THICK CLOTHING IN CAR SEAT DANGER

[TeamSouthfields]

Sorry put here for traffic...

I read a terrible article today, but can't copy the link here (rubbish phone)
It's basically about the danger of babies/ young children wearing thick clothing in there car seat..

A baby was ejected from his car seat in an accident, by some miracle he survived,
His winter coat, his snowsuit, was too bulky. Even a coat that seems thin can add too much bulk under the safety belts. In an accident, that bulk compresses, leaving too much room between your baby's body and the straps. This could cause baby to be ejected from the car seat.

please share this

[Kickarsequeen]

This is what I was trying to describe in my earlier post! :)

m.youtube.com/watch?v=e4f3gjicSdU

[BackOnlyBriefly]

People who don't believe this, why don't you do your own research into it instead of 1. Disbelieving or 2. Expecting to be spoon fed information.

I did my own search and so far only found one possibly genuine site that even mentions it. I was hoping for more and perhaps even some supporting facts. Apparently though the correct way to research is to believe anything you read on facebook and leave it at that.

I never quite got the hang of 'but it says so on the internet'

btw the earlier link to a car crash where the baby ended in the snow turned out to be some random bloggers guess.

[intitgrand]

been through all the links and can t find anything scientific the newspaper article whici relates to tests makes no sense at all . It says that in a rear facing seat the baby would bounce off the dashboard . How ?

[MrsS1980]

My DS is 2 and 6, I come on mumsnet pretty much every day (admittedly mostly lurking), I have 2 degrees and read pretty much every baby book going and I have never heard this before!
This is why we love and need Mumsnet! Thanks all.

[lagoonhaze]

All those who are doubtful email Britax or maxi cosi. Ask on Facebook. Im sure they Will provide the answers for you.

[Meglet]

I always removed layers in the car. Mainly for safety reasons but partly for comfort.

[bigkidsdidit]

I am doubtful. There is so much misinformation on the Internet and here

• there are no documented cases of this ever being a factor in an actual crash
• all the 'sources' are blogs or Facebook
• none of the car seat booklets provided by manufacturers and checked on this thread advise removing bulky clothing
• no baby books or midwives or nct classes talk about this

Makes me a bit dubious. However obviously I want my children to be safe so I am indeed going to email maxi cosi today. Happy to do whatever they say is best!

[OldTomFrost]

Thank you for this thread op I had my children years ago before any of the safety advice given out today and I did not have a car so no car seat. It was the days you were allowed to hold them in your arms in a car anyhow... I have a 3 month old Granddaughter now and a car and a car seat and I would not have known this as for all the advice given to my daughter and myself on baby safety, this was not said/told/given. She's got a snowsuit and wears it out now the weather has turned. Shall be making a call later on to let daughter know not to put her into the car seat in her suit...
It might be common sense to others who have had babies over the last few years but for a new mum or for an old Gran like myself - its not something I would have thought about - so thank you. You've managed to stop one family from making this mistake - your post is entirely worth it.

[nosleeptillbedtime]

Postman has been jolly rude. It is pretty clear that a lot of people weren't aware of this. I wasn't aware that clothes would compress in an accident so that there would be a gap of inches between baby and straps. Can't think of another instance in life where this would happen so not sure why postman thinks this is so blindingly obvious.
Some people though do seem to think that everything they know is obvious and anyone who doesn't know what they know is a dumbo. Seems an odd way to go through life to me.

[SpookedMackerel]

I had it drummed into me from a child that it was dangerous to wear a coat in the car, I had an uncle who worked in crash testing.

We don't have a car, but if ever we travel in one, the coats go in the boot (you shouldn't have loose stuff in the body of the car that could fly around in an accident either). Then when we arrive I get the coats out. I would sit in the front passenger seat to put a baby's coat on inthe warm on arrival.

[CokeFan]

This is why people think that their DC have "grown out" of their baby seats so early and turn them FF in a bigger seat. Car seats aren't designed to accommodate puffy winter coats.

[AmandaCooper]

Thank you very much for this thread. I don't think it is common sense and bloody obvious. It never would have occurred to me.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

A bit of useful info if your unsure about up to date car seat advice,

Your local authority roads dept will usually have either have a child seat advisor or will routinely run checks and advice sessions around your area (often from a supermarket car park) in partnership with the AA they check the fitting of the seat and the fitting of the baby/ child as well as advise.

Its worth going along even if you think you know what your doing as according to them most baby seats are used incorrectly.

I have been given the don't use thick coats or anything not an actual part of the seat between the seat and child from them previously.

[ZenNudist]

I use the maxi cosi car seat cosy, designed to go under the baby with a zip in fleece over the top. Is that unsafe? They are sold as safe for use with carseat!!!!

[lagoonhaze]

Zen From a harness point of view as its designed for use by maxi cosi for use with their car seats its fine.

From a strapping in car seat put of view as long as its still able to allow the lapbelt to be pulled nice and tight across it then its fine. If it start pushes at the tension then no not good.

Obviously this isn't an issue if using a base.

[intitgrand]

i don't get what those videos are proving .of course the straps are slacker if you take off a coat but a coat doesn't melt away to nothing on impact.there may be some very slight difference in the compression between pulling the straps really tight and impact but i can't believe it could be more than a couple of millimetres

[WestieMamma]

Kickarsequeen thanks for the video. It does deal with the 'cold' issue but then creates others. I would worry about being able to get the baby out in an emergency, especially if it is someone else trying to figure out where the clip is in a stressful situation.

Anyway I've emailed Britax to ask them as their safety advice is quite extensive on what to do/not do but it doesn't mention anything about not using thick coats. I'll post the reply when I get it.

[TickledOnion]

I am inclined to agree with you intitgrand, but I wonder if it is just that no tests have been carried out on the safety of car seats and thick coats. (Apologies if someone has already linked to one, I haven't looked at all the links).
Logically I can not see why they would cause a problem, but if the car seat manufacturers have not specifically tested the scenario, they won't want to endorse it.
The lack of endorsement could be seen by some as proof that you shouldn't do it.

[Strumpetron]

i don't get what those videos are proving .of course the straps are slacker if you take off a coat but a coat doesn't melt away to nothing on impact.there may be some very slight difference in the compression between pulling the straps really tight and impact but i can't believe it could be more than a couple of millimetres

Those extra millimetres I can imagine would be very important when it came to a baby. The straps are supposed to hold the body not the suit, the suit can compress quite dramatically I would imagine if the impact had lots of force, and that 'couple of millimetres' could mean the difference between the baby bein hurt or not.

I've emailed my old place of work to see if they have anything conclusive on this, will let everyone know if they get back to me.

[Strumpetron]

New York Department of Health - says don't use snow suits

Car Seat.org this is quite interesting to see the comparison

[[http://www.childsafetylink.ca/newborn-safety/car-seats/harness-your-baby-tight.html Child Safety Link - states snowsuits not recommend


There are countless links that state it isn't good, including government ones, I particularly found the ones from Canada interesting as they don't advocate it either despite being a very cold country.

I think the overall consensus is that is makes the car seat less safe. Is it really worth the risk?

[Strumpetron]

Child Safety Link - states snowsuits not recommend link fail

[ThisWayForCrazy]

People can be dubious. Not enough factual evidence, and so on.

But, in the event of my children being in a car accident I would like, very much, to know that I have done everything I can as a parent to ensure my children are as safe as possible.

[PostmanPatAlwaysRingsTwice]

I'm glad lots of people know about this now who it hadn't occurred to before. I still do think it should have been obvious though.

Rather than just rely on what someone 'in authority' has told you to do or not do, please have a careful look round in any situation to check for risks to your children (or yourselves for that matter). Nobody told me to tighten straps as much as possible, or not to have loose objects in the car in case of a crash, but simply thinking about things as I do them means risks become clear. This harness/snowsuit issue isn't a fact you can only know if you're told, it is common sense. In fact I take it a wee bit further and make sure the car seat straps aren't going over any bumps or folds in clothing, avoiding anything that makes the straps even a tiny bit looser than they need to be.

It's similar to the looped blind cord danger. There is nobody whose job it is to tell you that these pose a strangulation danger to children but if you have your wits about you and take time to think about things, they clearly do.

Of course I don't advocate blindly believing whatever some stranger says on the internet, far from it. But this is different and demanding links describing cases where this exact thing happened before you will take your child's jacket off and tighten his straps properly is silly and irrelevant. Just think about it and yes, it is obviously a danger.

[intitgrand]

Butb there are plenty of people who would tell you if it were the case for example ROSPA.They make no mention of it at all.