car sun shades?

[Tobermory]

we'll soon switch our son to a convertible car seat and we (of course) noticed that those don't come with sun shades anymore as the infant seats do. our son really dislikes having sun in his face, and since we don't have privacy windows in our cars i wonder what to do now. i've searched the internet and this message boards for recommendations of how to solve this problem. any ideas from the more experienced moms out there? we do of course have the small shades with the suction cups for the side windows - moderately enthusiastic about those. but what do you do with the rear window? all the shades out there get bad reviews...

[legaleagle]

Can you afford to get your windows tinted? That would be the best long term solution and you can get the rear windshield done too. The suction cup ones are considered projectiles. Also, a sunhat works perfectly, if he'll keep it on.

[Tobermory]

thanks, i didn't know about the suction cup shades! for a low standing sun, the hat doesn't seem to be the perfect solution... tinting's more expensive than the car seat... :( but we might have to do that, ugh...

[Joolsplus2]

Well, the light suction cup ones are fine, it's the ones on heavy rollers that are the projectile hazard. There's one that goes all the way across the back, it looks more or less like this, but they sell them in most baby sections or auto sections... http://www.walmart.com/ip/Auto-Expressions-Rear-Window-Sunshade/16672481
You can do the cheesy 'limo dark' stuff from the auto section, if you apply it well it won't be bubbly and tacky looking.
I'd really shop around for window tinting deals, maybe find a way for someone to give part of the cost to you as a 'baby gift'? (hey, tinted windows mean you have to run the A/C less, so better gas mileage, they might pay for themselves eventually... at least that's my theory, lol).

[larig]

you can buy 2 pieces of clingy stuff to stick to windows at BRU. It's like $3.99. We always use them on road trips.

[AngB]

you can buy 2 pieces of clingy stuff to stick to windows at BRU. It's like $3.99. We always use them on road trips.

:yeahthat:

We got these http://www.shopwiki.com/d/0/0/Eddie-Bauer-Cling-Sun-Shade . I don't *love* them but they do okay and stay put. We plan on investing on getting our windows tinted, but these work for now.

[Tobermory]

angie, do you just stick those to your windows?

[jjordan]

Carseat blog (http://carseatblog.com/) recently had a post about the new Britax sun shades. I haven't ever seen them in real life though!

[AngB]

angie, do you just stick those to your windows?

Yeah, they just cling on. I've even accidentally rolled down and up the back windows with them on and they stay put pretty well. The biggest downside is they don't block all of the sun out completely, like getting the windows tinted will, but they are better than nothing or the suction cup ones, IMO.

[fumofu]

We've used the window clings, suction shades, and roller shades before. The latter two didn't work at all, and the window cling were OK. Until it was summertime and I parked the car in the sun all day. When we got back to the car it smelled very strongly of plastic. I took the clings off immediately.

DS cries bloody murder when the sun hits his eyes. Fortunately, we just bought a car with tinted windows, and he's been a much happier camper since then. I would seriously consider saving up to get your car windows tinted.

Jools, what do you think of 3rd party sun canopies? Are they safe to use?

[Joolsplus2]

W

Jools, what do you think of 3rd party sun canopies? Are they safe to use?

They are very light and don't interfere with the installation or harness, so I wouldn't have a problem with them. Bigger babies tend to just tug things like that down though, so I don't know if they work in practice as well as in theory...

:)

[fumofu]

They are very light and don't interfere with the installation or harness, so I wouldn't have a problem with them. Bigger babies tend to just tug things like that down though, so I don't know if they work in practice as well as in theory...

:)

Yup, DS definitely tugged his Snugride 35 canopy down (then the sun would get in his eyes and he'd wail). *sigh*

[BabyBearsMom]

My DD just wears sunglasses. At first she took them off all of the time, but she didn't like the sun in her eyes, so now she wears them the entire trip (and sometimes refuses to take them off. She calls them her "cool girl eyes" and loves them). I'm so glad we did this because wearing sun glasses is an important for eye health, and I love that she is already in the habit.

[fumofu]

My DD just wears sunglasses. At first she took them off all of the time, but she didn't like the sun in her eyes, so now she wears them the entire trip (and sometimes refuses to take them off. She calls them her "cool girl eyes" and loves them). I'm so glad we did this because wearing sun glasses is an important for eye health, and I love that she is already in the habit.

Did DD just grow into her sunglasses? DS hates wearing his... just like he dislikes wearing his sunhat.