No coats in the car

[lancslass17]

Hi,

So i know little ones not supposed to wear a coat in the car. What do you do when its freezing out? To get too and from the car?

It is also true for adults. Any type of seatbelt, you are not meant to wear a coat. My kids are so well used to the rule that they tell me off when I wear my coat.

For those saying they'll freeze, are your cars not heated?! If it's cold mine get wrapped in a blanket each until then car warms enough. They can wear a coat to the car and take it off inside the car.

Based on research and facts...it may be inconvenient but I'd rather I do everything I can to keep all my passengers safe in the event of an accident. They won't be cold with blankets and a heated car!

I find it really odd that people in the UK wear coats in cars. I don't, my children don't. In winter I will often start the car up and let it run for a few minutes while we get ready to leave. I know not everyone can do this . Both children have a blanket in the car. They get in the car (parked on the drive) and put the blanket over themselves. If we are somewhere else, they take their coats off when they go to get in the car.

"My dc are secure in their car seats wearing a coat. They are not tiny babies. Who wants to freeze in a car in winter?"

OK. You clearly know better than the the experts...

@mamandematribu no doubt you think babies are safe in cots with bumpers ...

@bibot
England do sell anti escape harnesses

Anyone that puts their child in a coat in the car is risking life.
Have you not got heating in the car?
Do you live in the artic?

Honestly not being goody but up to what age does this rule apply?

I don't wear a coat in the car for this very reason and my children certainly don't. Even the filling in an adult coat will compress meaning the seatbelt will take slightly longer to "lock" in case of an emergency stop. We run to the car, or take coats off when we get in (usually the former with me with a pile of coats and other associated crap in my arms).

When they were little it was blankets over the teeny people carseats and then once they were toddlers, and in their ERFs which didn't come out, blankets that i kept on the radiator so they were cosy until the car warmed up.

I wear a hat and leather gloves and don't get cold at all. And I'm a cold person.

Puffy coats may even interfere with seatbelt safety for adults. So there’s no point at which it becomes safe but babies in harnessed car seats are at the biggest risk of injury. Also for older children or adults using the seat belt, I believe it’s specific to thick puffy down-type jackets that have air pockets. A wool coat for instance would be fine.

@billandbenflowerpotmen1 it's most important before they are in adult seat belts as there is at least some chance of the adult belt compressing properly.

@OctoberLovers
You can buy anti escape car seats here but they don't have a chest clip like the Americans ones do as for car seats to be approved for sale in the Uk you must be able to remove the child from the seat in one movement.

You can legally buy and fit aftermarket chest clips or clip covers and whatnot but they are not recommend and afaik quite hard to get in actual shops for that reason.

@00100001 yes I know my kids better than 'experts'

@mamandematribu yeah because your dc are the exception to the studies they have carried out.

My dc are secure in their car seats wearing a coat. They are not tiny babies. Who wants to freeze in a car in winter?

Nobody, I'm sure. But they'd rather be cold for a few minutes until the car warms up than risk their children's lives in an accident.

I have to assume @mamandematribu is having us all on. Nobody can be that stupid after being shown the evidence, surely.

Lol, I'm assuming @mamandematribu is trolling you guys as no one is that daft in real life surely!! Lol. Don't worry guys, his/her kids might fly out of the car in an accident but at least they'll be warm if it happens. That's obv what's most important to him/her

I'm guessing it depends to an extent on the thickness and padding of the coat. I would expect a rain mac to be different from a puffa jacket

Try to park close to house. Just be cold for v short walk to car. Blanket in car.

If further away, blanket/footmuff in buggy from house to car.

Kids too big for buggy can probably get own coat on/off so can choose whether to wear it on the short walk or not.

This is what happens to a child in a car seat when the straps are too loose. Which is what happens if you've fastened them as tight as you can over coats.

I don't like wearing my coat in the car and not being able to easily take it off - I get too hot and find it really uncomfortable and it makes me feel sick. So I would not want my kids in coats in the car anyway.

I'm sorry but I think a new no coats in the car rule is ridiculous, especially in the middle of winter.

It's not new. It's been similar advise for many years. Dd is 17y and we didn't put coats on in the car as it would have meant the seat belt would be more slack around her body. The health visitors told me this and it made lots of common sense anyway. My sister was told the same and her ds is now 6.

Short walk to car - cardi if not far, blanket or coat is further. Remove coat when at car. Add blanket until car heater is warmed up. Modern cars don't take that long to heat up these days anyway.

Coats and/or snow suits are worn in the car, at -20C cold is the bigger risk.

Oh and I do the same. I'd never wear a padded and/or thick coat in the car. I always remove as I get in. I use the car heater to warm the car instead.

@mamandematribu

So your children can defy the laws of physics? AMAZING!

Oh wait, I forgot - with Dd we have a travel baby sleeping bag. It had slits in it to thread the seat belts through. And could be done whilst she was asleep too. Could also be used in pushchairs etc. Do they still do them?

@Greatnorthwoods Except the cold isn’t a bigger risk 🙄

It's not -20C in the car. Unless your car heater is broken.