SAN ANTONIO – We bundle up our children on chilly days to keep them warm, but puffy coats and car seats can be a dangerous combination, Consumer Reports warns.
The extra bulk of a puffy winter coat can make the safety seat harness too loose to properly secure the child in a crash.
“I also do daycare drop-off every morning, and I know that it can be really annoying and kind of inconvenient to have to remove their coats to put them into their car seats, but I will tell you it is really important to their safety,” said Emily Thomas, an expert in pediatric injury biomechanics who works with Consumer Reports.
To see if your child’s coat is too bulky, first secure him in the car seat with his coat so there is no slack in the straps. Then remove the coat and put him back in the seat. If the straps are loose, there’s a problem.
“In a crash, if he was still wearing his coat, his coat would compress, which gives him additional room to move and potentially move outside the safety of his car seat which would increase his risk of injury," Thomas said.
She recommends putting the child’s coat or a blanket on top of the harness putting the coat sleeves on backwards after the child is strapped in.