Disclosure: I received a Cozywoggle in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions about this product.
Fall is here and with it have come frosty cold mornings in the DC area. This means our out-the-door routine now includes warm coats in place of fleece jackets… but a warm winter coat just isn’t safe to use in a car seat. Do you make do with fleece and change into something warmer once you’ve reached your destination? Put coats on in the house only to quickly remove them in the car, then pop them back on again? Hope you’ve pulled the buckle tight enough against that winter coat because you just can’t wrestle your child in and out of a coat one more time this morning?
What if I told you there was a new coat out there that meant you didn’t have to worry about any of this?
Meet the Cozywoggle, the very first car seat-safe coat. When Cherlyn Jenkins, a Northern Virginia mom of two, realized it wasn’t safe for kids to wear a traditional coat in a car seat, she looked for a safe alternative. When she couldn’t find one, she decided to create a solution herself.
The Cozywoggle:
- Is the ONLY product that looks and acts as a coat, but is safe to be worn in a car seat.
- Is made from heavy-duty wind/water resistant polyester, and is lined with cozy fleece.
- Can be used with any 5-point harness car seat – either forward or rear-facing.
- Comes in sizes 12 months, 18 months, 2T, 3T, 4, 5 and 6.
- Is stylish (and looks like a “regular” coat), warm and washable.
- Has been crash tested in a lab and proven to be safe in a car seat.
- Can be worn in a car seat and all around town.
But it looks like any other winter coat here, right? Now take a look at it in the car.
The magic of the Cozywoggle is in its zippers. In addition to a traditional zipper up the front of the jacket, the Cozywoggle also unzips from waist to wrist along both side seams. When it’s time to get in the car, you unzip your child’s coat up both sides and flip the back of the coat up so that there’s nothing between your child’s body and the car seat. Pop your child’s hands out of the cuffs of the Cozywoggle and buckle him or her into the car seat.
Take a look under the Cozywoggle in the car: nothing between your child and their harness means the harness stays tight, protecting your child in the event of a crash.
You can pop your child’s hands back through the coat sleeves once the harness is buckled, or you can leave them out. It’s warmer with hands back in, and D has also found it easier to play with toys in the car this way.
When it’s time to get out, unbuckle your child, get them out of the car, pop those hands back through the cuffs of the jacket and zip from wrist to waist.
I’ll be honest: my son fusses through this part, but less so if we both holler “touchdown!” while we do it.
The Cozywoggle retails for $74.99. Yes, that’s on the steep side for a tiny coat, but it’s on par with what you’d pay for a warm winter jacket from Land’s End or LL Bean – and you’d have to take those off in the car. The Cozywoggle is thick and well-made, and it’s lined in the softest fleece. The zippers are heavy duty – no snagging here!
To read more about the Cozywoggle – including why this is the perfect coat for the coat-refusing child – check out my review on my personal blog.
Are you ready to try the Cozywoggle out for yourself? Save $15.00 when you order by December 1 and use this code: AllieF
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Allison writes about life at home in the Maryland suburbs at Home and Never Alone. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
