Baby Parka’s new toddler poncho makes winter travel a whole lot easier

I’m always on the hunt for awesome winter stuff for the kids. When I was pregnant with our first little guy 5 whole years ago, I purchased a Baby Parka from the ladies at a baby show and haven’t looked back.

Since those early days, I’ve learned so much about safety and what works for us and what doesn’t. We’ve finally been able to buy a new car (ahem, a minivan), and just in time for winter, I’ve been able to get my hands on the Baby Parka Car Poncho.

The car poncho is different than other coats because it’s 100% safe for car seats as it doesn’t interfere with a 5 point harness. Yes, you read that right: a coat that doesn’t interfere with the 5 point harness.

One of the things I’ve always loved about BP products is that their first priority has always been safety. While other manufacturers made car seat covers that went under the baby, the ladies at BP created a warm “shower cap style” car seat cover that keeps baby warm and cozy but fits over the entire car seat, ensuring that the buckles and straps are not, in any way compromised.

The poncho takes that same shower-cap style principal and applies it to kids big enough to walk. The result is as adorable as it is functional. I LOVE the way the parka looks all zipped up. Very Maggie Simpson starfish snowsuit style. It’s super warm, fleece lined and has the signature Baby Parka reflective stripes. The thing that makes this coat different, though, is the side zippers that turn this from a coat to a poncho.

When the zippers are undone, you can flip the back of the poncho up and over your car seat, buckling your toddler in underneath the fabric, ensuring the tightest, safest fit, while keeping your kids cozy. Theoretically, too, once the car warms up, your little person can then take the poncho off once the car is warm. I say theoretically, because Lauchie never takes his off. He wears his and passes out every single time!

This coat can work in a pinch for kids as small as 1 and probably as big as 5 or 6 depending. It would also be a great addition to a stroller with the Baby Parka universal blanket or the carrier cover (which we use as a stroller muff, too!).

With winter not quite started and the coldest 3 months of the year ahead of us, I’m very happy to have our Baby Parka car seat poncho for Lauchie, and in years to come, for Angus, too. Because the other thing I love about BP stuff is that it’s designed to last – that carrier cover I bought in 2010? We still use it all winter long!