When winter cold hits, you want your kids to be cozy, safe and warm. That means wrapping them like a burrito in a thick winter coat. Unfortunately, puffy winter coats make it risky to drive your wee one from chilly point A to freezing point B. Here’s why:

When your child gets buckled in with a thick coat, they aren’t as secure as they appear. It's because the coat's extra bulky material under the harness straps compresses during a sudden stop or collision. The extra slack in the harness straps can make your car seat ineffective at keeping your child safely secured. Worse, this could cause your child to be partially or even fully ejected from their car seat. Not good or safe at all.

Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to keep your most important passengers safe and warm.

How to safely secure kids during the colder months

Step 1

Before you put your little one in their car seat, take off their bulky winter coat. You still want to bring it along but just leave it on the seat beside them. Tip: keep your child warm with layers of clothes that can include a thinner cozy sweater.

Step 2

Here’s how to secure your child safely in their seat:

1. Put the harness straps over your child’s shoulders.
2. Do the buckle up.
3. Tighten the harness straps so they are snug against your child’s body. If you can pinch a fold in the harness strap at your child’s collar bone, it’s too loose.
4. Secure the chest clip level with your child’s armpits.

Step 3

Now that they are secure, to keep them warm you can even put their winter coat back on backwards, with their arms through the armholes. Alternately, cover your child’s body with a blanket and start warming up the car interior.

Be careful using a padded car seat bag

Also known as bunting bags, padded car seat bags are like little winter sleeping bags. They are designed to keep kids warm by fitting inside the car seat with slots in the back for you to pull the harness straps through. Heads up on these: Transport Canada has issued a consumer safety notice that says bunting bags may incorrectly re-route the harness system and add unwanted slack. They recommend you check with the car seat manufacturer before using any aftermarket products that don't come with your car seat.

Need help?

Visit bcaa.com/carseatsafety for more information on child passenger safety, and watch some helpful how-to videos here.

You can also connect with our BCAA Child Passenger Safety Educators by calling 1.877.247.5551 or email roadsafety@bcaa.com