Winter coat and car seats

[blueperidot]

Everyone on these boards has so much info, I'm hoping I can get a good answer here. Are there any winter coats that are safe to wear while buckled in a car seat? TIA

[mariza]

General consensus is nothing heavier than a fleece under the straps. A blanket or coat over the arms is ok, or a "shower cap" style seat cover that stretches over the seat but doesn't go under their body. My kids are older but still in seats
and we love kids size snuggies in the car.

[mecawa]

With a young baby, we always used a fleece bunting and then fleece jacket as a toddler. As they got older my kids do wear there winter coats in the car, especially when dropping off for school, so they don't need to change there coats (however DD1, age 7, is in booster, so there is not a harness or anything, so that's probably different, too)

I always like these

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/61317?feat=2-SR0

or this

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/52109?feat=2-SR0

And they hold up good, I am about to pass them on to DD3 in another month or so, so they have held up for almost 8 years!!

As for a fleece jacket we have one from LE that was great, it was a highweight polartech fleece, my girls wore those as toddlers, but they don't seem to make them anymore, just the regular fleeces, which are nice too, just not as thick and warm (but awesome for a carseat) as the ones they had as toddlers.

[blueperidot]

Thanks for the suggestions I guess I should clarify, I'm looking for a 3.5 yr old- so that we don't have to bundle up for the walk to car, take off the jacket, and then put it back on just to walk to the next stop, etc.

If there are no options obviously I'll stick to that, but I thought I had read here about some coats that are safe with car seats.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Yea, just the fleeces really. We usually just make a dash for the car sans coat. It's a time saver and no one is going to freeze in the 2 minutes from the door to being buckled. :)

Beth

[KrisM]

My kids won't wear them, even if I want them to. They get in, take off their coats and buckle up. They all have fleece blankets in the car.

[Kindra178]

Check out Patagonia's down sweater. It's as thin as a fleece. Also, I swear that people on this board recommended the Katahdin from LL Bean in the car, although I can't seem to find the original rec. There are tons of people that cite to that rec as the reason they chose the coat though.

[blueperidot]

Thank you! The Patagonia jacket looks perfect (except for price). Do you know how warm it is? And how the sizing runs?

[Kindra178]

Thank you! The Patagonia jacket looks perfect (except for price). Do you know how warm it is? And how the sizing runs?

Runs generally true to size on the smaller side of things. I think the coat would be fine for 35 degrees, so not a true winter coat, especially for Chicago winters! I love the outlet in the Maine, they have sent me a ton of stuff over the years. If you do order it from them, make sure you ask if it's the old zippers or the new zippers.

[Simon]

We use windblock fleece jackets and then have blankets in the car (wool and more fleece).

There are some down jackets I would use but lots of down coats are too puffy so I hesitate to make that a blanket suggestion. Down makes a very, very warm coat. Our kids would be too hot in the car wearing down since I like to keep the heat up hight.

[blueperidot]

Runs generally true to size on the smaller side of things. I think the coat would be fine for 35 degrees, so not a true winter coat, especially for Chicago winters! I love the outlet in the Maine, they have sent me a ton of stuff over the years. If you do order it from them, make sure you ask if it's the old zippers or the new zippers.

I'm assuming I would want the new zippers?

[wendibird22]

We've used Columbia coats for our girls. Not the 3/4 in 1's but the one piece fleece lined. They are quite thin but warm. I've also done the trick where you leave the coat unzipped, put the harness straps on, pull the sides of the coat out and around the straps then zip it up. This allows the straps to be more flush with the shoulders and midsection. Oh, and there's the "carseat poncho" which you can put on over the straps. There are a few who make/sell them on Etsy.

[Kindra178]

I'm assuming I would want the new zippers?

Yes. I was rushing so I didn't finish my thought.