In less than ten days, the Year of the Dragon and the New Year will be ushered in. It has now entered the Spring Festival travel time, but according to the weather forecast, from February 1st to 5th, many places across the country have ushered in a wide range of cooling, rain and snow. Heavy winter coats or down jackets will become an important outfit for children. However, for babies who travel in a car and use a car seat, they must not wear heavy cotton clothes or down jackets when using the car seat. This is because padded clothes or down jackets can keep your baby warm, but they can make the child safety seat less secure.
The danger of coat compression
Car seat belts need to be close to the child's body at all times. All coats and clothing can be compressed in the event of a collision, and heavy winter coats and down jackets can cause excessive sagging of the seat belts when squeezed sufficiently, as if they were not wearing them. A loose seat belt does not guarantee that the child will be secured in the car seat, or even that the child will be kept in the car.
Keep your child warm and safe
Although heavy winter clothing is not allowed in the car seat for your child's safety, there are ways to keep your child warm.
1) Dress your child in several thin layers of clothing. Each layer of clothing is able to retain body heat. The layer of clothing that fits snugly against the skin should be snug to the skin, such as tights, leggings, long underwear, or long-sleeved tights.
2) You can turn on the heating to preheat before driving. If you have enough time, you can turn on the heating of the car in advance to warm up the inside of the car first. It is also possible to keep the carryable parts of the child safety seat, such as a carrycot, indoors so that it is not too cold when the child is placed in the car seat.
3) Cover your child with a cotton coat or blanket. After your child fastens the restraint belt of the car seat, you can put the heavy cotton clothes or blankets that your child has taken off to cover your child's body to ensure that your child is warm in the car.
Self-check how much outerwear your child is wearing for car seats
Here's an easy self-test to help you appreciate how your coat or down jacket can be overcompressed in a car accident and why it's safer to wear thin clothing and blankets in a car seat.
When you're ready for the test, take your child to the car. If you're still using a portable baby seat, it's safe and convenient to bring into your room for testing.
Step 1: Put your child in a winter coat or down jacket. Put your child in the car seat and buckle up as you normally would before driving, making sure the seat belt is tight enough for your child.
Step 2: Chalk mark the end of the restraint tape. Then lift the child out of the car seat.
Step 3. Take off your child's coat. Put your child back in the car seat and buckle up again.
Step 4: Adjust the harness so that the chalk marker line is in the position where the coat is worn, and snap the harness on, at which point if you can place more than one finger (or pinch the harness) at the child's collarbone (shoulder), then the coat (coat) is too thick. In this way, the car seat will not be able to protect your child well in the event of an accident.
