What does your baby wear in the car seat?

[IsThisYourSanderling]

And do you use special blankets for the car seat, or just normal cellular or knitted ones, or fleeces, or what?

How do you know if they're wearing too much or too little?

I'm due next month, so it won't be summer anymore, but not cool enough for a pramsuit either - but then, maybe a pramsuit would never be suitable for a carseat even in winter. I just don't know. Help!

[Passmethecrisps]

The guidance is nothing too big like a puffy jacket or pramsuit. I was handed down an ace cover for my maxi-cosi. It sat in the seat attaches by the straps and zipped all around her if need be or I could just flip it over if it wasn't that cold.

If not that then a blanket tucked round. The straps should be tight to the body really

[icklekid]

No to pramsuit in car seat- they shouldn't weat coats or anything that padded as will stop car seat protecting properly.

Are you thinking of car seat for car journeys or for being used on pushchair? In car generally will be warm so I would just add a blanket- fleece or cellular both fine. I never really used car seat on pushchair for more than popping up to dr or similar so can't advise...sorry

[PotteringAlong]

No pram suit! Never ever put a baby in a pram suit or a coat in a car seat. Just put them in their clothes with a blanket over them. You can also get cosy toes for a car seat but you won't need it in September. You've got a heater in your car; how cold does it get?

www.goodeggcarsafety.com/blog/winter-coats-and-car-seats-the-winter-facts-every-parent-needs-to-know.html

[Andsenditsoaring]

Just a vest on a longer journey. Rarely a blanket.

Never a coat or even a cardigan

[ohidoliketobe]

Pramsuits/ padded coats aren't recommended for car seats as you can't get the straps fastened tight enough. When DS was a baby and it was a cold day it was whatever he was wearing around the house (vest and babygro) plus a cardi and a little cotton hat, once strapped in I covered him up with a normal knitted or fleect blanket.

R.E. If they're wearing too much or too little - feel the chest or back to see if it feels cold or hot. If we were in the car for a while I used to take the blanket off once the car heating had reached a decent temperature

[Passmethecrisps]

Bearing in mind that if you do follow guidance and not pop doc in a jacket before going in the car seat you may get the eyebrow raise of doom from those who believe baby will expire if not constantly covered in 384738 layers.

That was another plus of the cozitoes thing I had.

I always wear my jacket in the car as I don't have the heating up and feel the cold so I did find it hard to judge when people said it wasn't cold in a car anyway.

[jpclarke]

I can't recommend the wallaboo enough. They are made of sheepskin.

[Itsabeautifuldaytosavelives]

My DD was born in December and we were given a Morrck blanket, it sits in the car seat, the straps go through holes and then you just wrap it over them. Like pp I just unwrapped it if she got too hot. I really liked it, she was very rarely in anything other than what she was wearing inside, maybe a cardigan if it was really cold.

[BexusSugarush]

I personally hate pram suits, just for the inconvenience of having to take it off as soon as you get inside anywhere warm, which can often mean waking a blissfully sleeping baby. I'd say maybe a warm (but not too thick) coat and then a blanket over their legs. Or just make sure your car is warm. NEVER pramsuits in cars, like everyone says. Blankets are so much easier, as can be added and removed without much fuss.

[Nan0second]

No coat. Thin cardigan max. We had a morrck blanket and it was fabulous!

[IsThisYourSanderling]

Thanks for being so helpful, everyone.

Ok, so no to pramsuit or anything thick. Indoor wear + blanket sounds like the way to go. We live in the north of Scotland and the car is absolutely freezing in winter before the heater has warmed it up, so would a little hat and mitts be ok? I could take them off once the heater has started to make an impression?

Those Morrck blankets look amazing and I was very close to buying one before I realised that they look like they only work if you have an Isofix seat? For reasons of Hyundai being a terrible car manufacturer, we have to use a strap-in seat, so there's no room to wrap a Morrck around the legs (strap in the way), and there's absolutely no room at the feet to tuck it under like in the videos on their site. I think I could make a Morrck-style thing myself though with a smaller blanket, just by cutting strap holes...

[Itsabeautifuldaytosavelives]

what car seat do you have? Our first stage car seat is the silver cross simplicity and it was perfect in that. There are holes in the blanket for the 2 shoulder straps and then for the strap that the buckle of the car seat is on if that makes sense? Was hoping to get the bigger blanket at the end of the year when she's in a fixed car seat, we're in Scotland too.

[Itsabeautifuldaytosavelives]

And most of the time we tucked the blanket up over the top of her legs rather than under, esp once she started to get longer, it does the same thing.

[Shosha1]

My Lovely DDIL is due in December, and I'm going to knit her one of these

[Afreshstartplease]

We have a star wrap for baby due in October , if it's not cold enough for that then just a thin blanket

[NapQueen]

Mine all had a sleepsuit and vest and then I'd clip them into the seat then tuck a blanket around them before belting them in.

[TheLegendOfBeans]

My DD was born in Feb and we put her in a thin onesie from Primark with her long sleeve vest and tights underneath.

Note: this was only for short journeys and our car is basically a fridge. Plus Feb 2016 was mind bendingly cold!!

Ps: I love your username OP, hoping you're a HMHB fan like me!

[Cocolocos]

We have a Morrck and a car seat that's not Isofix, and it fits fine. It should be ok for you I reckon.

[Floopledoop]

I second star blankets. They are great for the car seat and out and about. No fiddling around with fastenings. Ours was from tuppence and crumble.

[Cellardoor23]

The general rule of thumb I go by is one more layer than you are wearing. My DC practically lives in sleep suits at the moment lol. Layering is great as well as you can add/remove when required i.e cardigans and blankets. (Quite easy to do in a car seat) The last thing you want to do is be faffing around with fiddly outfits. Like others have said the best way to check if your baby is too hot or cold is to feel the back of their neck and tummy. Hands and feet aren't usually a good indication. When my DS was born his hands and feet were always cold, didn't realise til I read up about it that it was something to do with their circulation still developing.

I live in Scotland too and the weather as always has been 4 seasons in one day!

Hope this helped

[MrsExcited]

Morrucks have holes for all types of straps.

They can be used with any car seat.

[Doje]

I used to heat the car up for 5 mins before I put DS1 in it.

[RaspberryBeret34]

I used to put a fleece suit over clothes for the car (in winter) especially for short journeys where the car wouldn't warm up too much. They're thin enough to belt straps over safely. Sonething like this:
www.next.co.uk/go110018s1?gclid=CM3ci6Xrwc4CFcG7GwodnpEJog&dclid=CMDbv6Xrwc4CFawR0wod_cAAgg

Obviously if you hear the car up a lot it could get too warm but it was a handy extra all over layer.

[IsThisYourSanderling]

Star blankets - they look nice, love the colours, but how to they work with putting the straps through, as it doesn't look like they have holes in them for that?

With Morrck, I meant that the blankets look too big to fit and wrap underneath the car seatbelt, which goes across the bottom of the car seat where baby's legs will be. In all the demo videos, there's no seatbelt getting in the way, and it looks like a lot of spare material at the bottom. In our car seat, there's no space at the bottom.

It's a bit frustrating tbh as I won't actually know whether a Moorck would fit unless I buy one, buy they're expensive (even on ebay) so it's a big faff to buy and resell if it doesn't fit, and I'm just not sure it will. The star blankets look smaller and a better size with less fabric bunching at the legs (where the seatbelt is), but doesn't seem to have holes for straps? Do you just cut your own holes?

Like the idea of pre-warming the car!

Thanks everybody, this is really helpful

[IsThisYourSanderling]

Oh, and TheLegendofBeans yes, HMHB fan here! I'm very impressed that you spotted the reference