During the winter when temperatures start dipping, people prepare themselves for the winter. Especially drivers, who have babies on board, start using bulky coats and blankets to bundle up their children in order to save them against serious weather conditions. But coat and blankets are a lethal combination when used with car seats for children.
Winter coats should not be worn underneath the harness of child car seat because it can cause very loose grip that is very dangerous in the crash. You must check your child coat if it is too big to use with harness.
To check out the suitability of coat, sit the baby in the seat and tighten the harness until there is no longer leverage for pinching the harness with thumb or figure. Now without loosing the harness pull the child out from the seat, if your baby coat is too big, child will be easily removed from the coat even harness is still tight. Now remove the coat and sit your baby back into the car seat and buckle the straps on the same adjustments which of with coat. If you can now pinch the webbing, the coat is bulky and big, unfit and unsafe to wear under the harness.
A child safety expert, Dr. Hoffman says “Car seats are designed to be tightly attached to the vehicle and the child attached tightly to the car seats, anything that interferes with that increases injury.”
There are several other ways to keep your children warm and safe in the seat.
Usually drivers left the harness very loose even with a coat wear under the harness, it is one of the most dangerous practices. It is very vital for your baby’s health to keep the harness very tight in the winter because there is a higher probability of crashes involved during the winter.
So, consider it as a warning for drivers in cold weather, find alternatives that suit you best to safe and warm your children without wearing bulky coats and blankets under the harness. Your child safety comes first.
