Winter has arrived sooner than we expected, which means that now is a good time to prepare yourself for all of your upcoming cold weather carpools and snowy drives with the little ones. Luckily, BubbleBum’s Family Travel Expert and certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Grainne Kelly is here with top tips for winter car safety! Read her insight on getting your car ready, whether tots should wear their snow coats while in their car seats, and ways to make the “sudden fright” of cold winter mornings easier for the kiddos, Grainne’s tips are sure to be of great help this upcoming season.
The holidays are here, which means it’s time to gear up for snowy drives and carpools with the kiddos! Preparing your vehicle is one of the most important aspects of long trips. Making sure that the car clears the yearly safety inspection from a NY State Inspection Station, ensuring it has sufficient gas and the winter emergency car kit might have easily checked on your list! Now, as a parent, you might have a few winter car safety concerns for your kids: Can my child wear a snow coat while in the car seat? What do I do to make freezing morning drives easier for my little ones? Is there anything I should double check before or after my winter car trip? Do I need to check out discounts on WeatherTech to buy some new car accessories like a car seat mat? How will I clean the snow and dirt out of my car? In poor weather, it is important to make sure that your wheels are aligned properly it only takes a misaligned wheel to cause problems as an uneven tire can cause issues while out driving, especially on slippery or wet roads, luckily it can easily be fixed with laser wheel alignment, something you can look in at your local auto shop.
Her insight is sure to help you make all of your upcoming cold weather car treks easier and safer for your family!
Family Travel Expert & CPST Grainne Kelly, founder of BubbleBum: the first-ever inflatable car booster seat, has great tips for winter car safety.
Grainne Kelly’s Winter Car Safety Tips
Winter Coats and Car Seats
1. Put the child’s coat on backwards over the straps after fastening the car seat, and ensure that it does not have a hood to prevent suffocation. Wearing a snowsuit under the straps of a car seat allow for too much give in the straps, which interferes with the car seat’s job of keeping him/her in the safest seating position to avoid injury in the event of a crash.
2. Consider getting a lightweight coat for the car seat. There are a number of tighter fitting lightweight
Making Cold Winter Morning Drives More Bearable for the Little Ones
1. Warm up the car before getting the kids in to prevent the “sudden fright” of the winter weather.
2. Warm the baby car coat with a hot water bottle before taking it out to the car.
3. If you have an infant, put him/her in the car seat in the house and carry the seat to the vehicle to keep your little one warm.
4. Have your kids bring a hot water bottle with them in the car for very early morning trips. Hot cocoa will also help!
5. With bigger kids, do “The Shiverer Game” on cold winter days: Shiver and see who makes the funniest shiver noises until the car warms up. Shivering, of course, will warm them all up and provide a distraction from the cold!
What Should All Parents Double-Check This Winter?
1. NEVER leave a child alone in a vehicle, even for a short time. Temperatures can plummet in winter and hypothermia is becoming more of a reality.
2. Check whether your child is at the right height and weight to move on to the next car seat stage. In the same way that parents want to move their children to the next development stage, sometimes that is confused with moving the child to the next car seat. Always wait until your child has reached the upper weight limit of the seat before the transition.
3. Always check that your child cannot open the seatbelt while the vehicle is in motion. Some cars now have a warning light to let you know if little hands have opened the seatbelt.
4. Make sure that your car seat is with within the validity date and has not expired.
5. When renting a car seat from a car rental company, ensure that they are qualified to fit it for you, that it has the instruction booklet, and that it is has not expired.
Grainne Kelly’s tips on winter car safety will ensure safer and more enjoyable cold weather carpools and snowy drives for you and your family. If you happen to find yourself in a car accident try Newark Attorneys were really helpful for my friend when they found themselves in accident, its always a good idea to have a lawyer at hand if the worst happens. Happy travels!
