Did you know puffy winter coats can prevent a child car seat harness from working properly?
As we wrap our kids up warm this Winter, be mindful of the risks of wearing puffy winter coats as you click your little ones into their children’s car seats
As the temperature drops our first thought is to keep our little ones all snug and warm in their adorable puffy coats. However, it’s super important that we remember some basic car seat safety that often gets forgotten in the colder months.
Did you know by leaving your child’s coat on in their car seat, it genuinely causes a problem as it creates a gap between your child and their safety harness. If there was a collision, the harness would not be as close to your child’s body and therefore not able to properly restrain them. During the winter months the safest way to strap your child in their car seat is to remove their coats and jackets and then pull the harness tight enough that you can just get two fingers between your child and the straps.
A simple test to check if your child’s coat is too bulky or not….
- Strap your child into the car seat with their coat on and tighten the harness as you would normally.
- Without loosening the straps, take your child out of the car seat and remove their coat. leaving the harness exactly as it was, strap them back in without their coat on.
- If you can pinch any of the harness webbing on the shoulder area between your fingers, the jacket was too bulky.
It’s so important to remember that if your little one cannot be safely buckled into their car seat with their coat on, simply take the coat off. You can always put the coat or a blanket over them after you have buckled them in to keep them warm if you wish. Or if it is a really cold morning why not put the heaters on for a bit before heading out in the car.
