Think twice before covering your child’s car seat with a blanket

SALT LAKE CITY — Covering a car seat or stroller with a thin blanket may be a common way to protect babies from the sun, but it can actually do more harm than good. 

“People want to protect their babies when they’re out in the sun,” Intermountain Health Community Health Child Advocacy Coordinator Michelle Cameron said. “But, covering the car seat actually makes it warmer.”

Intermountain Health performed tests to see just how quickly it heats up under that blanket. According to Cameron, it creates a “greenhouse effect” trapping warm air under the blanket.

“Over about 15 minutes, it was seven degrees warmer inside the car seat than it was (in) the outside air,” she said. “Within an hour it was about 18 degrees warmer inside than outside.”

Cameron said heatstroke starts when the core body temperature reaches 103 degrees. It becomes fatal at 107. Babies heat up three times faster than adults.

Instead of covering them, Cameron recommends keeping babies in the shade or indoors, using sunscreen once they’ve reached six months, dressing them in lightweight clothes and hats, and keeping them hydrated.

Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. She also produces Utah’s Noon News.

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