When my sister had her first baby in October, the hospital staff ran through a list of do’s and don’ts as part of the discharge protocol, but they gave one instruction that was new to me: “Don’t let him wear a coat in his car seat.”
Because we live in Idaho, the winter climate is cold—cold enough to dip 20 degrees below zero. The idea of not bundling up a baby before a car ride feels counterintuitive, but based on crash testing, experts are indeed saying no to coats in car seats.
According to a report on TODAY, car-seat straps can feel snug on a child wearing a coat when in actuality they are too loose to be effective. Check out the video of a coat-wearing crash-test dummy flipping out of its car seat here.
And it looks like this advice isn’t specific to babies; kids and even adults are encouraged to buckle up sans coat.
Is this recommendation new to you? If not, how are you keeping your kids warm in the car when they aren’t wearing a coat? For a few tips, visit this site. •
Boulevard West 
I’ve always taken my kids coats off and wrapped a blanket on them. I never liked how the straps felt against their coats. Glad I’ve been listening to my gut on this one. Besides they get so hot after the car warms up and are stuck.
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