Cozywoggle – The World’s First Car Seat Approved Coat!

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

The Cozywoggle  is one of the coolest things I’ve seen. By now you can probably tell I’m a bit obsessed with car safety. Most likely because I went from urban living (read: not driving for a dozen years) to suburban living (read: driving everywhere, all the time). Learning car seat etiquette is very different when you go somewhere once a month versus every time you need milk (this is where – if I was on a sitcom – there would be a flashback to me running with no coat, wearing slippers to the supermarket literally in my apartment building to buy milk).

Car Seat Safety

With my constant in-the-car-ness now, I have researched car seat safety, driving safety, car seat inspections and of course, forced my poor freezing children to take off their coats every time we go in the car.

Even if we are just going down the street.

To buy milk.

I should say I also made all grandparents swear to do this in their cars too with the fierceness of Ursula when she makes Ariel sign away her voice. Now sing.

Enter the CozyWoggle

When I learned about the Cozywoggle back in September – during Child Passenger Safety Month, I became a bit obsessed. I asked to review a coat for the blog but they were – not surprisingly – sold out. In case you missed all the hubbub on the Twittersphere, the Cozywoggle is the ONLY product that looks and acts like a coat, but is safe to be worn in a car seat. Yes, SAFE TO BE WORN IN A CAR SEAT! It is made from heavy-duty wind/water resistant polyester, and is lined with cozy fleece.

A little begging followed.

Then, miraculously on my daughter’s birthday, her new coat arrived. Tada!

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

Oh, It’s On…

On it went immediately. We watched the video and a warm triumph followed. The idea is simple – you’ve got your normal zipper down the front, but then there is a zipper on each side under the arms as well. You basically make the coat into a cape so you can lock the car seat straps right on your child. Once safely clicked in place, your child can slip their arms back into the open sleeves and bam! Warm-o-rama! Genius! The coat feels sturdy and seems to be very well made. It is warm but not overly puffy.

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

But who am I – the mother – to give an official seal of approval?

School Drop Off Rush – Approved!

The next morning, on our maiden voyage to school, as my son sat shivering waiting for the car to warm up, my daughter volunteered “I don’t need the heat, I’m feeling warm from my coat!” My heart smiled.

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

As children are known to be fickle, I waited a few days to solicit some additional five year old feedback. Besides saying it was “SO cozy” about forty five times, she said she liked the color, the feel, the pockets – which were “so warm I don’t even need gloves!”, and that it smelled good. Not quite sure about the last one but if she was happy I was happy.

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

How Fast Can I Do It?

Of course the end of the day question is how much extra time will this take you per ride. As in your “HURRY UP AND GET IN THE #$%^ing CAR” number. I’m happy to report this number is minimal. And this is coming from a mom who reads those “don’t yell at your kid to rush” articles and feels bad about herself.

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

I LOVE the idea that nothing comes between her and her car seat straps and that she can be warm as we drive around. To be honest, the coat is so cute with the sides open she wears it like that most days. Of course, leave it to my daughter to carry off the coat as a fashionable cape – or as she calls it – her “super hero cape!” –  along with her little Ninja Turtle hat.

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

Kid Approved

Luckily her love for this coat has only grown. She runs to it every morning and has been super excited to show her friends and Grandparents how it transforms. By far, her favorite part is the arm zippers which she thinks are “really fun!”. So much so she declared she wants to “wear it every day until I’m 52”. While the 5T is quite generous in size and will most likely fit her next year, 52 might be a stretch. But I think by the year 2062 she’ll be in the driver’s seat. Sniff.

The Mint Chip Mama - Cozywoggle Car Seat Approved Coat

Mom Approved

I love this coat and more that she loves this coat! I love that she stays warm and safe and thinks it is fun. I’m pretty sure the depths of her fan-hood could be summed up in what she said this morning. We were all ready to leave for school and suddenly she yells “Take it off! Take it off! I’m going to sneeze and I don’t want to get germs on my coat. I love it too much!”.

The Mint Chip Mama - Car Seat Approved Coat

The Cozywoggle is available in four colors: red, navy blue, purple, and pink. It comes in sizes 12 months, 18 months, 2T, 3T, 4, 5 and 6. I picked a neutral red so the coat can be a beloved hand me down for my son once my daughter grows out of it. Unlike the pink footie pajamas I sneak him into sometimes…

The Mint Chip Mama - Car Seat Approved Coat

Everyone wins!

Cozywoggle is currently offering 30% off on their site! 

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Cozywoggle Brand Heritage

Alexandria, VA, based CJ’s Kids was started by Cherlyn Jenkins – a special education teacher and behavior specialist – in 2012. When Cherlyn’s kids were little, she learned that young children shouldn’t be placed in car seats while wearing their coats because traditional coats often compress in a car accident. This results in the 5-point harness loosening and putting children at greater risk for injury. This could also mean ejection from their car seats. She needed to find a way to keep her children warm, while also keeping them safe – and didn’t want to juggle even more items, like extra jackets or blankets. Jenkin’s couldn’t find a coat or jacket proven to be safe in car seats, so she created one herself. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s certainly true in this case!

Crash tests conducted at an NHTSA approved lab, MGA Research, have demonstrated that wearing the Cozywoggle while riding in a car seat is safer than wearing a traditional coat. In fact, the Cozywoggle was proven to be as safe as riding in a car seat without any coat at all.

Published by Stacey Wallenstein

Stacey Gish Wallenstein created The Mint Chip Mama blog in 2013 to share her love and passion for giving children meaningful life experiences and helping moms like her navigate the challenges and benefits of raising children in the New York metropolitan area. Before becoming a full-time mom in 2010, Stacey spent the better part of the preceding decade as a high-end customer relationship management (CRM) professional for some of the most well-known brands in the hotel, luxury, fashion, and beauty industries, such as Harrah’s Entertainment, Chanel and Christian Dior, Inc. She managed customer loyalty programs for thousands of clients around the country and created social media strategies for a span of industries including healthcare services, restaurants, consumer packaged goods, specialty foods, local attractions and retail locations. After 13 wonderful years in Manhattan (the last three of which spent as a city mom), Stacey and her husband moved to Long Island in 2014, where they now reside with their three children (13, 9, and 7). There, she is a founding member of her local Parenting Center, which provides classes and coordinates events designed to educate and inform parents while fostering an environment of support and friendship within the community. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Stacey has been active in the New York area alumni organization for nearly twenty years, serving as a board member on the school’s University of Michigan Alumni Club of New York City. She also holds a Masters in Psychology from The New School in New York City. Please check out The Mint Chip Mama in the Press: The New York Post, Psychology Today, NY Metro Parents, New York Family, Parents Magazine, Newsday, News 12, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids, NerdWallet, Big Apple Kids Guide, and more! The Mint Chip Mama was also nominated as "The Best Blog On Long Island" for 2022 & 2023, one of the Top 20 New York Mom Blogs & Websites, and one of the Top 100 Mom Lifestyle Blogs on the web! For more updates, follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest.

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