Hi Moms,
I have been having a problem lately with getting one of my kids buckled in his carseat when he is wearing his winter jacket. I loosened the straps as loose as they go and I cannot completely buckle him in. One buckle cannot buckle, so he has been only 3/4 buckled in lately. This carseat is plenty big for him, and if I bought him another one, I would probably have the same problem. Do any of you have this problem? Thanks!
Yeah, I guess I will have to take his jacket off (he is 4 years old). I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that. It is 23 degrees today, so I think he will be freezing when I take off his jacket, but I guess that's what I will have to do. Thanks.
I put my id in the car seat, then put the coat on backwards. Most of the time, the car is warm enough that a coat is not needed.
Can you remove the jacket? I KNOW this a cumbersome problem but my kiddos do better in their seats when they remove their jackets.
Yep, no jacket in the car seat. Warm the car up and trust me, he won't freeze in the car when its running. We live in Minnesota, our high in January is typically around zero. My three kids never wear jackets in the car seat, and all are still alive and kickin' through many sub zero winters up here without wearing a jacket in the car seat.
Put him in his car seat, buckle him up and put his jacket on backwards, or put a blanket in the car.
NEVER EVER EVER 'buckle him 3/4 of the way' because thats not using hte seat right. Did you know the chest buckle is simply a pre-crash retainer, meant ot hold the harness on the shoulders and meant to break open in a crash? So if you don't buckle the crotch buckle at all or all the way, he's simply unrestrained in the car seat in the event of a crash.
Remove his coat, buckle him right, and put his coat on backwards or use a blanket. He won't freeze, trust me.
1. Put him in a lighter jacket (this is the way I usually go). I warm the car before we go out and he just wears a fleece. Usually we're going from car directly inside, so he doesn't get cold. If we are going somewhere where we're playing outside, I put his thinker coat on when we get there.
2. There is a way to put their coat on so the buckle goes under the coat. Google it, and there are plenty of videos. Basically, you put the coat like you're putting it in the carseat and then the kid gets in and puts the coat on, but the buckle is underneath.
It's actually recommended that you should NEVER loosen your childs car seat straps to accomidate a coat. It lessens the effectiveness of the straps (in theory, they could fly right out of the coat in a hard enough accident).
Good luck!
You need to take his coat off when he is in the carseat. Nothing thicker than a sweatshirt. It allows for too much play if/when in an accident that it may not safely secure your child as intended. Only buckling 3/4 is also very unsafe (not judging, just saying).
I take my daughter's coat off of her in the carseat. I just cover her with a blanket if I didn't get the chance to warm up the car.
He should not be wearing a winter coat in a car seat!
I did have that problem and honestly only buckled one buckle as you are. You can try unzipping his winter coat and see if that helps make it looser at his chest/belly area or you can take his coat off when you put him in and on again when you get him out. I am sure it is not 100% safe but I just buckled the one if unzipping did not work.
How old is he? I have never had this problem with either of my kids. You could try unzipping the coat once he is in the car, maybe that would give him the space he needs to be properly hooked in. I personally wouldn't be driving around knowing one of mykids isn't hooked in safely. If it came down to leaving my son only 3/4 hooked in or not going anywhere, I wouldn't go.
Check out The Car Seat Lady's blog - she also has a FB page where you can ask her questions and she'll answer them. This article is mainly about a particular product but if you keep on reading she gives some suggestions on keeping baby warm. I'll echo what she said and many others - don't bundle your little one up if it interferes with the straps - as I mentioned, she gives some products she recommends to help keep baby warm.
** I just read your "what happened" didn't know he was 4. Still a good article but yea, I'd just have him wear a long sleeve shirt, maybe a hat and mittens - we live in So Cal - it doesn't get below 45 where I live and my 5 year old son wears mittens and a hat in the car all the time - lol.
http://thecarseatlady.blogspot.com/2011/01/bundle-me-ever...
This is a neat idea!
I usually take their coats off it's to easy for them to get hot and uncomfy---but sometimes if you are at Target and the car is cold it doesn't make sense to take off their coat so the above is a good idea.
Please take the coat off of them before buckling them in their seats. This is so very unsafe. Keep a blanket in the car to keep them warm or better yet take the jacket off buckle them in and put the jacket on them but in reverse.
its very unsafe to buckle kids with a bulky jacket in a car seat. DONT DO IT. they can be thrown from the seat if you wreck warm up the car first if possible. wrap the jacket or blanket around them
Yep. You have three options other than buying a new car seat: Take off the coat, have baby wear a thick hoodie, or buy a thinner coat that is just as warm as a bulky coat. I opted for the last option and bought my son a Lands End parka for $20 on the Lands End website under Overstocks...works great, wonderful quality. Also, many stores have coats on clearance now too:)
I second the Lands End overstocks for a thin, but warm coat. They sell very thin fleece "jackets" that have great temperature ratings, which would be a ton better than no jacket at all, but still very safe, as they are quite thin.
My son, also 4, usually voluntarily takes his coat off often before he gets in his car seat. He is just more comfortable without the bulk. We keep a nice, warm throw blanket in the car for him to cover up with after he gets in his seat, if he wants.
You can keep his coat on. You just need to do this: put him in his seat and then pull the sides of his coat out the sides so that they are no longer under the harness straps. After you strap in the harness, you can even zipper his coat back up over the harness. His arms are still in the sleeves and his back is still warm and the harness is still sitting tight to his body to keep him safe. If you loosen the harness for even a thick sweater it will not work! It's not a seatbelt. It doesn't tighten up. www.car-seat.org has a pictures of this process.
You should never use a jacket that requires you to adjust the car seat straps.
In an accident that jacket will collapse, leaving the straps way too loose. The child could be ejected from the seat.
Polar fleece is a great alternative to a winter jacket. You can always bring his regular jacket with you but it needs to be removed before you buckle him in.
It's actually dangerous to buckle him in with a winter coat on, if that means you have to loosen the straps, even if you could buckle it completely. Winter coats are so fluffy, that they do make it hard for car seats to buckle, but it is exactly this fluffiness that is so easy to compress in an actual car wreck, which could then send your child flying out of the car seat as if he weren't buckled in at all, because the straps weren't holding *him* in, but just his coat.
As others said below, take off the coat to buckle him, and then cover him with his coat turned backwards or a blanket or something.
It's unsafe for him to have a jacket on in the car anyways so just take it off of him.
