Winter Coats and Car Seat Safety
Snow and ice are sweeping the nation leaving roads icy and dangerous. During these frigid temperatures you may be tempted to leave your baby’s coat on while buckled into their seat. Here is a quick reminder about winter coats and car seat safety:
Dangers of leaving a child’s winter coat on while in a car seat
Remember that bulky clothing, such as winter coats and snowsuits, can compress in a crash and lead to increased risk of injury. Straps on your infant’s car seat should be tight enough to pass the “pinch test.” When fully buckled in, you should not be able to pinch the webbing together at the shoulder and the chest clip is at armpit level. Ideally you should dress your baby in thinner layers and tuck a coat or a blanket around your baby over the buckled harness straps if needed.
Dr. Sears, or Dr. Bill as his “little patients” call him, has been advising busy parents on how to raise healthier families for over 40 years. He received his medical training at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital in Boston and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the world’s largest children’s hospital, where he was associate ward chief of the newborn intensive care unit before serving as the chief of pediatrics at Toronto Western Hospital, a teaching hospital of the University of Toronto. He has served as a professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California School of Medicine, and University of California: Irvine. As a father of 8 children, he coached Little League sports for 20 years, and together with his wife Martha has written more than 40 best-selling books and countless articles on nutrition, parenting, and healthy aging. He serves as a health consultant for magazines, TV, radio and other media, and his AskDrSears.com website is one of the most popular health and parenting sites. Dr. Sears has appeared on over 100 television programs, including 20/20, Good Morning America, Oprah, Today, The View, and Dr. Phil, and was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine in May 2012. He is noted for his science-made-simple-and-fun approach to family health.