Have you ever noticed how hot it can get inside a car on a summer day — far hotter than it is outside? That's because a car acts like a greenhouse, trapping the sun's heat.
The interior of a closed, parked car can rapidly heat up to life-threatening levels if parked in the sun, even on cooler days, a new study by California researchers shows. Their report showed that a car interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour, regardless of how cool the outside air might be. And 80 percent of the temperature rise occurred in the first half hour.
Although experts often focus on more common safety measures, like using car seats correctly and basic childproofing, there are many less well known 'hidden dangers' that may put your kids at risk.
In a matter of minutes cars begin to heat up rapidly causing the metal and plastic parts of your child's car seat to become dangerous. In worst case scenarios this heating can cause your child to be burned. Simply placing a towel over the buckles of the seat will help. Though the temperature of the buckles may be uncomfortable for the child, they will not burn them.
As a mom I wanted better then that. I'm glad I wont be burning my kids, but I want them comfortable as well. With the summer heat reaching 115 I was determined to find something that worked.
I wanted to combine the cooling effects of an ice pack with the fuzzy cuddles of the kids stuffed animals. Granted, my kids were never really into stuffed animals, I thought they'd be more likely to want a stuffed animal over material covered ice packs. My assumption paid off, infact its nearly impossible to get them to put them in the freezer! This was rectified with my 2 year old when I told her it lived in the freezer and needed to go home....it worked. We now have a pack of polar bears living in our freezer.
The interior of a closed, parked car can rapidly heat up to life-threatening levels if parked in the sun, even on cooler days, a new study by California researchers shows. Their report showed that a car interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour, regardless of how cool the outside air might be. And 80 percent of the temperature rise occurred in the first half hour.
Although experts often focus on more common safety measures, like using car seats correctly and basic childproofing, there are many less well known 'hidden dangers' that may put your kids at risk.
In a matter of minutes cars begin to heat up rapidly causing the metal and plastic parts of your child's car seat to become dangerous. In worst case scenarios this heating can cause your child to be burned. Simply placing a towel over the buckles of the seat will help. Though the temperature of the buckles may be uncomfortable for the child, they will not burn them.
As a mom I wanted better then that. I'm glad I wont be burning my kids, but I want them comfortable as well. With the summer heat reaching 115 I was determined to find something that worked.
I wanted to combine the cooling effects of an ice pack with the fuzzy cuddles of the kids stuffed animals. Granted, my kids were never really into stuffed animals, I thought they'd be more likely to want a stuffed animal over material covered ice packs. My assumption paid off, infact its nearly impossible to get them to put them in the freezer! This was rectified with my 2 year old when I told her it lived in the freezer and needed to go home....it worked. We now have a pack of polar bears living in our freezer.