Paramedic warns parents to never put children wearing jackets in car seat

A mum and paramedic has taken to social media to warn about the potential danger of letting a child wear a big jacket in a car seat.

There seem to be endless amounts of ways your child can end up getting hurt when they're small, fragile and brains not fully developed - it can be hard to keep up.

Thankfully, Instagram page 'Tiny Hearts Education' - run by sisters Nikki and Rach - has done all the work for you, including explaining why it's bad to put your kid in their car seat if they're still wearing a big jacket.

You may be heading into summer so dismiss the advice now, but it's an important tip to learn, so take a look for yourself:

Instagram/ @tinyheartseducation

Former paramedic Nikki warns parents: "No bulky jackets in the car."

She explains: "As you can see here, this jacket compresses and the child comes flying out.

"I did a demonstration here of putting Wolfie in his, doing up the straps for you, making sure that i checked and tightened him like I normally would."

And wait until you see what happens when Nikki removes the jacket and sees 'what space is left'.

Nikki then removes the jacket from her son - not touching the straps or readjusting them.

Instagram/ @tinyheartseducation

"[It] shows you just how much space that jacket was actually taking up," she explains.

The space results in the seatbelt no longer passing the pinch test.

Nikki reminds: "Remember any bulky jackets will compress and your child would not be safe."

Pexels/ Yan Krukau

Parents have flocked to the post to share their appreciation for the health and safety information.

One Instagram user wrote: "Thank you for sharing this. I wasn't aware."

"Who would have thought? Great to know!!" Another added, while a third commented: "Ohh what a great post, wouldn’t have thought of this!"

And a final resolved: "Oh wow did not think of that. I always removed bulky due to potential over heating in the seat as we have car heater on. This is an eye opener thank you."

Instagram/ @tinyheartseducation

Some users took to the comments to ask further questions about kids' car safety.

A user questioned: "quick questions, are jumpers considered okay or no? I’ve never been sure so I wait until we arrive to where we are going before putting a jumper on."

"If they're thin they're fine but not if thick like a woolen one," another replied.

Topics: Parenting, Health, Instagram, Social media

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.