Doing this isn't a good idea!
Here's why: In order to get the harness around the extra bulk of the winter jacket you need to loosen the straps a lot. Because the puff of the jacket will compress in an accident leaving the straps way too loose, your baby would be flopping around unprotected, rather than snug against the harness! Yikes!
I was lucky in that I read all about this on Rene's blog back at the beginning of December just when we were starting to need a winter coat. {Thanks Rene!!}
Because I was worried about Ash getting cold by taking him in and out of his coat while at the car/outdoors, I decided to try option #2 which involves kind of leaving the jacket on.
All you have to do is:
1) unzip the coat and set your child in his/her seat
2) pull the harness straps inside the coat
3) buckle the harness snug against his/her chest and legs as normal
4) optional: re-zip and/or velcro the front of the jacket closed over the buckled harness
This method works great for us. Asher's harness is right against his body, but his arms are still in the warm coat sleeves. I'm also able to attach the velcro on his jacket lapel over the harness so it stays closed and warm. Perfect!
I haven't taken many photos of A in this position and these aren't great {I'll try to get ones that are more clear the next time we go out}, but you can kind of see what I mean. See how the harness straps are at his shoulders, but you can't see them after that? That's because they are inside his coat, which is simply velcro'd over top of the harness.
Rene mentioned this post at Car Seat Nanny which is where I saw exactly how to do it. Those photos are very clear and make the procedure super obvious!
Thanks Jen for mentioning this confusion. Keeping Asher safe is my first goal {no matter how annoying the procedure is! ha ha} and if I hadn't been doing this correctly I'd absolutely want to know a better way! Hope this helps other cold weather mamas out there!
Thanks for this tip, Emily. Lord knows it's plenty chilly in MN!!!! B has a jacket like Asher does... puffy-wise and we haven't actually had him in that thing for a while... we tend to transport him from the house to the car with a blanket and hat!!!! It's been working alright but this is nice to know. Thanks for sharing this info!
ReplyDeleteWe use a fleece jacket,or a fleece one piece suit, hat and heavy blanket too. Just easier than the puffy jacket procedure. Plus I'm a little um, I guess anal...and to leave it on there is still puff at the shoulders. I know it's probably fine...but like I said...I'm a freak. Lol. Cameron puts his seat belt on and the puts his jacket on backwards...and even though he is 9 we still have him in a belt positioning booster since he's not 4'9" yet. poor kid. Hopefully he will take a growth spurt soon...but safety is more important that feeling silly for being a 3rd grader in a booster. Glad you posted this though.Very important for mommas and daddys to know!
ReplyDeletegreat information! i always take H's coat off in the car before putting her in the carseat. never really thought about moving the coat. she is also still rear facing in my car. although her legs are so long, i don't know how much longer we will make it! hopefully a while! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat info, Emily! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time it's been really cold and Ava has needed a heavy-duty jacket, so this is really great for me to know!!