real or imagined risks?

[Honey693]

A lot of threads have made me wonder if people are imagining risks or if they're real.  I'm just so confused b/c based on recent threads I've found these statements.  Cloth diapers are ok in a car seat, even if you have to loosen the straps to get your kid in.  Winter coats are not, even though no one can ever post an article talking about  child dying from being ejected while wearing a coat.  Fleece is fine, even if you have to loosen the straps.  Being thrown out a car in a puffy coat is much more of a risk than hypothermia, even if you live in northern Canada and your car doesn't heat up past 0.  So what's a real risk and what is just people worrying over nothing?

[an_aurora]

Cloth diapers and fleece are already compressed, and in a crash they won't introduce much slack.  

Puffy coats, snowsuits, etc don't compress fully when we tighten the straps, but in a crash they will compress down to nothing, and all that room means the child could be ejected.  Ejection is a very real risk and it accounts for a large number of fatal crashes. It's difficult to say whether that ejection is a direct result of the snow suit, but fact is with loose straps, children are much more at risk for injury.  Even if they are not ejected, that slack in the harness allows for more movement, which means greater head excursion (which puts more stress on the neck and spine), greater chance of child impacting something else in the car (ie the side of the vehicle, the front seat, the child sitting next to them, etc). 

Here are some pictures I took of my kids, illustrating the danger of puffy coats & snowsuits in car seats.

Edited by an_aurora - 12/12/10 at 1:06pm

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by an_aurora 

Here are some pictures I took of my kids, illustrating the danger of puffy coats & snowsuits in car seats.

Great blog!  Is it okay to pass that along to others?

[an_aurora]

Originally Posted by TiredX2 

Originally Posted by an_aurora 

Here are some pictures I took of my kids, illustrating the danger of puffy coats & snowsuits in car seats.

Great blog!  Is it okay to pass that along to others?

Yes, please do!  :)
 

[Chicky2]

I just love that you took the time to do this.  I've passed it on.... Thank you!  Those puffy coats have always bothered me.  Someone passed one onto my dd one time and I would just never let her wear it away from home.
 

Originally Posted by an_aurora 

Cloth diapers and fleece are already compressed, and in a crash they won't introduce much slack.  

Puffy coats, snowsuits, etc don't compress fully when we tighten the straps, but in a crash they will compress down to nothing, and all that room means the child could be ejected.  Ejection is a very real risk and it accounts for a large number of fatal crashes. It's difficult to say whether that ejection is a direct result of the snow suit, but fact is with loose straps, children are much more at risk for injury.  Even if they are not ejected, that slack in the harness allows for more movement, which means greater head excursion (which puts more stress on the neck and spine), greater chance of child impacting something else in the car (ie the side of the vehicle, the front seat, the child sitting next to them, etc). 

Here are some pictures I took of my kids, illustrating the danger of puffy coats & snowsuits in car seats.

[an_aurora]

Thank you for the feedback :)