no coats in carseats?

[AdventureMoms]

I thought it was a recommendation, not a rule. I'm saying I think it's a pretty difficult recommendation to accommodate when it's freezing outside.

 

And besides, I like to argue about stuff. :laugh:

 

Why is it that hard? I don't get it. Have you tried it? It seems a bit unfair to claim something is so terribly difficult when you've never even attempted to do it. If you don't like blankets, use a carseat cover. They're cheap, convenient, and super easy. It's really not that difficult, and I do think I can say this having done it with two newborns and a toddler (2 infant seats and a RF convertible), then with three toddlers (2 RF convertibles and 1 FF one), and now again with 2 toddlers and a preschooler (same setup as last year). I've tried buckling in kids wearing coats and that's not exactly easy if you actually get it tight and correctly positioned.

[AdventureMoms]

What is with the double posts?

[Parrothead]

Because a kid can't fall out of their fat. Yes the fat may compress a bit, but you don't put on a far suit to get into the car.

 

Also diapers are already compressed, even cloth diapers and not in general squishy, if you are putting your kid in the car in a diaper that is that inflated and squishy then change them. Most diapers are not much thicker then a pair of undies.

Wow! Diapers really have changed in the last 13 years.

[AdventureMoms]

Often times it seems like nothing happened after one clicks post, but it still posts. So people keep hitting post. I've learned to just click it one time and refresh the screen if it looked like nothing happened. That's worked every time.

 

I've been trying to do that but I think the refresh is making it re-post. annoying...

[justLisa]

I don't have babies or toddlers anyway. There is nothing to try.

Wow! Diapers really have changed in the last 13 years.

 

You should have seen poor DS when I went through cloth. It only lasted until he was about 13 months because I needed so much stuffing the poor kid waddled like he was going to fall over. He probably would have sat 6 inches taller in his seat LOL

[swellmomma]

I thought I owned every infant product ever made. LOL

 

I'm not having more kids so no need for it. That is a great idea though.

 

My first was born in January. That's pretty much the coldest month around here. Although oddly, it was so warm the day I brought him home I didn't even need to put a coat on him.

 

When he was 5 days old my mother drove us to the hospital for my follow up check up. It was snowing and FREEZING. On the way something very scary happened. A tire fell off the car. We were driving very slowly so nobody got hurt. But we had to walk to go get help. It would have been tough going if we weren't dressed for it!

 

But see that's just it, you still have your coats, and scarves and hats and mitts. You just don't wear the coat in the car under the buckles. You still have it to put on when you get out of the car so you WOULD had been dressed for the weather. Not buckling with coats on does not mean you leave the coats hanging inthe closet at home.

[skimomma]

I live in a very very cold climate and our roads are horrendous for about five months of the year. It is not "if" you will have an accident, it is "when." We are constantly slipping off the road, slipping into each other, and sliding into inanimate objects.....you get the picture. It is rare that any of these accidents happen at high speed as it is very rare I drive over 25 mph during winter. But even at 25 mph, if I get hit head-on at 25 mph by another car going 25 mph, that is a 50 mph hit. I am about the most careful driver that one can be but there are many many times when I am not in control of the situation. We do adhere to the no-puffy-coat recmmendation. Adults too. We are in coats for half of the year and that is just far too many risky hours to be compromising the effectiveness of our seatbelts and carseats. It is easy enough to have fleece jackets, blankets in the car, and our bigger coats slipped off while buckled. Is it cold? Yep. Inconvienent? Yep. Do I hate it? Yep. Is it really a HUGE deal? No. I don't remote start the car. We do have to sit in semi-misery until the heater kicks in. But that is the deal. There are tons of things that are miserable about winter (and lots of good things too) and we just deal. For me, the risks outweigh the hassle, so we deal with the hassle.

 

I have two engineering degrees and always get amused at these threads where people try to deny the rules of physics. It is what it is. Poofy clothes means not-tight-enough straps. True for seatbelts too. Adults have a bigger chance of slipping out of a seatbelt in a poofy coat. Even more common will be the seatbelt not being in the proper position during a crash resulting in more severe injuries. That is true. No crash test needed. We know for a fact that a loose or improperly posiitoned belts, be it a seat belt or a child car seat, raises the risk of malfunction. It does not take a physics degree to figure out that poofy clothing results in loosened straps and/or inproper placement of straps.

 

What we all do with this info is an individual decision. I don't think a parent that knows the risks, has weighed them, and decided differently than me is a bad parent. I make parenting decisions that others would consider unnecessarily risky. I am cool with that. In this case, for ME, I feel the hassle is worth it. I have no problem with others deciding differently.

 

But. Don't try to tell me that there is no increased risk because that is false.

[swellmomma]

I thought it was a recommendation, not a rule. I'm saying I think it's a pretty difficult recommendation to accommodate when it's freezing outside.

 

And besides, I like to argue about stuff. :laugh:

 

I disagree. I live in a place that a warm winter day is only -15C, it regularily gets as low as -40 to -50C with the windchill. We have not had difficulty at all following this recommendation. NO one freezing to death, no one is complaining about being freezing(any more than they would have anyways), no frost bite, or being unprepared to get out of the car and hoof it to the next service station or whatever. If people in Alaska and Canada who have very very cold winters can do this without a problem I would not say it is difficult to accomodate when it is freezing.

[AdventureMoms]

I don't have babies or toddlers anyway. There is nothing to try.

 

So why exactly are you complaining repeatedly about how very difficult this "new" rule is to follow. Take it from someone who does have infants and toddlers. It's not that hard. IIRC you are in the same general climate as we are. It gets plenty cold here, colder than the vast majority of the US. I'm not superwoman, nor do I posess any magical powers. I drive a lot. I'm sure there are circumstances where it doesn't work out and you have to make compromises. And I get that some folks understand the risk and make a different chooice. But I don't get the "but it's so hard" line from those who've never even attempted it and who will never actually have to.

[AdventureMoms]

I wish I could fall out of my fat.

 

On that we can agree, 100%

[Parrothead]

Two of my kids were born in Germany, the oldest was a toddler when we moved there. Their rules about car seats and how drivers should behave are *much* stricter than our rules in the USA. That is largely because they drive a LOT faster. We lived out in the middle of vineyards off of a two lane road and the speed limit was 120 km/hr (or around 75 mph). The Autobahn has a "suggested" speed of 130kph, but no speed limit (with some exceptions). When we saw a motorcycle accident (which we did, several times), the motorcycle rider was *always* dead. We were told not to leave coats on the kids while they were in their car seats. They also had *extremely graphic* commercials in Europe about wearing seat belts, having kids in car seats and the correct way to do those things.

 

Our kids wore fleece jackets under their coats, a fleece jacket (single layer) will not compress the way a coat will. We'd get in the car, remove coats, buckle up and put their coats over them, backwards. Nobody ever froze (even though we lived in a fourth floor apartment *and* Germany doesn't allow you to heat up your car before you get in it).

This is where one has to take into consideration location.

 

For instance here where it is below freezing much of the day. And on the interstate there are long distances between towns. In some areas it could take upward of 30 minutes for emergency personnel to arrive. You could end up with a mom unconscious with a head wound and a kid in a car seat without heat in below freezing temps. The car seat may have saved him but the cold will kill him before help arrives.

 

Parents need to examine things from all angles then make the right choice for their kids. Nobody else's. And Nobody Else needs to keep his mouth shut about how his family does it differently. It is different. Not better.

[tabrizia]

Or in the last month! No cloth diaper Itsy has looks like a pair of undies, they're not even as trim as a sposie.

 

I want to point out, that I said MOST diapers are not much thicker then a pair of undies. Not all, and yes cloth is a bit thicker, but it is also compressed and not poofy most of the time. I know I have used cloth diapers (not all brands, that would be insane, but a few different kinds), disposibles, and undies. I do not have to change DD's straps when she is in a disposible diaper vs being in undies. There is no difference and I get those straps tight. I also don't need to loosen the straps when I put DS2 in a cloth diaper, it is the same as when he is in a disposible diaper, which FYI is the same size and type as DD wears the few times she still wears them. I also don't need to tighten the straps when DD goes comando rather then wearing a diaper or undies. Yes some diapers are bulkier then undies, but they are not normally going to affect the carseat straps at all. And I do speak from experience here in using 5 different brands and types of cloth, plus disposible diapers and undies.

[justLisa]

So why exactly are you complaining repeatedly about how very difficult this "new" rule is to follow. Take it from someone who does have infants and toddlers. It's not that hard. IIRC you are in the same general climate as we are. It gets plenty cold here, colder than the vast majority of the US. I'm not superwoman, nor do I posess any magical powers. I drive a lot. I'm sure there are circumstances where it doesn't work out and you have to make compromises. And I get that some folks understand the risk and make a different chooice. But I don't get the "but it's so hard" line from those who've never even attempted it and who will never actually have to.

 

Well cause it's annoying? I mean sure recommendation but it's not some rule that people are driving around policing. Or should be. Oh crap, her baby is wearing a coat! WE had better stop and measure the thickness. I must not know what a puffy coat is. we have down, which is veryw arm, and though they look puffy they can be squished in to practically nothing.

[tabrizia]

Well cause it's annoying? I mean sure recommendation but it's not some rule that people are driving around policing. Or should be. Oh crap, her baby is wearing a coat! WE had better stop and measure the thickness. I must not know what a puffy coat is. we have down, which is veryw arm, and though they look puffy they can be squished in to practically nothing.

 

But no one is coming and policing your car. People are just explaining that yes this is a safer method, now you know, do with it what you will.

[justLisa]

But no one is coming and policing your car. People are just explaining that yes this is a safer method, now you know, do with it what you will.

 

I am trying to establish where this rule comes from and what are they meaning by a puffy coat. We have down. I can wald it up in to basically nothing.

[Parrothead]

I try to buy coats that aren't too bulky anyway because nobody likes trying to move around in a bulky coat. But we wear coats because it's really cold around here in the winter.

 

Ok, that said, I'm not sure I agree that this is a super clear guideline. I was told a million times not to cover an infant with a blanket. But then I'm supposed to cover them with a blanket in a car? Somehow that is suddenly ok? And I keep bringing this up and nobody seems to notice it.

 

I don't have babies anymore. So in terms of a baby in a car seat this isn't really an issue for me anymore.

I noticed. I was hoping for a reply somewhere.

[melbotoast]

I don't know how it is where you all live, but I have NEVER encountered another car speeding toward me (the wrong way) in my lane.

 

This has happened to us. Some lady on a cell phone trying to turn left. Due to DH's maneuvering, she ended up hitting mostly the side of our car, but still.

[melbotoast]

I am trying to establish where this rule comes from and what are they meaning by a puffy coat. We have down. I can wald it up in to basically nothing.

 

 

I wouldn't count down as a puffy coat, since it compresses so well. I have had coats that are really hard to compress though. I've heard that you are supposed to try putting the child in the car seat with the coat and tighten it as best you can, then take the child out without loosening the straps, and try putting the child in again without the coat to see if the straps are tight enough.

[Parrothead]

I wish I could fall out of my fat.

 

Oh! My! Word!

 

It isn't often someone makes me literally LOL, but I about peed over that one. Thank you.

[Parrothead]

But see that's just it, you still have your coats, and scarves and hats and mitts. You just don't wear the coat in the car under the buckles. You still have it to put on when you get out of the car so you WOULD had been dressed for the weather. Not buckling with coats on does not mean you leave the coats hanging inthe closet at home.

 

So, you don't wear a coat in the car?

[justLisa]

I'm going to the Chinese buffet tonight. I am so hungry just thinking about it. :drool5:

 

 

You have to eat an extra big bowl for me

[swellmomma]

So, you don't wear a coat in the car?

 

 

Not usually. I have a down one that I sometimes wear but the zipper is broken so is does not do up anyway so it is out of the way of the seatbelt. I generally toss mine in the back (stationwago so trunk is open to the rest of car). Kids wear their's backwards over their seatbelts, though once they are out of a carseat/booster seat I do not worry about it as much. Ds14 keeps his on his lap. He says he is not taking anychances flying out the windshield(he sits in the front). We average 200-250kms a day in the car, some days more some days less, but most days that much going back and forth to the next town, so 20 minutes in the car at a time. Trips to the city which is a 2 hour drive all coats go into the trunk, no one wants to keep them on that long.

 

I just asked dd about it, since when we go to dance class she is in her tights and leotard already, she said it is no colder taking her coat off and buckling and then using it like a blanket, than it is just walking to the car in the first place with her coat zipped up.

[Parrothead]

Not usually. I have a down one that I sometimes wear but the zipper is broken so is does not do up anyway so it is out of the way of the seatbelt. I generally toss mine in the back (stationwago so trunk is open to the rest of car). Kids wear their's backwards over their seatbelts, though once they are out of a carseat/booster seat I do not worry about it as much. Ds14 keeps his on his lap. He says he is not taking anychances flying out the windshield(he sits in the front). We average 200-250kms a day in the car, some days more some days less, but most days that much going back and forth to the next town, so 20 minutes in the car at a time. Trips to the city which is a 2 hour drive all coats go into the trunk, no one wants to keep them on that long.

 

I just asked dd about it, since when we go to dance class she is in her tights and leotard already, she said it is no colder taking her coat off and buckling and then using it like a blanket, than it is just walking to the car in the first place with her coat zipped up.

 

 

All I can say is you must have a heck of a heater in your car. I was on the road four hours today and had on a shirt, sweater and wool coat. I also had the heater on and only got hot for the 15 minutes the sun was out while I was driving into it.

 

Or maybe we have a different kind of cold than you do. Imp tried to tell me it is different over on the eastern end.

[AdventureMoms]

I'm going to the Chinese buffet tonight. I am so hungry just thinking about it. :drool5:

 

 

If I went too do you think it would help me fall out of my fat? Maybe if I get in an accident on the way?

 

I love Chinese.

[fraidycat]

I knew that they weren't supposed to wear coats, but that is one of the "rules" I didn't follow - once they were in forward facing. In Canada, in -40 weather. What I DID do was tighten the belts so that their coats were already compressed against their shoulders/chest area as tight as possible. I also made sure the chest clip was in the correct position. In my experience (personal observation only), most kids are not belted into their carseats properly in winter or summer. They are usually too loose and the chest clips are usually too low because parents are too lazy to loosen the belt to get the kids out, then tighten them back up when they put them in. I did that though, every single time.

[Tokyomarie]

Yeah, it was 7*F here this morning when we left. I was freezing in my shirt, sweater, and wool coat with the heater in the car running wide open.

 

 

This is the sort of thing one has to balance when deciding what to do. It's fine not to have a coat on a little one in the car when it's 40 degrees out. Nobody's going to freeze or be terribly uncomfortable for the few minutes it takes to take the child out of the car and and stand them up or sit them in a stroller where you can manage to get a coat on. When it's below freezing, and especially in near zero or subzero weather, it can be just as dangerous, and certainly uncomfortable, for a child to not be properly dressed.

 

Seems to me that the current crop of carseats was designed by 25 year old single men who have no children and who live in Florida, Texas, or Southern California. Seems like maybe they need to rethink carseat design if the seat cannot be used with a child who is properly dressed for winter.

[fraidycat]

All I can say is you must have a heck of a heater in your car. I was on the road four hours today and had on a shirt, sweater and wool coat. I also had the heater on and only got hot for the 15 minutes the sun was out while I was driving into it.

 

Or maybe we have a different kind of cold than you do. Imp tried to tell me it is different over on the eastern end.

 

 

Western cold is dry. Eastern cold is seep into the bones moist - the kind that you never seem to warm up from. It IS different. I'd take the dry cold (and heat) ANY day over the moist cold and heat.

 

And I want to know where all these people are finding plain FLEECE coats that are warm. In my experience, if you're just going to wear fleece, then you might as well wear a t-shirt. I do not find it warm at all if there is any breeze at all, it just blows right through.

[Murphy101]

Well carp. I have always covered my babies with blankets and have no plans to stop. Good grief.

 

Wow! Diapers really have changed in the last 13 years.

 

 

Um, I've had kids in diapers every single year of the last 18 years and no, they are not as thin as underwear unless you are wearing depends. Cloth and disposable, I've got both tho I don't use the cloth ones anymore. Hmmm.. Need to make a quilt or something out of those...

 

I wish I could fall out of my fat.

 

 

You and me both.

[misty.warden]

I knew that they weren't supposed to wear coats, but that is one of the "rules" I didn't follow - once they were in forward facing. In Canada, in -40 weather. What I DID do was tighten the belts so that their coats were already compressed against their shoulders/chest area as tight as possible. I also made sure the chest clip was in the correct position. In my experience (personal observation only), most kids are not belted into their carseats properly in winter or summer. They are usually too loose and the chest clips are usually too low because parents are too lazy to loosen the belt to get the kids out, then tighten them back up when they put them in. I did that though, every single time.

 

This.

[SKL]

I just remembered going to my girls' birth country to pick them up and bring them here. There are no car seats there, and I was not about to take mine there, for a variety of reasons, chief one being that between traveling with two non-walking babies and a mom in a wheelchair, and carrying all of our luggage etc. by myself, it wasn't happening. Besides, the cabs don't all have seat belts anyway. So we all piled into the cab to go to the airport. My mom holding one baby, me holding the other. On the way there, we were in an accident. My mom hit her head to the point where it bled, but the kids were fine.

 

We continued on to the airport and eventually got on a plane, which also had no car seats. Of course I'm obviously a horrible mom since I knew that in the rare event of a plane crash, my kids would surely die (as would I).

 

But it gets worse. We got to my home airport about midnight and after carting around two babies and one granny and all our stuff all day, going through immigration to secure my kids' citizenship, etc., I was exhausted. I then realized that one of my car seats' straps was rigged for a baby way smaller than mine, and to fix it, I would have had to take it out of the car (in the parking garage) and frig with it for some period of time. Meanwhile my kids are in shock and my mom's back is killing her and I'm this close to dropping dead. Guess what? I drove the kids home - partly on the freeway - with one of them NOT strapped in. Yep, I'm going straight to Hell for that one.

 

The world is not as dangerous as some people would have us believe. I mean, yes, it's nice to know about research and crash tests. It's wonderful that for the most part, private industry has made safety so convenient that it's often a no-brainer to follow a recommendation/law. But an unfortunate by-product of taking "safety" for granted is that we have an artificially low tolerance a reasonable amount of risk - and oddly, only some kinds of risks. For example, many people are afraid to let their kids go out and play, when IMO they ought to be more afraid of letting them sit inside and get fat and lazy. Now we've shortened a large % of our kids' lifespans by neglecting their health needs, over the fear of extremely rare risks such as stranger abduction. I honestly don't know where our kids are going to develop common sense with modern America as a model.

[Serenade]

 

The world is not as dangerous as some people would have us believe. I mean, yes, it's nice to know about research and crash tests. It's wonderful that for the most part, private industry has made safety so convenient that it's often a no-brainer to follow a recommendation/law. But an unfortunate by-product of taking "safety" for granted is that we have an artificially low tolerance a reasonable amount of risk - and oddly, only some kinds of risks. For example, many people are afraid to let their kids go out and play, when IMO they ought to be more afraid of letting them sit inside and get fat and lazy. Now we've shortened a large % of our kids' lifespans by neglecting their health needs, over the fear of extremely rare risks such as stranger abduction. I honestly don't know where our kids are going to develop common sense with modern America as a model.

 

:iagree:

[Mergath]

Western cold is dry. Eastern cold is seep into the bones moist - the kind that you never seem to warm up from. It IS different. I'd take the dry cold (and heat) ANY day over the moist cold and heat.

 

And I want to know where all these people are finding plain FLEECE coats that are warm. In my experience, if you're just going to wear fleece, then you might as well wear a t-shirt. I do not find it warm at all if there is any breeze at all, it just blows right through.

 

:iagree: We must have moist cold here too, because I can't imagine wearing a light fleece coat out in it. And someone like my dd, who is scrawny and has very little body fat, could end up with mild hypothermia very rapidly.

 

I should conduct an informal poll next time I bring dd in her for playgroup and ask the other parents if they have coats on their kids in the car during the dead of winter. I'm guessing the answers will be something like, "Uh... yeah." ;) I know that, when I see the kids getting out of their carseats in the parking lot for playgroup and gymnastics, they all have coats on.

[ksr5377]

We have always just used a good, fleece jacket as their "car" coat. We're in the NE, so it gets cold, but unless we're going to be playing outside these types of coats keep them warm enough to run from the car into the store or library. They also wear hats. Despite my mom insisting that my children will all the flu and pneumonia every winter because they are not wearing puffer down jackets, this hasn't happened yet. They have heavier coats I take if we're going to be playing outside when we get somewhere.

[Whereneverever]

 

 

:iagree: We must have moist cold here too, because I can't imagine wearing a light fleece coat out in it. And someone like my dd, who is scrawny and has very little body fat, could end up with mild hypothermia very rapidly.

 

I should conduct an informal poll next time I bring dd in her for playgroup and ask the other parents if they have coats on their kids in the car during the dead of winter. I'm guessing the answers will be something like, "Uh... yeah." ;) I know that, when I see the kids getting out of their carseats in the parking lot for playgroup and gymnastics, they all have coats on.

 

 

 

We lived in northern Minnesota for three years- north of Bemidji. My kids never wore coats in their car seats.

[I.Dup.]

Honestly? I have never heard of this rule or even considered that putting children in coats in a car seat was horribly dangerous. It just never occurred to me! Dh has always been the one to read the manuals and install the car seats, I watch the videos to make sure I'm buckling them in right, but I have NEVER heard this until about 3 months ago.

 

So, 10 years of parenting and I never once have had to deal with the guilt of knowing I was putting my children in danger each winter, until now. I doubt we will be waiting to put coats on, honestly. I tend to have the same beliefs about car safety that SKL has mentioned. However, there are other things I am very paranoid and super careful about that other parents may not be, so we each have our thing.

[AdventureMoms]

Western cold is dry. Eastern cold is seep into the bones moist - the kind that you never seem to warm up from. It IS different. I'd take the dry cold (and heat) ANY day over the moist cold and heat.

 

And I want to know where all these people are finding plain FLEECE coats that are warm. In my experience, if you're just going to wear fleece, then you might as well wear a t-shirt. I do not find it warm at all if there is any breeze at all, it just blows right through.

 

 

I'm in the east. I grew up here, have always lived here. Today it is 25F here. I forgot my coat when we were going to music class. I was fine. Chilly, but only for a moment while I buckled everyone in. I did bring the kids coats, but they did not wear them for the quick run into the class. I don't even bother with more than a fleece unless it is below 35. For a quick run in and out of a store or in and out of my house I don't do coats unless it is approaching zero. I keep them in the car, but don't wear them. We are not going to get hypothermia in 2 minutes while we're running into the store. My car does heat up in a few minutes, though, and everywhere I drive is at least 10 minutes. Closer than that and we'd probably just walk.

 

My fleece is Columbia brand from JCPenneys. It's polar fleece, not the cheap thin ones, and it keeps me very warm! The kids have fleece jackets from OshKosh I think. They're pretty warm too. They are not the best in wind, but it is not very windy in my car. If I'm outside in the wind for more than a few minutes, I wear a heavy coat.

[AdventureMoms]

:iagree: We must have moist cold here too, because I can't imagine wearing a light fleece coat out in it. And someone like my dd, who is scrawny and has very little body fat, could end up with mild hypothermia very rapidly.

 

I should conduct an informal poll next time I bring dd in her for playgroup and ask the other parents if they have coats on their kids in the car during the dead of winter. I'm guessing the answers will be something like, "Uh... yeah." ;) I know that, when I see the kids getting out of their carseats in the parking lot for playgroup and gymnastics, they all have coats on.

 

 

Oh a solid 95% of kids here are wearing huge puffy jackets in and out of cars. I'm confident I'm in the very tiny minority on that. However at least 95% of 12 month olds are FF here also. Probably better than 50% of 9 month olds too. I know many, many people who turned their 6 month olds. Most 3yos here are riding in boosters. Most 6yos are riding in the front seat in an adult seat belt if they have any seat belt at all. I know plenty of people who regularly drive more people in their car than they have seatbelts for. Nearly every single driver I know texts and drives.

 

Popularity does not make a practice safe.

[Mergath]

We lived in northern Minnesota for three years- north of Bemidji. My kids never wore coats in their car seats.

 

 

I grew up on the northern border of Minnesota, and I can't help wondering- did you actually leave the house between November and March? I suppose I can see doing that if one has a decent garage or an auto car starter, or even a decent heater, but our car sits in our driveway and has a crappy heater that takes forever to get going. Dd would freeze to her seat without a coat. I'm not going to make her miserable every time we have to go somewhere over the miniscule chance that we might get into an accident. If that makes me a bad mother, so be it.

 

We do a lot of walking too, and we have to cross a busy four-lane road where the traffic doesn't stop. Really, the odds of us getting killed doing that are probably much, much higher than death via puffy coat, but I'm not going to stop going on walks because of the risk. I think that, as parents, there comes a point where we have to realize that life is inherently risky, and find a way to balance safety and quality of life.

[Whereneverever]

 

 

I grew up on the northern border of Minnesota, and I can't help wondering- did you actually leave the house between November and March? I suppose I can see doing that if one has a decent garage or an auto car starter, or even a decent heater, but our car sits in our driveway and has a crappy heater that takes forever to get going. Dd would freeze to her seat without a coat. I'm not going to make her miserable every time we have to go somewhere over the miniscule chance that we might get into an accident. If that makes me a bad mother, so be it.

 

We do a lot of walking too, and we have to cross a busy four-lane road where the traffic doesn't stop. Really, the odds of us getting killed doing that are probably much, much higher than death via puffy coat, but I'm not going to stop going on walks because of the risk. I think that, as parents, there comes a point where we have to realize that life is inherently risky, and find a way to balance safety and quality of life.

We left the house and it was cold. Really cold. We kept the car out, but our last winter there I did get a remote starter. We however didn't walk anywhere in winter- I was not that brave!

Fwiw, I don't think it makes you a bad mother and I hope I didn't imply that I do.

[Mergath]

We left the house and it was cold. Really cold. We kept the car out, but our last winter there I did get a remote starter. We however didn't walk anywhere in winter- I was not that brave!

Fwiw, I don't think it makes you a bad mother and I hope I didn't imply that I do.

 

 

The walking isn't so bad- we try to do it on the warmer days and we dress extremely warm, and I pull dd around on a sled. ;)

 

I would give up a kidney to have a remote car starter. *sigh* Some day...

[ELITEANDLOVINGIT]

I always kept two double fleece blankets in the car and had a fleece Columbia all in one that my DD2 wore. We live pretty far north, so sometimes it just went on as clothing and then I packed a cooler outfit to change her into once we were inside.

 

I toted coats, but when my girls were really little we didn't put them on until we arrived at our destination.

[Splash]

Fleece coats come in different weight. We usually buy Columbia, North Face or pacific Trail that are warm up to 0 degrees. Lands End and LL Bean put in their catalog temps their coats are good for, hope that helps.

 

[Laura Corin]

True for seatbelts too. Adults have a bigger chance of slipping out of a seatbelt in a poofy coat. Even more common will be the seatbelt not being in the proper position during a crash resulting in more severe injuries.

 

 

Yes - I'm quite aware of this. I wear a long down coat to drive to work in winter, but I open it at the front and tuck the sides above/away from the seat belt so that it is only in contact with the coat on one shoulder. It feels much more secure that way.

 

Laura

[Murphy101]

Oh a solid 95% of kids here are wearing huge puffy jackets in and out of cars. I'm confident I'm in the very tiny minority on that. However at least 95% of 12 month olds are FF here also.

 

Yep. Mine do. We always switch them to ff at approx 1 year.

 

I don't do boosters at all anymore. Once they move from the rf infant seat to the ff seat, the ff seat is what they stay in until real close to 6 yr old.

 

No one sits up front until age 10.

 

I know plenty of people who regularly drive more people in their car than they have seatbelts for.

 

meh. If I have to, then I will bc I have to. Such is life. I don't think I have needed to in nearly 10 years though.

 

Nearly every single driver I know texts and drives.

 

Define texting and driving? Are they stopped at a stop sign? Or are they barreling down the interstate? I usually hand my phone to a kid in the car if I'm driving. Otherwise, I wait until I'm at a full stop to respond.

 

Popularity does not make a practice safe.

 

Meh. Paranoia and fear mongering doesn't make something more dangerous than it really is either.

[KungFuPanda]

If people are that concerned, why would they even buy a puffy coat? Our coats are plenty warm, but thin . . . like a windbreaker over fleece. I'm guessing the safest option is to strap in naked so you don't slip around under your clothing, but that hardly seems practical. Grippy, rubbery straps? I actually had an integrated carseat. I'm surprised that the safety police don't try to guilt people into purchasing vehicles that have these. They could use the same "Wouldn't you do anything to keep your child safe?" argument.

[AdventureMoms]

If people are that concerned, why would they even buy a puffy coat? Our coats are plenty warm, but thin . . . like a windbreaker over fleece. I'm guessing the safest option is to strap in naked so you don't slip around under your clothing, but that hardly seems practical. Grippy, rubbery straps? I actually had an integrated carseat. I'm surprised that the safety police don't try to guilt people into purchasing vehicles that have these. They could use the same "Wouldn't you do anything to keep your child safe?" argument.

 

We have windbreaker over fleece type coats that we use for spring/fall and sometimes in winter as a "car coat" but it's definitely not warm enough for full winter weather if you're going to go out and play in the snow around here. They're pretty good down to around 10-15 degrees though.

 

My kids' carseats do have grippy rubbery straps, incidentally. I remember those integrated carseats from a few years ago, but haven't seen any in any newer cars. I wonder why they went out of style?

[Slartibartfast]

If people are that concerned, why would they even buy a puffy coat? Our coats are plenty warm, but thin . . . like a windbreaker over fleece. I'm guessing the safest option is to strap in naked so you don't slip around under your clothing, but that hardly seems practical. Grippy, rubbery straps? I actually had an integrated carseat. I'm surprised that the safety police don't try to guilt people into purchasing vehicles that have these. They could use the same "Wouldn't you do anything to keep your child safe?" argument.

 

Well...in some areas the poofy coats are more needed. Where we lived previously we did need poofy coats, ds had one even when he was very young. We always took him out of his coat, I wouldn't drive unless I feel everyone was safely secured but as I stated previously, the only reason I am here posting today is a seatbelt.

 

I haven't seen cars with integrated carseats...what if it is in an accident? Wouldn't they have to replace it? That seems odd.

[AdventureMoms]

-

[Slartibartfast]

 

meh. If I have to, then I will bc I have to. Such is life. I don't think I have needed to in nearly 10 years though.

 

 

 

In many states you will get a ticket if everyone does not have a seatbelt. Even if one does not do that for the safety issue many police will pull people over for that and that alone.

 

 

 

 

Meh. Paranoia and fear mongering doesn't make something more dangerous than it really is either.

 

Everything is relative but I find it rather ridiculous to refer to adhering to carseat regulations and recommendations as "fear mongering" and "paranoia"

[KungFuPanda]

Well...in some areas the poofy coats are more needed. Where we lived previously we did need poofy coats, ds had one even when he was very young. We always took him out of his coat, I wouldn't drive unless I feel everyone was safely secured but as I stated previously, the only reason I am here posting today is a seatbelt.

I haven't seen cars with integrated carseats...what if it is in an accident? Wouldn't they have to replace it? That seems odd.

 

You know, I don't know. My kids are older than most here. The carseat is part of the car like all the other seats. I imagine you're supposed to replace all of your seatbelts in an accident, so you'd replace those too.

 

Hey, I wonder if the plastic in ALL of the seatbelt buckles expires and should be replaced periodically? Everyone is spun p about the breakdown of three-year-old plastic seats, but 5-10 year old buckles that restrain 10 times the weight of the average baby are never mentioned.