Children's coats and car seats

Parents of small children, we know it takes a lot of effort to get your kids ready to go out in the summer, but in the winter it seems like an eternity, especially for those who have to park on a busy street.

Unfortunately, the latest safety measure for kids and cars recommends taking off your child’s coat to make sure they don’t slip out of their safety harness, in the event of an accident.

Here are some tips for keeping the wee ones safe this winter and at the same time making the whole operation a little simpler for the parent:

1. Put your child into the car seat without their thick jackets, before tightening the harness to a safe but snug setting.

2. Now you can leave the harness set to the same setting, or tightness, when you put your child in with their jacket on.

3. Pull the jacket off the child's shoulders a little and unzip or open it down the front; push the harness to the inside of the jacket so that most or all of the straps contact with the child's regular shirt instead of the jacket.

4. Check that the harness still buckles, at the same tightness you set it at, when the child was only wearing it's shirt. Now you can be content that it's tight enough, even with your child's jacket on.

5. To keep your child warm, you can now zip or fasten the front closed, over the harness and straps.

In this way the child's coat or jacket seems to be concealing the harness but the child is held comfortably and safely in place.