Until about 5 years ago car seat blankets were just a normal baby blanket that you threw over the baby when you were going out. Babies would notoriously throw them off when they kicked their feet and arms and it would be a constant battle to keep them warm. They would then be transferred into their pram or buggy and the blanket would be put back over them and the same thing would happen. Quite often parents would keep a coat on them, which we now know not to be safe in the car seat. It also meant that if they got too warm you would have to get them out and take the coat off and out then back in, then vise versa when they got cold.

Steadily manufacturers of buggies, car seats and independent companies have invented car seat blankets that attach to the devices so that the baby is always kept warm and can’t kick them off. They sell them as an accessory to whatever they are buying, so it gets lumped into the sale. The car seats that transferred to the prams also aid the ease of use because you could keep the baby tucked up and asleep while you were transferring them.

The move for people to these sorts of car seat blankets has been slow because either they have not seen them or have thought they were not necessary and carried on with the standard blanket. But as the years have gone by, more and more people seem to have them or are looking for them. This has partly been to do with manufacturers of car seats selling them as an accessory with their products. It has also been encouraged by the need of busy parents to simplify their lives. They are constantly on the lookout for money and time saving equipment.

Now these products are becoming much more popular, I think it will start to landslide. There is a point that you suddenly see them everywhere and customers start to buy car seat blankets simply because they have seen loads of people using them and realise they must be a good idea. I have seen that recently with a particular brand of nappy changing bag, they have a distinctive design and I see them all the time with a variety of designs. I think there is probably a ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ element to it, because as far as I can see the functionality is the same as any other change bag, but people are buying into a design and therefore a lifestyle and don’t want to miss out.

So next time you are out, have a look out for these car seat blankets, you will be surprised how many you see when you actually look. If you have a baby it is worth looking into getting them because you don’t want to discover them when it’s too late.