Car Safety – Winter Car Seat Tips

As winter is approaching I thought I would update this post with a friendly reminder for winter car safety when travelling with kids. I often see parents posting pictures of their children daily on social media wearing thick puffy coats while in the car. This really does make me cringe, as it is a very dangerous thing to do. You should never put your child in an outdoor jacket while in the car! If you are heading out in the car this winter then either put the heaters on while you defrost the car (it will then be warm by the time you are ready to leave) or put blankets over the kids while they are in their seats.

Further Reading – Top Tips For Keeping Your Children Entertained In The Car

Winter Car Seat Tips

If you are still wondering why it is so dangerous then you can try a simple test to see just how dangerous a winter jacket in the car is for yourself.

1. Have your child wear its thick winter jacket
2. Place the child in its seat and tighten the straps
3. Remove the child without loosening the straps
4. Take the child’s jacket off
5. Place the child back in the seat and do the buckle up. Don’t tighten the straps…

Can you see how loose the straps are? Can you imagine if you were in a car accident?…the jacket would compress leaving the straps loose, which in reality means your child could come out of their car seat. Which is not safe at all!

Secondly, your child when wearing a thick jacket can easily overheat while wearing its winter jacket. Your child won’t be able to remove it’s jacket when you are driving (especially if it is a baby) which is not safe either.

How Do I Keep Them Safe?

Well, there are a few simple things you can do to keep your children safe.

Dress them in layers

During the winter depending on how cold it is on the day I will dress the boys in the following; vest, long sleeve top and a jumper/fleece. This will keep them warm enough to get them from the house to the car.

Strap them in

Make sure when you do the straps up they are snug against your child’s chest. You should be able to fit two fingers under the straps.

Cover them up

Once their straps are all tightened you can then put a blanket over them. Put it under their arms pits and not above.

For my youngest son, we had a morrck blanket. I found this great for keeping him warm and it is fully tested and approved in the UK. Another handy reminder is to remember that the car seat straps must NEVER be twisted.

Here is a video from the morrck’s website to explain more.

Thank you for reading our winter car seat tips. Hopefully, you will be able to use these tips to help you keep your children safe this winter.

First published Dec 2015