Here in West Yorkshire the lovely warm sunshine lasted a few days and we have had all the weather fronts hit us. Today it is strong wind and rain, at the weekend it was snow, hail, rain, sleet, sun – my mum was even convinced there was lightening – we seem to have had it all. So it makes perfect sense we wrap our little ones in hats, scarves and thick warm coats.

My two children are currently poorly - full of cold with temperatures up and down – I for one would not like the thought of them not wrapped up from head to toe, but we do actually do this.
Then we take them to the car and strap them in. Yes we pull the straps super tight around their coats and winter warmers, but we shouldn’t!!

As parents we want to keep our children warm. The car is always cold and we have to walk up some steps from our house to our car, so we want to keep them wrapped up and warm, but wrapping up our children like this and putting them in their car seats is posing a serious risk.

If your car was to have an impact when your child is strapped in their car seat with their coat on – the bulk of the coat compresses – therefore leaving your child unsecure and un-protected in their seat.

I will now be starting a new rule of coats off in the car. I will make sure there are some extra blankets in the car to cover my children up or they can I can cover them over with their coats. I know it’s going to be a pain in the backside, especially when it’s cold, wet and windy and we are on the school run and have left the house 5 mins later than planned. But it’s simple really – by me taking a few extra minutes at the end of or journey for them to get their coats on and to ensure I keep them warm in the car with blankets – the alternative of them potentially getting ejected from their seats if we had an impact – it doesn’t bare thinking about!

Who already does this?

Who is going to start doing this?

Or who doesn’t think it is an issue?

 

You can test this yourself – strap your little one in their car seat harness with their coat on and pull the straps as tight as you normally would.
Now take him/her out of the car seat without loosening the straps, take their coat off and put them back in. Are the stars tight to the chest and hips like they should be? Feel free to comment or send photos. – There will be no judging – just want to know other parents opinions.