My family and I went out to dinner about a month ago to a restaurant we normally order take-out from and I spotted this cool covering for an
infant seat. I almost grabbed the father’s arm to ask him where he got it, but I’m sure it would have caused him to dump his baby on the floor and besides, I’m not really that forward of a person :P. I had to go to a nationally known chain baby store the next day for something, so I strolled through the carseat aisle to see what new accessories they had for me and lo and behold, the infant seat cover-ups!
My favorite is by JJ Cole Collections called the “car seat canopy.” It’s a shower cap-style covering that attaches to the handle with two velcro straps to form a tent so it doesn’t smother the baby and is like the covering I saw in the restaurant. It’s made of 65% polyester/35% cotton—light enough to keep a breeze from the a/c off a baby in a restaurant and a good mix of materials so you can wash and dry it easily. It opens easily down the front for easy baby access.
The other cover is by Summer and is called the “Infant Car Seat Cover by Kiddopotamus.” This cover is also a shower cap-style covering but it goes over the handle instead of being attached at the handle. It’s made of 100% polyester for easy care and boasts an SPF of 50+. It has more features: mesh openings on the sides and a mesh window on the front for the baby to look out. There are also 2 large pockets on the front for storage. However, it’s oversized, presumably to fit many different sized infant seats, so it felt floppy to me, especially the pockets. It reminds me of the Babbacover we saw at the ABC Kids Show, but not as nicely fitted.
I liked the stylish patterns on both: the colors on the JJ Cole canopy matched the Cybex Aton infant seat very well and I’m a fan of circles and dots, so the pattern on the Summer cover was pleasing too. The best thing about both covers is that they don’t interfere with the harness or function of the carseat in any way. A warning though: many carseat manufacturers warn against using unapproved accessories with their seats (like the Cybex Aton that did the modeling for my pictures). Please read your carseat manual first and determine whether or not a product like this is something you should use. Also, these cover-ups should never be used in the vehicle because of the chance that they could fall on the baby’s face or that the baby could pull the covering down over his face. They’re very easy to put on and take off, so never take a chance—take it off before driving away. Plus, there are still some infant seats that require the handle to be in the down position while in the vehicle.
I sure wish I had one of these when my kids were in infant seats. I always threw blankets over the top of the handles, but it’s *always* windy here and I was *always* fighting to keep the blanket on the seat. How nice it would have been to not have to worry about a blanket being blown onto the parking lot or to have a foot kick it off!
I can only imagine what a parent of twins must feel like just going to the store. I know several parents of twins and I’m sure that’s just another annoyance to them. My problem when ds was little was that he was in the NICU after he was born on 12/31 and we were told not to take him out until the weather warmed up because of germs! Being able to throw the blanket over the top gave me a, perhaps false, sense of security that some germs weren’t getting through when I went to the store.
A bunch of new mommies that I know use cover ups like these. They are amazing. Most have sewn their own. Basically you take a rectangle of cute fabric and add velcro loops to attach in to the handle. One mom of twins explained that it was an absolute necessity because people see twins and automatically want to get in their face and look at them. This gave the babies privacy, a quieter/darker sleep environment, and mommy had some peace of mind. If I have another baby I will definitely buy/make one of these.
Yeah, I wanna see more of the Aton, too 😉
I think I’ve seen some similar canopy-type covers on etsy. Not sure how well they work, though.
Aw, you don’t like the “sneak peak”? LOL! Patience grasshopper. It’s coming.
Those look neat, but I really want to see more of the aton.
I’m so glad you reviewed these! I thought the JJCole one just looked too weird to imagine being on a seat when I saw it in the package, but once you see it in real life, it’s way cool.