Winter Coats and Car Seats: What You Need to Know

As the winter season approaches, it’s important for parents to consider how to keep their children safe and warm while traveling in their car seats. It’s easy to assume that a bulky winter coat provides enough warmth for your child, but the truth is that it can actually interfere with the effectiveness of the car seat harness. A coat can sometimes create a gap between the harness and your child’s body, which can lead to serious injury in the event of an accident. In this blog post, we’ll explore what you need to know about winter coats and car seats, and how you can ensure that your child stays safe and comfortable during the colder months.

Why Are Winter Coats Dangerous in Car Seats?

The “fluff” in your child’s winter coat—typically down or poly-fill—affects how the car seat performs in a crash. Why? All that extra bulk prevents your child’s harness from fitting snugly, and an adequately tightened harness is a critical component of safe car seat usage.

In a collision, the fill of a bulky coat will compress from the crash forces, making the harness too loose on your child. How loose? By up to four inches, which creates more than enough space for your child to slip out of their harness and be thrown from the seat.

Puffy coats (and snowsuits) aren’t the only culprits, either. Thick sweaters, heavy sweatshirts, and fleece jackets can also create too much slack in the harness.

Are Other Fluffy Aftermarket Car Seat Accessories Safe?

Are you asking yourself, “Wait, what about the fluffy things that came with my car seat? Is the infant insert safe?”

There’s a critical difference between accessories included with your car seat purchase and what’s known as “aftermarket” accessories. Anything that comes with your car seat in the same box (as well as some additional accessories that the manufacturer explicitly approves) has been crash-tested with your car seat and proven safe.

Aftermarket car seat accessories are any item not sold with your car seat—they’re often marketed as providing additional comfort for your child (think head support cushions, harness strap covers, and the like). Not only will an aftermarket product potentially void your car seat warranty, but it can also cause improper seat fit or usage. These accessories don’t have to meet federal standards and haven’t been crash-tested with your car seat, so there’s no way to know how they will impact your car seat’s performance in a collision.

How Do You Know if Your Child’s Coat is Safe?

A quick way to see if your child’s coat (or other outerwear) is too bulky is to do the pinch test.

Buckle your child into the car seat with their coat on.
Tighten the harness until you can’t pinch any slack between your fingers.
Without loosening the harness, carefully remove your child from the car seat.
Take your child’s coat off and buckle them back into the car seat.
If you can pinch the strap material between your fingers, the coat is too bulky to be worn under the harness.

Can a Toddler Wear a Winter Coat in Their Car Seat?

Your child will ride in a harnessed car seat for years, well beyond what most parents would call “toddlerhood.”. Most traditional convertible car seats have a forward-facing 65 lbs weight limit (and some all-in-one options have even higher weight limits). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that parents keep their children in harnessed car seats for as long as possible until they outgrow the height or weight limits. Children are safest in car seats with harnesses.

Most children under five or six aren’t mature enough to sit in a booster seat—either they can’t sit still, or they’re slumping, or the shoulder belt is irritating their neck, so they slip out of it. And if your child is wearing a seat belt properly, they aren’t protected in a collision.

As long as your toddler is riding in a car seat with a 5-point harness, they shouldn’t be wearing any outerwear while buckled in.

Safe Alternatives to Winter Coats

You don’t have to sacrifice warmth for safety! These are our favorite safe alternatives to winter coats.

Low-pile fleece jackets. And low-pile is key—thicker fleece can pose the same dilemma as puffy outerwear. If you aren’t sure, do the pinch test.
Car seat ponchos. These are basically cozy blankets with a hood that can be draped over the car seat straps once your child is snugly buckled in. If you’re DIY-inclined, there are plenty of free poncho patterns online, and you can make your own.
Layering. A thin thermal layer, close-fitting shirt or bodysuit, sweater, leggings, and pants can be as warm as wearing a coat and definitely safer. You can also use hats, mittens, booties, and socks to keep cozy without interfering with a harness.
Blankets. You can safely cover the car seat with a blanket. Just take care not to cover your baby’s face to avoid trapped air and rebreathing.
Muffs, buntings, or car seat covers. Make sure any cover you’re using does not have a layer that goes under your baby (that’s a layer of fluff we want to avoid). Never use any cover that goes underneath your baby or between your baby and the harness straps, and make sure the product has been approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Remember, your car will warm up (eventually). While adult passengers can remove layers once things get toasty, your baby cannot. Not only will overheating make your child uncomfortable and cranky, it’s potentially dangerous, too. Young babies can’t regulate their temperatures or sweat effectively, so they’re at higher risk for overheating. Appropriate layering can help your baby stay comfortable when moving between warm indoor temperature and winter weather outside.

Tips for Staying Warm in Car Seats

There are plenty of ways to keep your little one safe and toasty once temperatures plummet.

If your baby is riding a rear-facing-only infant car seat, remove it from its base and bring it indoors when cold weather strikes (just don’t let your baby sleep in it!). Not only will the seat be warm when you’re ready to head out, it’s easy to top it with a blanket once your baby is buckled in.
Time permitting, start your car and run the heat for a few minutes before loading everyone in.
Try the reverse jacket move: Once you’ve strapped your child in, put their arms through the coat backwards, and they’ll be safely covered.
Pack an emergency winter on-the-road kit. Keep blankets, snacks, and extra gloves, hats, and mittens just in case you have car trouble during wintry weather.
Allow for extra time while driving in inclement weather. Driving in snow and ice requires patience and caution.

Winter weather brings its own set of challenges, but with a bit of knowledge and preparing, you can ensure your little one is both warm and safe during car reads. Adjust, check, and drive with peace of mind.

Additional Resources

These organizations have tons of information on car seat safety, recalls, and changing regulations:

Finding What’s Right for You

Albee Baby is the oldest family-owned specialty baby shop in the US, and we pride ourselves on providing our customers with the best assortment of baby products anywhere, at fair prices, always. We’re committed to being an inclusive resource for parents and hope you feel empowered to find the right baby gear for your family. Still have questions? Feel free to contact our baby gear experts at 877.692.5233 or [email protected].