On a good week, summertime in Texas looks about like this.

The hot weather can present some challenges when it comes to car seats. I’m fortunate that Turner’s daycare is super-close to my office in case anything ever comes up where I need to be there quickly, but every summer I seem to encounter the same problem. In the 60 seconds it takes me to drive from my office to his daycare, my car doesn’t have a chance to cool down and is still sweltering hot. There are not a lot of options for parking in the shade at my office, and even though I use a windshield shade, there’s simply just not enough time to get the car cool before Turner gets in. Don’t even suggest leaving my car running while I go in the daycare to get him…my police officer husband would likely disown me.

I drive a small SUV, but it does not have rear air vents, so I always feel so bad that Turner has to ride in the back seat without feeling direct air. When we get home and he gets out of the car seat, I’ve noticed that his little back is soaking wet from sweat and it makes me so sad! He never complains, but I just don’t want him to have to be uncomfortable, so I searched online for a solution.

Apparently I’m not the first parent to have this problem, so someone created a “Car Seat Cooler.” Basically, it’s a foldable ice pack the size of the car seat that you place in the car seat for about 10 minutes to cool the seat down before you place the child in the seat. (Don’t worry, you remove it before the child gets in the seat, so they are not sitting on an ice pack!) I know it is $40 (which seems like a lot for an ice pack), but I really thought it could be worth it, so I bit the bullet and bought one on Amazon to test out.

It folds up into about the size of a larger lunchbox. I just take it to work with me each morning and pop it in the freezer in our break room. I grab it as I’m leaving each day and place it in the car seat when I get to the car. By the time I drive to the day care and Turner and I actually make it back out to the car, usually about 10 minutes have passed. I’m so happy to say that it makes a WORLD of difference! The seat is so much cooler and more comfortable for Turner, and he isn’t all sweaty when we get home. I’m so glad that I found this product I and would definitely recommend it!