Why you shouldn't buckle your children into car seats with their jackets on

An important reminder for parents of young children

Everyone knows that young children should be buckled into a car seat before setting off on a journey.

But what many may not know is that what they wear could influence how effective the safety measure becomes.

Good Egg Safety has warned that putting your child into their car seat while they are still wearing their thick winter coats can render their car seat completely useless.

This is because, if your child is bundled up in a heavy, puffy coat, “it can look like they’re properly strapped in when there is actually a large gap between their body and the harness.”

And if the harness isn’t snug against your child’s body, it does not work properly. As Good Egg safety explains it, “Leaving your child’s coat on in the car is a problem because it creates a gap between your child and their safety harness. In a collision, the harness isn’t as close to your child’s body as it needs to be to allow it to properly restrain them.”

As a reminder, the harness on a car seat is tight enough when you can comfortably slide two fingers underneath it.

And if you are worried about your child catching a cold without their jacket, Good Egg recommends covering them, and their car seat, with a blanket.