Doctor Schutt -Pediatrician - Paducah, Kentucky

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Winter coats and children’s car Saftey

As the winter air slowly moves into your area, this is your PSA for winter coats and child car seat safety!

As a general rule, bulky clothing, including winter coats should not be worn underneath the harness of a car seat. In the event of a crash, the fluffy padding in coat immediately flattens out from force, leaving a lot of extra space under the harness. In turn, your child can easily slip through the harness and be thrown out of the car seat.

Always double check your harness: even if your child looks snuggly bundled up in the car seat, multiple layers may make it difficult to tighten the harness enough. If you can pinch the straps of the car seat harness, then it needs to be tightened to fit snugly against your child's chest.

Here’s a safe jacket alternative made to work in most car seats. A special thanks to my sister-in-law for showing me this! I’m going to have to add this to my kid’s wish list for sure! https://amzn.to/3FvfJkq

**Doctor Schutt’s blogs may include some affiliate links through trusted companies like Amazon. Purchases made using these links may earn Doctor Schutt a small commission.  She uses those small commissions to create content like this to help with her mission in growing healthy children and empowering parents in her community and nationwide.  She donates a percentage of this commission to organizations that share her mission and values.