The Great Car Seat Debate: To Coat or Not to Coat

I love the immediacy of information the internet drops at my fingertips. I think; therefore I Google.

As soon as I wonder something, I search for it. Usually this is simple. And then every so often an issue presents itself where two opposing ideas seem to be true in the same space. This recently happened with car seats and winter coats.

There I was, scrolling through my Facebook feed when I saw a post about why kids should always be buckled into their car seats with coats. It was a first-hand account about a mom whose car had skidded off the road and help was a long time coming. The first responders said it was lucky her kid was wearing a coat since it was such a cold night.

What!?

I thought coats should be removed.

Just a few days prior my husband had sent me an awful video of a crash test dummy ejected from a car seat because of a puffy coat. After watching the video we promised to always remove our child’s winter coat. I even talked with her about reminding me to take off her coat. Because sometimes there isn’t time for coffee in the morning and when we’re speeding through the morning routine, it’s just instinct to try to arrive at school on-time. I can hear myself saying, “Please get your shoes. Your shoes. Not sandals. Your sneakers. The MATCHING SHOES!” And by the time we get to the car sometimes I’m not thinking about removing the coat we just put on literally two minutes ago to walk from the house to the driveway.

She reminds me though; and that’s a good thing.

So I did more research with my trusted Google.

Although the mother’s story pulls at my heartstrings, the consensus among safety experts is that removing a winter coat is the safest way to transport a child. The puffiest winter coats exist as the worst safety risks; the puffier the coat, the further the straps are from your child, and the less likely they are to restrain a child in a crash.

I spoke to two emergency responders, an EMT and a firefighter. Both asked not to be named as an authoritative source because of the litigious nature of society. Interestingly, one replied that their child wore winter coats when buckled into a car seat; the other removed their child’s coat.

I was hoping for more of a consensus, so I turned to some of my go-to online safety resources. Consumer Reports published an article two years ago, in December of 2014, highlighting the dangers of car seats and winter coats. So did The Car Seat Lady; this article not only recommends against coats, but provides several visuals to support her stance. She also compiled 16 car seat manufacturer’s warnings about winter coats. Chicco’s in particular was very clear: “NEVER use clothing or blankets that interfere with fastening or tightening the harness”.

So what can we do to keep our kids both safe and warm during the coldest months of the year? It’s not always an option to heat the car before we need to leave. Stop rushing. Remove the coat. Click the harness snuggly, then put the coat on backwards. Sometimes my kid loves riding to school like this. Other times, it’s a blanket wrapped around her legs while she keeps her hat and mittens on.

There are several products on the market that address this issue including the Flip Over Me Poncho and the Cozy Woggle, but I can’t speak for either as we’ve never tried them; so far backwards coats and blankets are working for us.

I’m firmly on the side of “not to coat”; I’ll gladly sacrifice my posterior in the freezing temps to help my daughter remove her coat, climb into the car and get snuggly buckled.

However, I’ll tell you this: SEAT WARMERS will be at the top of the wish list for a new car!


After surviving ten years as a high school English teacher, Kathryn opted to create imaginary worlds and spend her days hunting for ladybugs with her daughter. She has written for ChildGood and Babies and Breastfeeding magazines as well as various sites around the web.