So I feel like a moron for even asking this, but here we go. I am due with my third child in November and we just decided to purchase the Graco snugride carseat. The version we are purchasing has a blanket "boot" thing to cover the baby in the cold. While I think this is a great idea, how do you dress your infant when you use these? Do you still put a full winter coat on? Won't she overheat? With my other two boys we always just put their winter coats on and threw a blanket over the top when we were out side. I know I should know better by child three, but please help :)
My son was born in November and we purchased one of the covers that goes around the carrier and then zippers up.
We didn't have a winter coat for him. We would dress him for the weather , if it was really cold maybe a sweater, then throw a blanket over the carrier.
Thats it. It was great not to have to worry about a heavy winter coat.
One of the best things we bought.
Congrats on the new little one to be.
We actually just got one of the Bundleme's and put that in the car seat, and then would put a hat, maybe a sweater on the boys, and cover the seat with a blanket if it was really cold. This worked so well and the kids were never cold; most times they were very very warm :) I highly recommend the bundle me, or one of those covers that pulls over the car seat and you just unzip it - keeps the kids so warm and snugly, and best of all, if they fall asleep in the car, when you get to your destination, you just uncover / unzip them rather than having to open their coat and take that off.
no coat needed, unless you are staying outside for a long period of time where you will need to take him/her out of the seat for anything (zoo, etc.). Those are the best investment ever!
NO WINTER COATS and NO BUNDLE ME's please...winter coats are absolutely a bad idea in an infant seat or regular carseat...in a crash the extra padding will cause the straps to loosen and the child could be ejected...same with the BUNDLE ME's- these are not safe to use and never recommended by car seat technicians (go to car-seat.org for more info)...I know it says crash tested on the packaging but that is not true crash testing and doesn't mean it is crash tested on your carseat..in fact any aftermarket product will void your warranty and may compromise the ability of the harness to do it's job.
I had two babies through the winter in infant seats...put them in a lightweight fleece jacket in the carseat and put a blanket over them...there are shower cap style covers that will go over the seat (elastic will hold it in place) and have an opening for babies face...these are ok as they do not interfere with the harness.
Most parents do not realize this and but it is very important not to put anything big and bulky on them under the carseat straps...I've lived in cold climates and have used thin jackets and blanket and my children are still alive and never froze to death...
I really encourage you to check out car-seat.org...they will know where you can go to buy a shower cap style cover that is safe....they are great!
Congrats on #3!
Beth
I had Jan and March babies and neither wore a winter coat. I put them in a sweater with ski bibs. The bibs are easy on and off and the sweater was warm enough for short spurts outside but didn't overheat them or overbundle them in the car seat.
My daughter was born in March and we have a Graco snugride with the boot--we also have the stroller. I had a coat that we rarely used. I found a sweater and blanket were enough. She had a sleeper under so she was fine. Of course, if you will be out for a long time, you might want something heavier.
Congratulations!
I've had 3 winter babies and have never used a coat. We dressed them warm and covered with a blanket. Then we had a cover for the carseat that completely zipped up only leaving a hole for the face. So cute!
I'm laughing, you sound just like me. I understand that it is safest to not have a baby wear anything bulky in a car seat. Especially when they are in the infant seat, they don't really need a winter coat on because of the whole blanket over the top option. All that said, I also have the car seat with the foot "boot" thing and never used it. It just always fell off or got in the way. My kids were both always hot in that car seat I think because of the memory foam. I can recall a couple of appointments with the pediatrician where a kid had heat rash and being told to not dress them so warm. I always thought I'd be the last mom to ever hear that!
I agree with everyone else about no winter coats inside the Snugride. I'm not sure if you have to go outside to get to your car, or if you have a garage??? On the extra cold and windy Chicago days one of us would warm up the car. Meanwhile, the other one would dress the baby in a sweater, socks, hat, and sometimes gloves, put him in the Snugride, tuck a warm blanket around him and carry him to the warm car. I did not like putting him in the Snugride when it had been left in the freezing cold car, but you don't always have someone to go warm up your car for you. We didn't always take the Snugride inside with us. On those occasions when I had to put him in a cold Snugride in a cold car, I dressed him in warm layers of clothing and was careful to remove clothes when we got where we were going. Otherwise he would have over-heated. A few times I had to pull over once the car had warmed up and take some of his clothes off because we were going to be driving to his grandparents house over an hour away or someplace even farther. Also, even though he never wore it, we always took his coat in the car just in case the car were to break down or we got stuck in a traffic emergency.