Experts warn against bulky jackets when strapping your child in a car seat

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ROANOKE (WSLS10) - With freezing digits, it's about zipping up to stay warm. But, child passenger safety instructors with Carilion and Roanoke Fire EMS advise taking those bulky layers off when strapping your child in their car seat.

"They should never ever have a thick jacket or snowsuit on," said Jill Lucas Drakeford, a certified child passenger safety instructor at Carilion.

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Drakeford said the combination of a heavy coat and car seat can be dangerous. The harness may not be tight enough to protect your child in an accident.

"The harness system has to be tight and snug around their bodies," commented Drakeford.

Using a demonstration doll representing a three-year-old, Drakeford showed us why kids should not wear a bulky coat.

"It looked like he was all nice and snug in the harness system, but now when we put him back in the harness system you can see now how much room there is for him to move," Drakeford told us. "The shoulder harness can come apart and your child can fly out anytime there's room for movement. That's where we see the injuries and fatalities."

Even slamming on your breaks to avoid a wreck can harm your child if that harness system is too loose.

The Centers for Disease Control states the number one cause of childhood deaths is car accidents.

The CDC reported 638 deaths in children ages 12-years and younger in 2013. And, more than 127,000 were injured.

Roanoke Fire EMS told us many parents in our area, about 70 percent, are guilty of buckling their children in their car seats while wearing winter layers, because they don't know differently. Instead, the department said it's best to lay a coat or blanket on your child after being secured in the car seat."

"Usually they're battling their kids already having these big heavy coats on and they think they're doing what's right," said Tiffany Bradbury with the Roanoke Fire EMS Department. "When we tell them that bulk is going to compress in a crash, I can see the light bulb go off in their heads."

It's a safety reminder that could save a life.