There's a New Print In Town

Lords a-leaping!  This year, there's a new print in the Car Seat Poncho collection.

Navy/Frogs features a navy cape and hood, royal blue zipper, and is lined with brightly colored frogs on a dark blue background.  Handsome, understated, warm, and fun.  What a wonderful combination!

Available now in Small for $39.99.  Check it out here.

TODAY 12/20/11: Last Day to Order

Place your Car Seat Poncho orders tonight to receive them by the end of the year.  Orders placed after 11:59 p.m. tonight (EST) will ship on New Year's Eve, 12/31/11 and be delivered in early January.

How Warm Is the Car Seat Poncho?

A partial map of places where Car Seat Ponchos are being used.

Plenty warm enough for Minnesota, Alaska, and British Columbia, where sub-zero cold is a fact of life.  Lucy, a mom from Saskatchewan, Canada, wrote:

"It's warmer than a winter coat, in fact, because I don't have to take it off at all!"

Taking your child's coat off in the car releases their body heat into thin air (literally). The Car Seat Poncho is made of two layers of heavyweight fleece, and goes on your child before you leave your house. As the poncho is draped around the seat and your child is being buckled, their warmth fills and spreads through the entire space underneath the poncho.

 

Car Seat Ponchos are keeping children warm in frigid place like:

• ALASKA: Sitka, Juneau
• COLORADO: Aurora, Brighton, Broomfield, Conifer, Granby, Grand Junction, Longmont, Peyton, Snowmass, Denver
• MICHIGAN: Dearborn Heights, Farmington Hills, Fenton, Howell, Kalamazoo, Mount Pleasant, Pinckney, Saginaw, Saint Joseph, Taylor
• MINNESOTA: Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Ramsey
• NORTH DAKOTA: Grand Forks
• NEBRASKA: Bennington, Papillon, Omaha
• SOUTH DAKOTA: Brandon
• WISCONSIN: Amherst, Appletown, Edgerton, Muskego, Racine, Saint Francis, Sheboygan, Superior, Waukesha
• CANADA: Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Calgary

This is just a partial list. Add your city and state, too!

How Much Difference Can A Coat Make?

A child's coat does not have to even be extremely puffy to add significant bulk around the torso.  Here's a quick video that demonstrates the problem and offers our solution.  Forward, share and "LIKE" to anyone who drives a little one around and lives in a cold-weather state.  Eventually, cold weather will come!

Why Is the "Bundle Me" Bad in a Car Seat?

Every child safety expert says "NO!" to using the Bundle Me in a car seat, but why?

The reason Bundle Me's are not safe is that the part that goes behind the child's back is too fluffy and thick, and does not allow you to properly secure your child in the car seat. Fluff and bulk in FRONT of a baby and under the harness would compress in a collision, but fluff between the BACK of a baby and the car seat prevents the harness from being tight enough.

While a Bundle Me does allow the harness to be directly on the child's chest, it provides only the illusion of security because of the extra "air space" in the back. "Shower cap" infant car seat covers like this are the better way to keep infants warm in bucket car seats.

And when you "graduate" your baby to a convertible, the Car Seat Poncho is the very best, easiest way to keep baby warm!

I FINISHED MY ULTIMATE VIDEO!!!

I've always meant to make a video demonstrating the risk of a puffy coat in a car seat.  I have been madly shooting and editing so that I could release the video just before the Kids in Motion conference at the end of this week -- and it's finally done!

I hope this is helpful to CPSTs, Instructors and everyone out there who tries to persuade parents, grandparents and caregivers NOT to harness children over their winter coats. Please share it as necessary, and let me know what you think!

Space Bags Illustrate Puffy Coat Risk

Some people just do not believe that a puffy coat could really matter that much.  I think I have a way to illustrate the point:  Space Bags.

You know the commercial.  You know you really want one.  Put sweaters, blankets, or coats in the special zip loc bag.  Suck the air out of it with a vacuum hose.  Watch it shrink down and resemble a crumpled leaf.  Slide it under the bed and voila, no more puff.  Here's a thirty-second demonstration.

After the holidays I swear I'm going to get some at Bed Bath & Beyond and record my own demonstration.  If anyone else gets to it first, please let me know and link it to my Facebook or to the comments section!

The Car Seat Poncho vs "The Coat Trick"

Next on my to-do list: a demonstration video.  I want people to see how fast they can get their children into the car seat, buckled and be on their way with the Car Seat Poncho. 

There is an excellent, and popular video by Madeline410 demonstrating what's known in some CPS circles as "the coat trick". 

Basically, the trick is to:

1. Before you go out, slip one of your child's arms through one sleeve
2. Slip the child's other arm through the other sleeve
3. Zip up the coat
4. Go out to the car and put your child in the seat
5. Put his or her arms through the straps
6. The bottom of the coat out from under the straps on one side
7. Pull the bottom out on the other side
8. The collar and top of the coat out from the straps on one side
9. Pull the collar and top of the coat out from the straps on the other side
10. Buckle the crotch and chest clips
11. Tighten the harness
12. Zip the coat

... and then you can be on your way (unless you have more children to coat-trick).

Now, I think the coat trick is a great trick, and a great way to keep kids safe and warm in the winter.  But the Car Seat Poncho is much easier. 

Here's what you do with the poncho:

1. Before you go out, slip the poncho over your child's head
2. Go out to the car and put your child in the seat
3. Spread the poncho around the top and sides of the car seat
4. Open the zipper from the bottom
   
5. Buckle the crotch and chest clips
   
6. Tighten the harness
   
7. Pull down the zipper to close
   

Much easier, much quicker, right?  The video is about one minute long, and I'm pretty sure the poncho takes less than half that.  And if you have more than one child, that's a lot of time saved and a lot of hassle avoided.  Maybe I can get two moms and two kids, and do a split-screen comparison...

When I get it done, I'll debut it here first.  Blog readers deserve some perks and exclusives, right?