Friday, August 24, 2007

Keeping kids cool in the car


Easy, inexpensive ways to keep your kids cool in this August heat:
  • wet their hair in the kitchen sink before leaving the house
  • keep a white towel over their car seats (when not in use) to reflect sun away from metal buckles
  • give them bottles of water with ice cubes to hold and sip
  • shade the car's rear window with limo tinting film
It bears repeating: plan your errands around your children's safety, not your convenience. Grocery shop at night if possible, and never leave your child in a car alone (air conditioned or not).

More frugal suggestions can be found at Frugal Fridays hosted by Biblical Womanhood.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I live in Texas where the heat is gosh awful. It is not only children who need help staying cool but the care givers of those children too. I myself use an old fashioned ice bag. I got it at the local Walgreens. I put ice in it and keep it behind my neck when we are outside. It keeps me cool while I watch the children play outside. Roxie

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a sweet comment. It made my day actually :)

Your tips to keep cool in the car are great and I'll be using them in this August heat! Thanks a bunch for posting them.

Elizabeth Sue said...

When it is HOT here I plan errands, Dr.'s appt.'s etc, in the early morning and together. Way before the heat gets going!!! Great post!

Unknown said...

May I suggest that you only shop at night if you can go with another adult or two and only when absolutely necessary. I don't like some of the stories I have heard...

Christie@tisbutaseason said...

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!! I was so excited to get a comment!

BTW, it's GREAT to meet another fellow Coach's Wife AND Catholic mom! Yea!!

Good luck in your season! Texas HS Football - here we come! :-)

Anonymous said...

It should be noted that in some states tinting your car windows at limo level is illegal, such as here in Louisiana. There are laws that tell you what percentage of visibility you must have, and you can be ticketed here for super-dark tinting. The percentage is on the label when you buy the tinting. That being said, I have my car windows tinted to the maximum amount allowed by the law, for the very purpose of keeping the car (and the kids) cool.

I wouldn't want any of you nice ladies to get a ticket out of not knowing your state's laws.

Fe said...

We drove around Australia pre-air conditioning. There was an icecream container with some water with the front passenger, who also had a supply of old flannelette nappies (diapers).

Dad had strung wires above the doors. We wound the windows down a bit and hung a nappy over the wire. I remember feeling hot, but not horrendously so.

Queen of Carrots said...

Thanks for the tips. These helped our free Friday at the museum expedition last night.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. H, I didn't know that!

I think the tinting we bought is perfectly legal, as it is not as dark as I see other vehicles with tinted windows. The roll we bought is about as dark as the stick on window shades sold for children's windows.

Anonymous said...

we take the drinks with us and we also take baby wipes with us - not leaving them in the car tho cuz they'll warm up too!- and wipe the littles necks and wrists etc to cool them off. i have a minivan and the air seems to skip the middle section til after an hour of traveling!

Anonymous said...

My hubby used the damp towel idea yesterday when the heat was unbearable (almost 113 degrees outside). When I asked where he had gotten the idea, he said that I had left a window open on our computer, and this entry was on the screen.

Thanks so much for the great ideas!