from the car. Then, the coat comes off, child gets buckled in, & fleece blankets draped over them.

I know it can be hard to keep the back of a car as toasty as the front, where most of the heating vents are. For those extremely cold days, or for vehicles with no vents in the rear, do a quick search on Google or Amazon for Travel Car Heaters. They plug into the power supply in your car & provide a heat-fan source of warmth for your smallest passengers.

Here's what I found in a quick search on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3...

Hope that helps!! T. =-)

I'm in the south, but frequently travel to the northeast. I try to warm up the car before we go in it. Once, in, coat comes off, kids get buckled, coat goes back on reversed (turn jacket around and it acts like a blanket with their arms through the arm holes). The car warms up pretty quickly, too.

I'm with my new nickname, when my kids were babies in the carrier we used a JJ Cole bundle M. and had blankets on top. Once they got older and forward facing, they just keep coats on. If it is really that dangerous to have a coat on then they should modify car seats or make special ones to sell up north here!

Yes. Accidents are more likely on the ice than other driving times. The other driver may not be near as good as we are...

I get the vehicle warm and I only take the kids to things we can't do without.

Getting them to school. They were their coats to the car but take them off when they get in. Sometimes they just put them over their lap. Then when they start to get out they unbuckle and slip them on before opening the door. There's no reason to remove everything on short trips, the hats and scarves can stay on or loose around their neck.

When I go do errands I do them when the kids are at school or in classes. I don't take them running errands. If they don't need to be somewhere they don't need to be out with M.. It also gives M. some grown up time.

And yes, I take my coat off too. Always have. I use the floor heaters and if my face gets a bit warm I crack the window a half inch for fresh air.

We are in chicago and I have been wondering the same thing as well. This winter has been ridiculous. Would love links to some car-safe coats...

I have 2 children (a 3 1/2 year old and a 13 month old) and both of them have performance fleece jackets that they wear in their carseats...if the car is cold, they get a blanket over them...when it's time to get out of the car, we put a medium weight coat on, along with their hats and mittens...We make sure the heat is always warm in the car too, but they do not wear winter coats in their carseats - and never have. These sub-zero temps have been difficult to deal with, but I'd rather put their safety first.

Yes, I take the kids' coats off--every time. It is, indeed a pain, but I do it. Right now I have 2 that I must do it for. I cringe every time we have to get in/out of the car.

yes we use Columbia / Hanna Andersson or LL Bean fleece jackets/buntings it's great for the car seats :)

I had no idea but our kids never liked wearing their coats once inside the
car.
They immediately taek them off.
I've always warmed up the car & cover them with blankets I keep in the
car.

Yes, every single time. We are in Chicago and it gets seriously cold. As long as my child (almost 4) is in a car seat, she will have her coat removed. I try and warm the car up (it doesn't always happen though) and I put her coat and hat on. When we get to the car she or I takes her coat off, she sits down, and I strap her in and then put her coat on too if her backwards- she likes to stick her arms in the sleeves. Even if I have multiple errands I still do this. Nothing is more important to M. than keeping her safe. In the previous years we got a polar fleece bunting from Columbia sportswear. She wore one from 18m-3 years.

I never adjust the straps, so in no coat weather the straps are tight and when the kids get in or out the straps are not adjusted looser ever. When the weather gets cold I put the kids in their seats and if they can't get their arms in without loosening it then I help with that and then I unzip the coat and pull it out of the part by the side of their body and usually the carseat can be clicked at the usual tightness at that point. So the coat stays on their arms and behind their back all the time basically but because the straps are not loosened I know that it is safe still

I put my son in a Columbia fleece bunting snowsuit. It's very thin material but it's also very warm.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AKGTXEI?cache=41407eb9e2...