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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:
ForeverBubblegum · 05/12/2017 09:06

I think the reason pp have never known children have injuries from coats in car is because if someone tells you there kids been hurt you answer "oh no, I hope s/he's alright" or similar.

No one has ever responded "would that have been avoided by taking off coat?" That would just make you a dick

WhoWants2Know · 05/12/2017 09:13

I don’t put my coat on to go to the car because i’ll Overheat within 5 minutes and have to stop to take it off.

And I don’t wear it into shops for the same reason. So I wear it if I walk to school and the rest of the time it’s in my car

CiderwithBuda · 05/12/2017 09:13

@Bummybum - I have seriously never heard of this or seen anyone doing it. DS is 16 now so maybe it's something that came in more recently.

I can see why it might be an issue. I think I just used to make sure the straps were tight enough. Can't remember to be honest. It all feels a long time ago.

Lweji · 05/12/2017 10:14

So, this coat thing is something that has been widely publicised and in all guidelines for the past 13 years at least, is it?

PandasRock · 05/12/2017 10:18

Well I came across it 13 years ago with dd1, and I wasn’t exactly going out of my way to find it.

It does always surprise me the number of people who aren’t aware of it.

Lweji · 05/12/2017 10:20

Well, I've looked at the news, it's a new thing with a 30th November date.

I'm not convinced with that test. The straps do not look secure enough on the shoulders. It looks like they fall off the sides.
And if you pull the straps enough it should compress the puff coat enough.
In fact, if you manage to strap your child in the same setting that you always use when not wearing a puff coat, and make sure the shoulders are well secured, I can't see how much more unsafe it is. Only possibly more uncomfortable for the child.

PandasRock · 05/12/2017 10:26

As a previous poster noted, the test is to put your child in the car seat with coat/snow suit/whatever, and do up the straps and tighten them.

Then take child out without listening straps, remove coat/snowsuit and put them back in.

If the straps are now loose and you would tighten them, then the coat should not be worn.

He previous poster mentioned being able to ‘pinch’ or fold the straps - here in the UK, the advice is ‘if you can fit two fingers between the straps and the child’s chest’ then the straps are too loose.

You will not be able to compress a coat as much as it will compress in a crash, however much you try to tighten the straps (this advice also holds for thick/bulky jumpers), and that is the issue - that in the event of a crash, the material will compress, leaving the straps loose and potentially leading to serious injury for the child.

PandasRock · 05/12/2017 10:26

Oh ffs autocorrect. Loads of typos, still mostly makes sense.

TheFifthKey · 05/12/2017 10:36

No coats on in the car; it makes a huge difference to the effectiveness of car seats and seatbelts. I don’t like to drive in a coat (I wear a hoody if it’s cold), DS runs hot anyway and DD has a blanket for when she first gets in. I leave the coats in the car overnight and they run the five steps from house to car!

DeleteOrDecay · 05/12/2017 10:40

We don't do coat in the car, they are usually fine with their coats laid on top of them like a blanket for the journey. They've never complained about being cold in the car.

I don't think it's a new thing. I've known about it since I was pregnant with my eldest 5 years ago.

kaytee87 · 05/12/2017 10:47

@Lweji I think it's been in the news again. I defo knew about it when I had my son last year so it's not just come to light last week.

KidLorneRoll · 05/12/2017 10:52

It's not really a new thing to point out that with more soft fabrics between a person and a seatbelt, the more slack there is and the more dangerous it becomes.

It takes what, 30 seconds at each end to give your kid a better chance in the event of a crash? Why wouldn't you do that...?

Allthecoolkids · 05/12/2017 10:52

This is one of the many things I see people in MN swearing they do, but I’ve never seen anyone do in real life.

diddl · 05/12/2017 10:58

I can see it for a car seat as the harness doesn't work the same as a seat belt.

I'm sure that we used to use a blanket or jacket/coat placed on to purely as we cba to alter the harness.

Also, we knew that we wouldn't want coats for the full journey.

So for adults-is it ore the idea of a coat that covers hips & affects the seat belt in that area?

RavingRoo · 05/12/2017 11:00

Colds are caught by poor hygiene not coat wearing. Anyway wearing a coat in a car seat or under a seatbelt renders it ineffective.

haveacupoftea · 05/12/2017 11:13

I don't often wear a coat at all unless it's snowing. DS is in an infant carrier still and I throw a blanket over him and put a hat on to keep him warm from house - car then take the hat off. Kids get really hot in car seats, they don't need coats on.

Looneytune253 · 05/12/2017 11:44

For a very young child I would pop their coat on quickly and take it off but over 3 I wouldn’t really bother.

Looneytune253 · 05/12/2017 11:45

Mind surely you can wear your coat once you’re out of the 5 point harness car seat (which most school children are) so unless your child gets unusually hot on the short drive I would let them put it on.

Helena17 · 05/12/2017 11:53

I do sometimes but just when I couldn't bare the cold. But definitely not as always.

Zoomaa · 05/12/2017 11:53

Exactly what I was going to say Looney.

Surely school kids are out of five point harnesses, so what's the point of taking the coats off?

ThunderboltsLightning · 05/12/2017 11:56

I wouldn't. By the time you'd done it you could be inside. Are people really this anxious about a child being cold for a couple of minutes while the car warms up?

Zoomaa · 05/12/2017 11:57

Just wear the coat in the car! Problem solved

Paddingtonthebear · 05/12/2017 11:57

DD (5) won’t wear a coat or anything bulky when in her car seat. Which is just as well as it is dangerous to do anyway. I put her coat in the car, on cold days she puts an old baby blanket across her lap.

Bummybum · 05/12/2017 12:03

I was a nanny for almost 20 years and never heard about it in the UK. I moved to the States 5 years ago and as I said before, I don't know one person who puts coats on their kids in the car. (And we get to -30.)

I'm

Roomba · 05/12/2017 12:03

We always wear our coats in the car as it's freezing at the moment! It takes a while for the car to warm up.

When my son's were smaller and in seats with 5 pont harnesses, I would take their coats off if they were bulky and put a blanket over them. Now they use normal seat belts I assume it's fine not to take their coats off - but now I'm worried I may be wrong about that so will go and check what is recommended!

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