Ask
Hana Haatainen Caye
Jennifer asks: Renee writes: I heard that
my kids shouldn’t wear bulky or ‘puffy’ coats
while in a car seat. Why is this considered
unsafe?
GG: Excellent question, Renee! First, while
this has nothing to do with winter coats, I
highly recommend that everyone locate a
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician
in your area and have your car seats and their
installation inspected.
As for your question, according to CPST
Megan Arce, too much ‘puff ’ in a coat means
excess air between your child and his safety
harness. In the case of a collision, the air will
compress and your child will slam into the
loose harness, increasing the likelihood of
internal injuries.
Additionally, trying to squeeze a child into
a car seat in a big, puffy coat leads to a poor
fit for the harness, with the possibility of
the shoulder straps not lying directly on the
shoulders. Depending on the situation, your
child could be ejected from the seat. And
unless you adjust the straps every time you
put your little one in his seat, the straps will
be too loose when your child is wearing a less
bulky coat.
The best alternative is a fleece jacket or thin
winter coat. If you are concerned about your
child being too cold in the car, you can either
cover him with a blanket or put his coat on
backwards, over the harness.
LeAnn writes: I hate scraping ice off my
windows when my kids are in the car waiting
to go somewhere. Are there any environmentsafe products I can use to keep my windshield
from icing up?
GG: With or without kids in the car,
scraping windshields in frigid weather is
not a favorite activity for most of us, me
included. Fortunately, I have a simple, and
cheap, solution! Just mix up 3 parts distilled
white vinegar to 1 part water in a spray bottle
and spritz your front and back windshields
as soon as you park your car. They should be
frost-free when you need to head out again.
I keep my bottle in my car so I can hit the
windshield with a shot of vinegar when I go
shopping, etc. It works like a charm.
Hana Haatainen Caye, aka Green Grandma, www.greengrandma.org is a wife, mother and
grandmother who shares her passion for common sense greener and healthier living. Based
on the most popular feature of her blog, Hana wrote her first book, Vinegar Fridays.
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