A police department in Iowa is warning parents about the hidden danger of winter coats and car seats.
"If babies are wearing a thick winter coat and they get in a crash, everything is going to compress," warned Cedar Rapids Police Department Officer Shannon Sampson.
Sampson explained with the compression factored in, seat belts on a child wearing a bulky coat are looser than they should be. That looseness could cause extra damage or even allow the child to fly out of the seat in a crash.
Safety blog The Car Seat Lady keeps a list of techniques for keeping kids warm in a way that won't compromise their safety, including double swaddling with blankets and putting a jacket on the kid backwards and on top of the seat belt.
Cedar Rapids police recommends buckling in kids, then putting blankets or their coat on top of them.
Parents can test whether a coat is too bulky using the method below:
• Have your kid wear the coat, sit them in the car seat and fasten the harness.
• Tighten it until you cannot use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the webbing together.
• Next, take your child out of the car seat and remove the jacket while keeping the harness at the same tightness level.
• Place them back in the seat.
• If you can pinch together the webbing now, the jacket is too bulky.