Cozywoggle car seat coat

Based off of a friend’s recommendation recently, we purchased a Cozywoggle coat.  (LINK)  This is designed to be a winter coat that can be worn in a car seat.   It has zippers up the sides, passing under the armpits and down by the wrists, that allow for the coat to be flipped behind the child rather than to be worn behind (coming between the seat and the child).  The front can be flapped over the car seat straps.

I watched the video on their website before purchasing it, and the coat seemed so effortless and easy.  You just zip the child in and out, and it’s comfortable for them to sit in their seat with the blanketed coat flaps.

My hubby tried this on the Pickle first on a trip that just the two of them took, and he came home complaining that the coat was a giant pain.  I thought he was just being contrary to be contrary, so I took her in the coat on a ride to Target the next day.

Getting into her seat in our garage wasn’t a huge deal – she let me unzip the sides and get her in the seat, but she HATES the flap of the back of the coat behind her head.  Looking at it, I could see that it would be pretty uncomfortable.  You also have to totally take the sleeves off of the child, so their arms are freezing if you didn’t put a fleece or something on underneath it.  

Getting out of the car in the cold Target parking lot was a bigger ordeal.  It wasn’t particularly easy to zip up the sleeves and coat while sitting inside of the car, so Pickle had to climb out with the coat hanging off of her, and stand in the 20 degree cold while I zipped down the sides.  It was only for a few moments, but I think that would be too much to deal with as it gets even colder as the winter goes on.

I think that it’s more practical for us to just stick with wearing a fleece jacket, and taking her out of her coat and wearing it backwards when riding in the car.  The flap that goes behind her head just is a dealbreaker in our situation.  I really like the idea of the coat, and the name tickles me, but it’s just not a practical purchase for us in sub-zero temps.  Luckily it was only about $35 on sale, so it wasn’t an incredibly expensive lesson.