Baby it's cold ... in a car: How do you keep your DC warm in a car seat?

Snowsuits and warm jackets aren't safe. Neither are Bundle Me-s and such. What do you use? We're in Canada, so it's about to get REALLY cold.

I used to put DD's winter coat on at home but didn't zip it. Then I'd take the coat off, strap her in the her seat and then put the coat on her so that the back of the coat becomes the front. Not perfect but it's the only thing I came up with.

I found this article, which is somewhat helpful. It explains the concerns with Bundle Me-s and offers alternatives. Any feedback on products recommended there as alternatives?

http://thecarseatlady.blogspot.com/2...-car-seat.html

Many TIAs!

We've so far been doing a light fleece jacket for his head (doesn't take up enough space to be unsafe) and a blanket that goes where we go. I haven't decided about buying him a coat, it seems kinda pointless to mess with taking it off and putting it on in the car when by the time I've done that I could have him inside already, (and he's too young to play outside yet), which is why I'm just using a blanket for now, but I'm looking for other ideas too.

i do put a light coat on dd, it gets below zero here at times and she would be very cold. we also have a blanket in the car for her.

For the infant seat I used something like this, don't remember brand:
http://www.amazon.com/Jolly-Jumper-S...2599001&sr=8-2

It's safe because it doesn't go behind baby. The cotton Aden and Anais blankets work well underneath it if you need any other insulation on baby's chest while going through a windy parking lot.

Once we graduated to the convertible I do what PP suggested and just use a light fleece jacket in the car and then put on the outer jacket when we get out if needed. The 3 in 1 type jackets are great for this, have also seen other brands but can't remember which ones right now. http://www.childrensplace.com/webapp...place%20jacket

We used the shower cap style fleece cover from Baby Polar Gear for the twins. That, coupled with a fleece snowsuit (plus hat/hood), worked for us in Chicago. We have a detached garage and do tons of street parking everywhere as well.

http://www.babypolargear.com/infant_..._pinkblue.html

You can also do fleece blankets on top of the straps, either by themselves or on top of the shower cap cover. I do think that cars get hot for little ones though, so keep that in mind.

OMG - that's my DS in her photo of the poncho

FWIW, i alisa - she's really knowledgeable and a great resource

she took that photo while spending hours helping us install/try out five different car seats in our car.

so, obviously we used and still use the car seat poncho - i like it b/c it's very thick fleece. when it's super cold out, i put a light track-jacket style sweatshirt on under the poncho, which i don't worry about making the straps too loose.

yes, it's sort of a pain b/c if we're driving somewhere to then walk around, i also have to bring his coat with us, but ultimately it's not a big deal. when he gets out of his seat, we just quickly change into the coat -poncho slips right over his head.

DS actually loves his poncho, which is a bit sad b/c he's getting too big for the biggest size. i was actually recently wondering what we're going to do as a next option.

ETA: we switched to the poncho when we moved to a convertible seat. when he was in an infant seat, we used a shower cap style fleece cover

If you go the poncho route you might want to watch the online deal sites. Babysteals had one a few weeks ago:
http://babysteals.stealnetwork.com/a...cts.php?id=800

Someone posted on the car seat board that kid-sized snuggies are great in car seats.

We got a car starter. I love it. Other option is just a blanket IMO.

We use a fleece blanket on top. I like it because enough of it is off the side that once the car's warmed up I can reach it to pull it off.