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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you put coats on to get from your house to your car?

107 replies

PatterPitter · 05/12/2017 06:55

We have to drive to school and are usually parked within 100 yards of our house. Obviously the DC can't wear coats in car seats so we just walk quickly to/back from the car and leave coats in it. Our NDN and her son always put theirs on and as we all currently have colds, it's left me wondering whether I'm doing the wrong thing.

OP posts:
Lweji · 05/12/2017 07:49

I'm pretty sure DS always wore his coat in the car seat.
I don't see why they couldn't, unless we are talking proper Inuit outfits.

Bummybum · 05/12/2017 07:50

If the risk of a crash is so minimal then why bother with a car seat?

Bummybum · 05/12/2017 07:50

Ffs people watch one of the you tube videos.

UrsulaPandress · 05/12/2017 07:53

I too always wear my coat in the car. And dd used to wear a snowsuit in winter. Didn't know about the issue.

CountessofGrantham · 05/12/2017 07:53

DH does, the DDs and I don’t. We leave our coats in the car so they’re there when we need them but we don’t bother when we’re going from home to car unless it’s full on freezing or pissing down, and even then I don’t really bother. My mother nags me about it all the time but it’s such a short time I can’t see the fuss.

PandasRock · 05/12/2017 07:54

Mumsy, that simply isn’t true.

A bulky coat will stop a seatbelt working effectively, leading to worse injuries than if you were not wearing one, regardless of speed of impact etc.

In a five point harness seat, it can be the difference between the child being restrained effectively and actually thrown out of the seat, as the material compresses and then the straps are loose.

It is not recommended for anyone to wear thick, bulky clothing in a car, with any type of harness or seatbelt.

Scoff all you like, but those are the recommendations.

Mumsymcmumface · 05/12/2017 07:55

If the risk of a crash is so minimal then why bother with a car seat

Good point. Because I bet the vast majority of us old enough to be posting here never had one and yet we are obviously all still here.

It’s about risk, how you perceive it and how you manage it, and personally I think we have gone too far towards looking for perceived risk in everything and modifying the way we live around risks that in reality are so small they shouldn’t be a consideration.

Bummybum · 05/12/2017 07:55

Not just recommendations. Bloody science.

Silly bloody inconvenient science.

Bummybum · 05/12/2017 07:56

Oh for fucks sake I think you're actually just being goady now.

Anatidae · 05/12/2017 07:57

Yes. Coats off in car seats always.

If it’s warm and only -2 or -3 we might dash to the car but if it’s -30 then yes, coats on when exiting.

Tippz · 05/12/2017 07:58

Oh I must have misunderstood you sorry mumsy!

IfYouDontImagineNothingHappens · 05/12/2017 08:01

I don't really understand people who say that they wear coats and don't see why they wouldn't?

Research?

It's the same with people being shocked about rear-facing car seats.

PolarBearGoingSomewhere · 05/12/2017 08:02

I don't bother but I get bloody pissed off by baby group leaders commenting on "poor little Polar, did mummy forget to put your coat on?"

Oblomov17 · 05/12/2017 08:02

Bulky Coats. Exactly. I've driven my car in my coat for the last 30 years and I'm not about to stop now. But I don't wear a bulky coat. So that's the difference.

AuntLydia · 05/12/2017 08:02

I've always taken them off for car seats but didn't realise it was an issue with actual seat belts. I can't find any info on it googling either, just the danger of car seats and big coats.

ferrier · 05/12/2017 08:03

Because it's not something I've heard of ever.
And because I wouldn't be able to drive the car the first few minutes because I physically shake with the cold.

diddl · 05/12/2017 08:21

I never realised taht this applied to adults!

What is considered to be a bulky coat?

Mumsymcmumface · 05/12/2017 08:23

What is considered to be a bulky coat?

And does the wearers body fat percentage also need to be taken into account?

Bummybum · 05/12/2017 08:28

And does the wearers body fat percentage also need to be taken into account

I bloody hope not! Grin

bumblingbovine49 · 05/12/2017 08:29

I always carry it and put it in the boot after breaking down on a motorway in winter years ago. I nearly froze waiting for the breakdown vehicle!

I don't wear it to or in the car though.

Anatidae · 05/12/2017 08:29

What is considered to be a bulky coat?

The recommendation here in Sweden is: place child in car in coat, do up straps, release them, put child back in without coat and without adjusting the straps. If you can pinch the strap at any point (folding it together) or see it’s loose then don’t wear the coat.

And does the wearers body fat percentage also need to be taken into account?

No, Fat isn’t compressible like clothing.

Adult belts work differently - it’s not recommended to wear very bulky clothing but a coat is usually ok.

WunWun · 05/12/2017 08:32

I wear my coat because it's really thin and i he cold! I need a new coat.

DD doesn't wear her coat from the house to the car because it's about five steps. Not even if it's pouring. She doesn't wear it from the car to the school either because she'd rather carry it than mess about putting it on and off in the space of one minute.

Mumsymcmumface · 05/12/2017 08:33

I bloody hope not!
Me too, but the “science” and “research” people keep quoting would surely find the same/very similar results if they did the same test with a person with a layer fat against a person without.

In fact I would suggest the higher weight of the bigger person would make the results even more obvious.

So, point stands that it’s such a tiny risk/ factor whether you wear a coat or not when compared to so many other factors.

bumblingbovine49 · 05/12/2017 08:35

I just hate driving while wearing a coat. I feel restricted.

I never used to put DS in the car seat with his coat on for the same reason. I didn't know it was a safety issue, for me it is more about comfort and freedom of movement while driving

Camomila · 05/12/2017 08:41

Me and DH do, DS wears a fleece (so he can wear it in the car seat) and we shove a coat for him in his nappy bag.