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

@ skullyandbones

i guess America, Canada, Sweden and Denmark are ALL wrong in advising agaiinst this because we cant produce a british endorsed link.

I'd be genuinely very much interested in a Swedish endorsed link. I'm in Sweden and the only advice I've been given is to make sure you adjust the straps to take into account the type of clothing.

Rospa had to be campaigned a while back to change incorrect car seat info.

I definitely was told to tighten the straps as far as possible each and every time, I can't remember who by or where I read it, though.

I only ever heard the coat thing through internet forums, and until the last year or so, only on US based ones.

The only "official" thing I've ever seen on car seat safety is a leaflet in my local children's centre, now, bearing in mind DS was born in 2008 and would have been about 2 by the time I noticed these, and they were in a rack with half of them being produced before the car seat laws changed in 2004, I somehow doubt that people were accessing them.

There was a poster at DS' nursery too explaining about the different groups but half of the parents didn't take any notice of it, one of them never bothered to use one at all and let her kids ride without even being strapped in most of the time.

Dont buy second hand.

This is why I don't understand why Sweden is held up as some beacon of carseat safety. Yes children are rear facing until 4. But the NHS for our area loans first stage carseats for a small charge. The car insurance companies endorse this scheme by paying this charge for you. We've recently finnished with ours so I'm in the process of washing it ready for the next user.

I am assuming the car seats re thoroughly checked and anyone who had a crash whilst using a loaned car seat wpudk report it amd then it wouldnt be loaned out again.

Loaned car seats go back to equipment stores where they are decontaminated, tested and checked over to make sure they are safe for the next user.

Second hand car seats are different as they more than likely don't go through this testing.

Loaned car seats go back to equipment stores where they are decontaminated, tested and checked over to make sure they are safe for the next user.

These ones don't. They sit in the corner of the HV's office until next needed. The instruction leaflet tells me how to clean it so it's ready for the next person.

Oh dear I wouldn't be happy with that AT ALL.

well thats crap and an insurance claim waitimg to happen.

In Scandinavia a lot of things are based on a general trust. People tend to be honest, so there is most probably no reason to fear that the seat has been in a crash..

That's very true. I remember the first time I got stopped by the police in Sweden. I'd left my handbag at home so didn't have my licence or insurance documents on me. I was really surprised that the officer took my word that everything was in order and just let me go on my way.

Also the people we bought our house off allowed us to move in the day we moved to Sweden even though the mortgage couldn't be finalised and the house paid for for 2 weeks.

That's on of the things I miss about Scandi. The other on being everything being on computers, so that you only need to keep very minimal paper records. Also agencies, banks etc. talk to each others, so you don't need to prove/transfer info all the time. But the winter climate is harsh and the telly/music suck

I find the open information a bit scary. Like when my new neighbour made a comment about our household income and I was like 'how did he know that?'. Of course he'd just looked it up in the open tax office records and felt no guilt about it either. Nosy bugger.

Bloody hell that is NOT on. How rude!

Tehee.. definitely a cultural thing-although I do agree about cheeky neighbour!

The attitude is: Why fear openness if you have nothing to hide? I agree with that..

Yep, I've heard that too. The locals think we're really strange because we have curtains up in our house. Apparently this means we're up to no good.

Another thing to think about is a snow suit is not likely to make your child safer so if there's a question about them being an issue in a car seat,whats the point in insisting the gov tell you not to before you decide to take it into account?

Sockreturningpixie, was anyone saying "I know it's dangerous, but I will keep doing it until the government tells me not to" or is it more like "I can't assume it's dangerous just because someone says so on the internet"

Since I last checked this thread perhaps people have found more information that's based on facts and not opinion. If so that changes things, but that was the problem earlier on when some people started getting hostile to those who asked questions.

Also it's not about 'any risk' or you shouldn't be taking a child in a car in the first place. It's about the degree of risk.

There's no point in establishing two hostile camps - those who will believe it without proof and those who won't. Surely we are all on the side of protecting children? What's needed is firm information so people can make a proper judgement.

Do we know if this applies to all types of seats? Has anyone established whether thicker clothes are safe if care is taken to adjust the straps properly? Under what circumstances would it be an issue? and so on.

Exactly BackOnlyBriefly. I want to do what is safest but I can't find enough information to work that out. If I still lived in Kent I'd be much more inclined to just go with the blanket option, but I live near the arctic circle and I have to consider the risk of cold too. Which is greater? I don't know

We have Kiddy seats and I'm sure it says in the instruction manual to remove bulky clothing. We keep fleece blankets and hats in the back of the car to use for warmth instead of coats.

Initgrand I've seen a report on a crash test for a rear facing seat where those extra inches of slack caused by the suit allowed the child to slide head first out of the straps. A rear facing seat is not upright it points forward. I think that is what they are trying to describe.

Westiemama, just for reassurance, in the event of an accident emergency services routinely use a belt slicer to cut through the seat straps rather that trying to figure out how to undo the straps. There are so many different seats and the button to increase the slack is in a different place in all of them. Also it means they can cut the adult belt and remove the entire seat, this would protect the child from unnecessary movement.

Hope that helps! :)

Aside from the issue here in the op, babies shouldn't be in thick coats in car seats anyway, as they over heat quickly!