If you are using something the hospital gave you that is not made by the graco or chicco or whoever made your seat you are voiding your warranty. I made an awesome baby care package for a good friend who just had a little baby girl. It also cancels insurance if you ever need to replace the seat from a accident. What province are you in? Instead of making slits for the harness. Items like LulaClips pin to the car seat straps to hold them out of the way while loading or unloading a child from the car seat. First, what beautiful babies!!!! Recently a friend of mine lost her baby when a babysitter tried to swaddle him to get him to go to sleep. Others adjust at the crotch too. Great job :) Love those little babies, they are too cute. I'm going to make a few for my new grandson and a friends grandchild. The idea is great, maybe you could recreate the cozy cover that goes on top of the car seat, with an opening for the babies head. The car seats are not safety tested with additional items in them so you are using them at you own risk and the risk of your babies safety. I copied this from a car seat group. Love it! My mom, who has been sewing most of her life, said it was because I used cotton batting instead of polyester (someone can correct me if this is wrong information). So when you take your 4 lb preemies home from the hospital and the neonatologists give you car seat inserts to keep your babies positioned correctly to maintain their airways, you are jeopardizing their safety? I also understand that carseat safety nuts say no to these (and other Bundle-Me type products) because of added bulk behind baby. With a coat or snowsuit, they have a layer behind them as well as a layer in front between them and the seat belt. Most infant car seats now come with a dedicated installation base. Additionally, the blanket that you've advocated for in you comments could also be unsafe, unknowingly to you altering the car seat or straps, since as one poster commented the car seat safety testing are not done with ponchos, swaddles, or even simple blankets laid over a buckled in child. ANYTHING you add to your car seat that did not come on the box with the seat VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY. In our nursery, we teach that anything that doesn't come with the car seat voids the safety rating on it. Didn't stay in place and wasn't able to stand up to him (8mos old) even though it said it could be used up through 3yrs. I love this idea!! If you find a larger version, please publish! ;) ). wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Abolsutely WONDERFUL idea!!!! Thanks for sharing! do you have an esty shop? wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. I didn't like the buntings for that reason. Using after market product inside your seat is not recommended by the manufacturer. Completely Brilliant! These are adorable. Repeat this on the opposite end so that the angles will match up when you fold the strip lengthwise. I adjusted and re-adjusted that seat for 2 hours before I'd even put her in there. I'll be making some for baby shower gifts for sure!!! Most of the time, the manufacturer will have crash tested the car seat before putting it on the market. For example, in a rear-facing carseat, the harness straps must come from at or below the child's shoulders. % of people told us that this article helped them. wikiHow's. I have Allstate. Really neat to see a Canadian blogger :). Use one of the "shower cap" type covers that go over the seat and don't interfere with any straps. (what is the width of the fabric off the bolt)Thank you, Did you ever get an answer to your question. This article has been viewed 33,396 times. This is genius! I NEED to remember to do this when I do though!!! All in all, it turned out really great. Thank you so much for your blog! I was DONE DONE DONE having kids but just found out baby #6 is on the way and will be my first "dead of winter" baby. I've already learned that there will be naysayers and mommy cops with something to say no matter what you do - You know your babies and whats best for them! And it makes the best handmade present EVER! Check out the NUNA Pipa and the NUNA Pipa Lite as well as the brand’s popular convertible car seat, the Rava. Now I know what to do with the baby flannel from the rag quilt that I never made. The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking, Easy, Thrifty, Pretty Rag Quilt {Tutorial}. I would! One of the most un-safe things we do with our kids is put them in a vehicle. This is soo cute! I bought the fabric Saturday night and finished last night with the majority of the work taking place last night in about 1.5 hours. Blankets on top of the babies are not the same as being underneath them. This will make it easier to remove them as you sew. The pieces you cut off the ends of the strips will look like triangles. The problem is not that this time. The baby is physically strapped in, rather than having bulky padding between baby and straps. Maple Syrup, Honey, Corn Syrup are all not intended for babies under 1 year. Even better, omit it in the area between all 5 strap attachment points. No car seat should be altered in any way -- ie by placing items that did not come with it in it. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. All of my kids have had maple syrup before their fist birthday. Next, measure 13 inches down at a 45° angle from the first pin, mark the spot, and repeat to mark another 45° angle. Please don't steal my work. oh man. I just made this hoodie blanket for my best friends baby. Free Printables to Help Organize Your Life! My baby will thank you later :), Thanks, Kelly!Last night I made a car seat blankie for my grandbaby. Most babies outgrow their infant seat around one year of age or so. Chicco car seats. Thank you for this.. it was genius! You should sell these on etsy :). NICE JOB! You are amazing! Unstable car seat positioning - If fitted properly, your car seat should have minimal forward or sideways movement. No way! (the bulk causing baby not to be as secure) I had one incase I absolutely HAD to take my baby out in -40 F temps(I'm in MN), but mostly always had 4-5 blankets tucked on them and a hat after they were buckled and then one baby quilt over their head while I was carring them outside....I love your pattern, especially since it keeps the back warm - and my only concern (as any baby item- is that usually the storebought items are treated for flame retardancy. Perfect and adorable solution! Pinning it :) New follower here. Cut along the marks and sew the 2 hexagons together. This makes the process fast and easy, and it can also help keep a sleeping baby from waking up during the transfer from mom's arms to the seat. I couldn't get anything done when my twins were this size, but I would have loved these! Had to return it (thank you, Amazon). While one option is to start your baby in a capsule and progress to a forward-facing seat then a booster seat, some may prefer to use a convertible car seat which can change modes to allow for longer periods of use. I think this is a wonderful idea and the babies are beautiful. The safety issue is when you put bulky clothing or wrap your baby in a blanket before you buckle them in. But like anything when it comes to parenting products prices can vary from budget to luxuriously expensive. I think as long as it's not super thick and your infant can sit unassisted and hold the head up, it doesn't pose as big of a risk. This is to protect the company. Unless you plan on giving ideas to make this safer, dont be rude. What a great idea. I'm all about safety with my daughter. I just finished this for my baby due any day now. But best friend is 8 months preggers!!!! :) So cute!!! Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. The cargo is not worth it. (said by someone who just made and tested it out. The only time this issue would be a problem is IF your baby was hurt or killed during an accident and you or your auto insurance wanted to sue the carseat manufacturer for their fault in harming the child. If someone puts extra padding that makes the baby sit funny which alters the way the straps buckle the baby in, this is likely a problem and a safety risk. Not trying to be mean, I just don't want another mom not knowing that! This will connect the 2 strips in 1 circular piece. It was super easy (especially because I have sewed in 3 years! You can make them with or without a hood (that was the hardest part, I thought) so if you want to make it easy on yourself, you can make it without a hood and just have your child wear a hat. Just put a blanket on them. This angle should mirror the first one. You should seriously think about selling it if you want to. Both had their pros / cons. She then put him in his car seat and started up a little swing they had for car seats. Thanks for sharing! Pinning!!! Here your blanket is fine as the layers are no thicker than an average sweatshirt. Those things have not been crash tested with the seat and your car seat COULD FAIL in the event of an accident. These are awesome! Repeat to make a second hexagon in the same dimensions as the first. Just a thought. As small of an issue as this seems to be, in a crash, it is a BIG issue as to how far the baby "rides up" into the shell of the seat.I believe that all carseat manufacturers state in the manual that the use of any aftermarket products (meaning these cute little blankets, and head support or strap covers that were not in the original box with the seat) will completely void the seat's warranty. Btw adorable baby's too :D have a great day. Just made this for my 4 month old because I was so sick up picking up blankets she kept kicking off. I can't wait to make this for my next baby someday. keep it up momma :). There are 19 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Twisted seatbelts - Check it's long enough to secure the child car seat, and make sure you can feed the seat belt through the slits in the child car seat without obstructions. I don't mean to be rude. Just use a blanket over top of the baby. Why risk it. Thickness of the padding is only one. Love your blog! All you have to do is put your babies coat on backwards while your carrying them to your car. Some seats only adjust at the shoulders. This is the most repined pin EVER! "A good test for these types of things is to put your child in the seat without them, adjust the straps to the correct position and tightness, the remove the child, put them back in with the blanket, if the product requires any adjustment to the harness, causes the harness to bunch or not fit properly, it is not safe to use." I cannot wait to make these for them. Kelly I really don't think the blanket you have made, especially the way you have buckled it into the seat, would create a significant air space between the baby and the seat. Cut along the marks and sew the 2 hexagons together. Not only are vehicle crashes the leading killers of children, in 1997 they also injured nearly 320,000 youngsters. Thanks for the tutorial. The base stays installed in your car and the seat clicks in and out, making it easy to get your baby into and out of your car. I can remember tossing a blanket over my older girl's car seats when they were infants and it never stayed in place, always falling off and waking up my sleeping babe with all the sudden stream of light and commotion. I made one over the past week but forgot to take photos before delivering it to the Mom, she is due the 25th but we figure it won't be much longer :D So I wanted to get it to her so quickly I forgot to take photos!! I bought a car seat/stroller blanket for our son and the thing just fell apart. Thank you for a great tutorial! and come from the wrong place. Tips for proper installation. I am always leary of "aftermarket" products for carseats but as previously stated by other reviewers, this ELIMINATES excessive bulk from coats and such allowing the baby to be secured better into the safety straps! So, either a label is attached showing that information, or the information is included in the product description. I wish I would have found it for my first child because we bought a lot of gender neutral stuff so it would be usable for future siblings. This service may not be available everywhere in the world, but always make sure you check with your local transportation office if they have trained experts to inspect your child’s car seat. :-). Thank you so much for the idea. Renee-I'm sorry. I included an item from your tutorial. Make sure to remove the pins as you sew. It might take a few tries to line up the edges just right. My babies were that age 7+ years ago when flame-retardant chemicals wern't such a concern. A quick web search of the topic turned up views on both sides of the issue. Repeat to create another strip in the same dimensions. I love the "technical" part .. i do a lot of "eyeballing" and "guess-ta-mating" for cooking and so many other things that when i DO follow recipes or directions i get overwhelmed and totally botch it! The bacteria in them could be harmful. There are much safer options such as car beds. Use a carseat poncho. If you want to check it out, it's on my blog post: http://www.domesticacademic.com/2012/06/baby-care-package-pinterest-cornucopia.html. Thank you!! You have a lot of great ideas. The problem is putting the straps THROUGH another piece of fabric, thin as it is, giving the other fabric a possible chance of being adjusted and putting babies in danger.A safer idea? Obviously someone missed an illness, there is one that can cause very high temperatures without an infection. GENIUS! I've made one of these before, but the addition of the hood is new to me. Since I'm a "lazy" sewer, I'm going to modify your idea a bit (hope you don't mind). So for those who say "Why jeopardize safety..." and "just throw a blanket over the baby.." Just that simple blanket voids the warranty... so for you true safety folks your only other option is for your child to freeze? Now you are going to get LOTS of baby gawker attention when you are out and about!! Wow what a great idea! i know how to work a sewing machine, and i have a decent eye for detail, but some of that sewing vocabulary just sends me running the other way!going to get fabric soon! He will be rear facing for a long time. Installing a child car seat or booster seat. Wow, this is an excellent tutorial, I will have to make one for the next baby for sure!! thanks for the step-by-step!! Learn more... A car seat cover is an easy way to protect your baby from the wind and cold on your way to and from your car. Welcome to Sewbliss! This is a wonderful blankie and I have made a couple for friends already. Even a little bit can cause a spike in the infant's glucose levels which can be dangerous in an infant. It makes so much sense! To make your own hooded car seat blankie, you will need: 1 meter of flannel for the front; another meter of flannel for the back; 1 meter of cotton batting; thread, scissors, etc. Don't you think you could make this without a back so that baby was properly buckled, but still swaddled? Been looking for something ever since and I'm thinking this just might be it. Putting a blanket over your child does not void the warranty for the simple fact that it is not attached to the carseat. So clever! There Re two issues with after market car seat products. To make this infant car seat cover you need only around a half yarn of fabric, a couple inches of elastic and two lengths of cording. I did it in a little over an hour. =), I would buy a few on ETSY! Never loosen the seat belt to accommodate extra clothing or blanket layers and your seat should be checked by someone trained even if you think you know how to do it. I agree with the above poster. I really think he'd cover up better with a blanket like this that won't fall off like any other blanket. NUNA, a Dutch baby gear company, makes modern, safe seats that are some of the lightest (and most beautiful) on the market. What a smart idea!! Temperature inside cars can rise very quickly in hot weather. seems it would be great for strollers as well. By using our site, you agree to our. It is very inspirational. Position the pins so that they are perpendicular to the edges. The fleece was stretchy and really hard to work with, especially cutting through EIGHT LAYERS to get the shape needed. But to me safe is more important than cute. 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