Close to two decades ago Dahlia Rezik faced a struggle that many of us mamas deal with daily—strapping her daughter into a car seat while managing the tot’s bulky winter coat. Even though she felt defeated at the time, inspiration struck. This mom’s genius toddler coat invention is helping parents everywhere to overcome this obstacle with ease.
Car seats and puffy winter coats don’t mix. Along with making it almost impossible to strap in your kiddo, the added bulk can interfere with how the safety seat works. These issues leave parents with one choice—to wrangle their tyke out of their coat before strapping them in.
As any parent knows, getting a toddler to take off their coat (without exposing them to the winter chill or risking a major meltdown) is a momentous feat. To solve this problem, Rezik developed her own children’s coat. Instead of a zipper in the middle of the jacket, she moved it to the side. This allows mom or dad to move the coat’s fabric away from the seat’s straps, providing a tight buckle. They can then pull the fabric across the child and zip up the side closure.
After creating a prototype, the mom had it crash tested. Rezik told ABC Radio, “What I wanted to do was have the coat perform as similarly to no coat as possible, and that’s what it did.” The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) compliant coat is now available to buy online. Rezik’s company, Buckle Me Baby Coats, sells the outerwear for $79 to $150.
—Erica Loop
Featured Photo: Ddimitrova via Pixabay
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