Do you always remove babies coats etc before putting in car seat?? Even when it's freezing?

[Chopsicle]

I don't have time to heat the car up before putting my 9 month old in and it's started to get a frost so it's really cold at the minute.
Too cold for me to put him in without warm clothing.
What do people do? Obviously I want him to be safe but also don't want him to get cold..

You can buy back-to-front coat like blankets from Amazon that are designed to be worn in car seats.

Blanket in the car. I leave one in there all the time. If you tuck it in beside them after they are strappped in it doesn't affect the looseness of the straps but they can't kick it off.

I've got a really snuggly cosytoes on the buggy which is almost like a big duvet. So I don't use things like snowsuits etc because I find them such a faff - just a nice warm coat for the top layer. Take baby out of car and sit into nice snuggly buggy, put on coat, do up buggy straps. Takes about 30 seconds.

We are lucky to have a car park so we just walk to the car without coats as it's never far. If we had to park further away, I'd use the buggy to get from house to car warmly.

Bloody hell, why did I never know this?!?!

Childminder so 4 babies/kids to sort.
All had hats on the radiator and a blanket.
Kids in car with hats on, strapped in and blankets over.

Some people have said put a hot water bottle in the seat first.

I didn’t, I’d unzip the coat, fasten the car seat and then zip up the coat over the tightened straps.

Yes always.

You can get blankets designed to safely go over babies in car seats - called mork or morc maybe?

Always left coat on them in the winter, just tightened the straps in the summer.

Yes, always.

It doesn't do them any harm to feel the cold for a little bit. Blanket on them in the car, pop their coats back on once at destination.

Always left coat on them in the winter, just tightened the straps in the summer.

That's not the point. The coat will compress in the event of an accident meaning the straps would be as loose as they were come summer and offering little to no protection at keeping the child safely restrained.

Yes. Because it's not about warmth it's about the straps being tight enough that they work to save your baby's life. Use a blanket or you can buy car seat things that are star shaped.

I always taker my DD's coat off before putting her in the car seat. The seat is made of polystyrene so it gets warm in there very quickly. Hoody and joggers type clothes are plenty warm enough on a cold day while in car seat. Even a thin raincoat I think is a bad idea because it's essentially like wearing a plastic bag, she would get so hot and sweaty wearing something like that in the car seat.

Previous pp said about the thick M&S cardigan which is mostly like the jackets I use for DS. Surely there's no difference? How many layers are they allowed before it's classed as too bulky for a car seat?

Makes a big difference if you can bring the car seat indoors over night. Your baby will feel a lot warmer if you put them in a warm car seat. Then put a hat and blanket on.

Not a chance @Drizzzle it's way too big & bulky and it's a compete seat with isofix attached!

My 5 year old still takes her coat off when she gets in the car out of habit

I’m a GP and just learned about this idea today. I’m going to change my habits as it is what DGC’s parents do but wonder where it came from. Has there been an accident or something that’s triggered it?

(Please don’t say it is common sense; common sense does change and this is new!)

It's not about how many layers @Chopsicle though it's best to minimise, it's about how compressible they are. That's why snowsuits are so terrible and fleeces are generally ok. This is a good website www.goodeggcarsafety.com/blog/winter-coats-and-car-seats-the-winter-facts-every-parent-needs-to-know.html

@Chewbacca I've been a nanny for 18 years and its something I've known as long as i've been driving. Theres some fairly educational youtube videos etc that get re-shared every year on fb as it begins to get colder too.

I think anything thicker than a hoody type top/fleece is too bulky to be honest.

The Morrck blankets really are good.

@SmileCheese....so if they are loose, you tighten them. Honestly, it's that simple?

I’m wondering if they do them
In driver size with holes for your feet?!

What’s not to love about these?!

SmileCheese....so if they are loose, you tighten them. Honestly, it's that simple?

The whole point is you cannot tighten them enough when the child is wearing the coat for them to be secure enough to safely restrain the child as the coat gets in the way.

@TabbyMumz

so if they are loose, you tighten them. Honestly, it's that simple?

No it’s NOT ‘that simple’. You cannot tighten the straps adequately over bulky clothing because you can’t compress it like it would be compressed in an accident.

They don’t do this research and get the message out there just to piss you off.

It is NOT safe.