Its cold, the weather has turned and like me I am sure many parents are beginning to stress over keeping their little people warm in the car and especially those who are transferred from car to pushchair.
Over the last few weeks I have seen a massive massive increase on social media of pictures of babies from new-born to a year in their infant car seats in thick, padded and warm looking clothing and it makes me want to scratch out my eyes and employ skywriters to tell all.
Coats, pram suits, snowsuits and thick jackets …. ARE NOT SAFE TO USE IN A CAR SEAT
It’s common sense that any parent wants to keep their baby warm but there are 2 very massive issues with using coats and suits within a car seat that we all need to be aware of.
The first one is fairly obvious so I am not going to loiter on it to long and that is over heating.
The coat/jacket/snowsuit has done a wonderful job of insulating baby from the elements but when you clip that car seat back into the car again …. but baby can easily become far too warm as they are not able to regulate their own temperatures.
Thick and well padded clothing like coats, jackets, snow or spam suits can actually stop your babies car seat from being a safe place for them.
On impact in an accident the air and padding within the child’s clothing will compress meaning that once non-existent gap between baby and the car seat harness is now huge and as such baby is no longer held in the car seat as they should be.
So without further ado I am going to share with you some examples of safer alternatives that could be considered when you are looking to keep baby warm.
Firstly before embarking on a purchase you need to make sure any product you decide to use will not restrict the harness in any way, some of the options below have general fitting options and are not made specifically to your car seat so checking this will not hinder the seat in any way is imperative.
Morrck All Season Baby Hoodie
This is one product I can personally recommend. I discovered the Morrck car seat blanket when Joshua was small and we bought it again when I was pregnant to use with Jacob.
It has easily adjustable holes that the car seat harness easily threaded through on our Maxi-Cosi Pebble Plus and kept Jacob super snuggly through the colder weather. I also loved how many varying colour options it comes in and that they have 3 different sizes, 0-6 months, 5-18 months and 18 months – 4 years
Price: £35.95 – £39.95
For more information: Morrck
babybundle Snuggleblanki
This travel blanket was one that was recommended to me by a friend and seems to be very similar to the Morrck and comes in slightly cheaper than it too, however there is only one colour option and it can only be used up to 6 months so it’s very much a new baby size.
Price: £29.99
For more information: babybundle
Maxi-Cosi Pebble Plus Footmuff
As I mentioned earlier, my Maxi-Cosi Pebble Plus comes with the option to buy a perfectly compatible car seat footmuff.
Obviously having been made specifically for this particular car seat there are no issues with harness restrictions and 9 times out of 10 they can be purchased in the same colour option as your car seat (ours is the sparkling grey as pictured)
Maxi-Cosi is also not the only brand to have their own range of car seat compatible footmuffs so it might be worth checking with your brand if you have already purchased your car seat.
The obvious downside to most car seat branded options can be the price as they do seem to be slightly higher, however for me I am kicking myself we didn’t buy it at the beginning as we would have seen through 2 lots of bad weather with ours if that had been the case instead of having to look again for something this winter.
Price: £50
For more information: Maxi-Cosi
For some further information on why it is unsafe to use padded clothing in a car seat there are some articles below for you to read if you would like.
Winter coats and car seats – the winter facts every parent needs to know
Does your child use a car seat while wearing a coat? They could be in danger
Could your child’s winter COAT put their life at risk?
Disclaimer: I have not been asked to mention any brands or products in this post, I have written this post with no affiliated links.
We use thick cardigans then put coats over their legs to keep them warm.