While bundling your kids up and wearing a winter coat in colder climates is a necessity, placing your child in a car seat with their bulky winter coat is a dangerous combination.
This is an easy, yet dangerous, car seat safety mistake to make and not think twice about. All that extra padding the coat provides is extra space between your child and the strap which can result in the harness being too loose to be effective in a crash. The same goes for car seat covers. If you use one make sure it secures on the outside of the seat and does not wrap under your child.
[su_quote cite=”Benjamin Hoffman, M.D., a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician” url=”http://www.parents.com/baby/safety/car/car-seat-safety/” target=”_blank” rel=”no follow”]“Car seats are designed to be tightly attached to the vehicle and the child attached tightly to the car seat,” explains Dr. Hoffman. “Anything that interferes with that increases injury.”[/su_quote]
We all want to keep our kids safe while riding in the car, so how can you safely transport kids while keeping them cozy?
How to do a Pinch Test (and check your Car Seat Saftey)
[su_note note_color=”#f1f1f1″ radius=”6″]
* Put your child in their seat and fasten the harness.
* Make sure the chest clip is placed at armpit level.
* Tighten the harness until you can no longer pinch any of the harness webbing with your thumb and forefinger.
(You can run this same test with your child in their coat and then remove them from the seat without adjusting the straps at all and see the difference). [/su_note]
A Coat That is Designed with Car Seat Safety in Mind:
Disclosure: I received a Cozywoggle in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions about this product.
This year when it came time to finding a coat for my little man, I did a lot of research knowing that I wanted something for him that was easy to get on and off in the car and could keep him warm in the car seat. While using a blanket or wearing a coat backwards is a possible solution, it was not one that would work easily with my kids…I wanted something that would teach a level of independence
Enter the CozyWoggle Coat.
This amazing idea for a coat is wind and water resistant, which means not only is this coat awesome for car seat travel, it was also perfect for outdoor play.
The inside of the coat is lined with a very soft fleece and the hood zips on and off as needed.
All of the zippers have flap coverings that prevent them from being an annoyance or touching the skin.
We have used the coat multiple times outside and my little man has always been the last one to want to come inside. It even held up beautifully for a rough day sledding with the “Big Boys”…
The Cozywoggle is not considered a car seat accessory…yet it has been crash tested in both rear and forward facing seats and has been shown to be as safe as not wearing a coat at all.
The “magic” of the CozyWoggle is in the zippers. In addition to a traditional zipper that goes down the front of the coat, the CozyWoggle has two zippers that run from the waist to the wrists on both sides of the coat. This allows the coat to become unzipped and worn as a poncho while in the car seat. The top of the coat then sits over the back of the car seat so that there is nothing between your child’s body and the car seat.
When it comes time to get out of the car bundling up is as easy as popping your child’s hands back into the wrists and zipping the sides up. I kind of expected this to be a fight, but it went over much easier than trying to get a traditional coat back on.
Plus this was something my little man could do on his own (with some help for the zipper) so he was super proud about it!
The CozyWoggle retails for $74.99. While some of you may see that to be on the steep side for a little coat, it definitely is worth the price. It is the same quality and price range for a warm winter coat that you would pay from London Fog or LL Bean, yet this coat you don’t have to take off in the car! This coat gets the kid tested, momma approved label from us!
Are you ready to try out the CozyWoggle for yourself?