"everyone who rides in a car (adults included) should be in a child-seat-like device"

FWIW, NASCAR drivers are.

Adults would never go for it, though. You can't turn around, you can't even reach forward to operate the radio. You certainly can't reach into the back seat for a DVD or to pick up your kid's toy.

My father is a (retired) biomechanic researcher who has spent YEARS developing crash-test dummies, testing child seats, working on safety restraints etc. He tells me that child safety seats are so excellent at what they do that everyone who rides in a car (adults included) should be in a child-seat-like device. Even when they are mis-installed, they do their job incredibly well. He tells us to let our kids wear their winter coats in their carseats. Pull the child-seat straps as tight as you can over the kid's coat (the coat should be squished down). Make sure the 5-point harness clip is right at nipple level. As long as you cannot slide the straps off the child's shoulders, you are ok. His opinion is that the hype over carseats and coats is just that--hype.

"It's about the coat compressing, which makes the belt not tight enough"

If you tighten the straps, and let the coat compress against the straps, you're in the same place you were without the coat. You're fine.

In any case, I have a hard time believing that the inch or so of coat thickness is really going to make any meaningful difference in car seat strap effectiveness. Certainly not so much of a difference that a kid is going to hit the seat in front of them solely because they're wearing a coat. Good God!

Again, this whole thing is a myth.

What I was saying in my comparison to seatbelt functionality is that seatbelts will always yield a couple of inches before they lock. So no matter what, (coat or no coat) the car seat straps, already being firmly in place, are going to better restrain the occupant.

"I stick a blanket in the dryer for a few minutes before we leave the house to warm it up."

OMG. Every time?

One kid, I guess, right?

But the issue isn't always about the baby being ejected. It's about the coat compressing, which makes the belt not tight enough, and if there is enough impact, the child could jerk forward and hit their head on the back of the seat in front of them (if they are not in the middle).

We have seat belts that lock on impact, but car seat belts do not.

Tell the shamers that it's actually better for the kids immune system to be a little cold.

I used to just have DS where a fleece in the car, and then bring a coat with me. Now, this is what we do:

I stick a blanket in the dryer for a few minutes before we leave the house to warm it up. He wears his coat but it is unzipped. I put his safety belt on against his chest and then kind of pull the coat over the his chest. And then top it off with the warm blanket.

Anonymous wrote:https://themonarchmommy.com/2015/12/16/why-the-today-show-car-seat-video-isnt-helping/

They didn't do it correctly because then it wouldn't be dramatic enough to go viral.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.pressherald.com/2013/01/04/infant-thrown-from-car-seat-in-violent-raymond-collision-is-recovering/

No where in this article does it say a coat caused the baby to be ejected from the car seat.

Have you looked at the columbia kitterwibbit jackets? It's warm, but thin, and has a smooth lining that makes it really easy to get arms through the arm holes. I can get it on my 1 year old wiggly kid in under 10 seconds. Also, has a hood, so built in hat option. You can get last years colors on Amazon for less than $30 if you aren't too picky about color and boy/girl stereotypical coloring.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.pressherald.com/2013/01/04/infant-thrown-from-car-seat-in-violent-raymond-collision-is-recovering/

From that article:

"I have seen car seats ejected from a motor vehicle with children in them. I have never seen a kid come flying out of one. That’s a first for me in 28 years of doing this,” said Messinger, who also is a full-time Portland firefighter.

Anonymous wrote:I think the whole coat-in-car-seat hysteria is entirely overblown.

In just a few short years, even when your kids are riding in booster seats, they will be relying on the car's seat belts which are a lot less tight, and will, by design (so that you can move around in the seat), yield several inches in a collision before locking in place.

This coat worry is yet another Mommy nonsense fear.

--mechanical engineer

Your logic makes no sense. The straps have no locking so must be tight to be effective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the whole coat-in-car-seat hysteria is entirely overblown.

In just a few short years, even when your kids are riding in booster seats, they will be relying on the car's seat belts which are a lot less tight, and will, by design (so that you can move around in the seat), yield several inches in a collision before locking in place.

This coat worry is yet another Mommy nonsense fear.

--mechanical engineer

Their bones will be stronger once they're in booster seats. Please go watch youtube videos of how much safer no coats vs coats truly are.

NP. That's not scientific, those videos are all absurd. I agree with PP that if you put a coat on a child and put the child in a car seat, the child will be fine in a crash.

I can attest that my kids, in coats, were fine in our recent car crash. The car was totaled but the passengers were all fine, all wearing coats.

I remove my daughter's coat in the car seat but I agree, those videos are completely bogus.

+1. The insanity of this stuff is really reaching fever pitch.

(PS- sorry about your accident PP).

A regular seat belt will “lock” in an accident; the straps in a car seat will not and are only as tight as you make them. And, if a kid is moving all around in a regular seat belt, then they are not mature enough to use that instead of a 5-Point harness. The alternative is pulling the seat belt all the way out to engage the lock on the autoretractor so that it’s tight when they’re clicked in.
If you’re going to use a puffy coat in a car seat, first strap your kid in without the coat, tighten the straps, then put the coat on and click them in without loosening the harness.