Thoughts on cold weather gear

[Roleysmom]

I'm sitting here with the Lands' End Overstock catalogue in front of me and the buys on winter outwear are too good to pass up! I need your suggestions on how to dress my almost two-year-old (I can't believe she's that old!) Last year the infant down bunting and thumbless polartec mittens on a string worked great. Now that she's a very active toddler, I'm not sure what will work. There's a reversible down jacket that looks good. It only reaches the natural waist, though. Do you think she'll also need quilted down pants or a nylon polartec bib? I should mention that we live in Chicago and it gets cold but we haven't had that much snow in the last couple of years. As for mittens, am I crazy to think that she'll still tolerate thumbless mittens? I also think that it's probably more important to have them on a string this year when she's so active and it doesn't look like they have any.

Any advice from those who have gone through more than one winter with your babes would be great, thanks!


Paula
-- mom to Roley Julia 01-04-02

[MinnieMouse]

My dd just turned two...but was quite mobile and "into" the snow this past winter.

We opted to get her the Squall Parka and a pair of bib snowpants. I figured instead of buying a snowsuit that was really only good for playing in the snow...we got her the parka (which is longer than the jacket) for everyday and the bib pants for playing in the snow. They both worked out WONDERFULLY (we live in PA...not as much snow usually as you get, but we got some healthy storms this past year).

Although the down looks warm and cozy it is REALLY bad to use with car seat harnesses. The Squall jackets have the Polartec fleece linings...and are VERY warm but THIN. If you use fluffy coats w/ the harness straps the lining is too thick to get them to be tight against your child....and then in the case of an accident the fluffy lining will compress leaving A LOT of room between the harness and your child.

I hope I explained that right?

Here is a good way to test it. Put the coat on your child, place them in the seat and adjust to harness straps as tight as you feel is necessary....THEN... take them out of the seat w/o loosing the straps any...take the coat off, put the child back in the seat and buckle them in w/o adjusting the harness. You'll be surprised at how much room is there.

The Squall jackets are very popular on the car seat board over at parentsplace. The fleece in them is very warm but very thin and allows the harness straps to be MUCH closer to the child...it's NOT exactly the same as when the jacket isn't on, but you have much less of a compression factor w/ the fleece than with down or other fluffier options.

I hope this helps? I wouldn't have thought twice about getting dd one of those cute fluffy snowsuits before I read about it on the car seat board.

Christine

[sugarsnappea]

I am in Michigan, so I understand the weather... Have you thought about the polartec fleece buntings? I used the LE one last year and just ordered one for this winter. I like that DD doesn't get too hot in this while she is in the car. The buntings have the fold over mittens in case it gets too cold. It is really easy to put on too! We used ours for errands and running around town. I found the snowjacket and bibs were only used when actually playing in the snow. :)

[nohomama]

Just another point of view on down clothing... Down is fluffy but it also compresses easily. I have a down sleeping bag that I use when I'm backpacking and when I stuff it in a compression sack it's about the size of a football. If you're conscientious, you can tightly sinch your kid into a carseat no matter what they're wearing. Lola wore both a Land's End Down Bunting and Squall Parka last winter and, truth be told, I always had to loosen the straps on her carseat after she'd been in it wearing her bunting so that I could strap her in while she was wearing her parka.

My issue with down is that while its got an excellent insulating value when it's dry, that drops to about zilch when it's wet. It's not such an issue with an infant but it does become problematic with a toddler. Land's end doesn't make their down clothes with Gortex (or another waterproof/breathable fabric), so you can bet that a down coat on a two year old is going to get wet at some point. For that reason, I'd tell you to go with one of the Squall options, either the jacket or the parka.

As for mittens, I don't know what to tell you. Last year, Lola was about a year-and-a-half and I didn't have success with any kind of mitten. What ended up working for us was a pair of polartec socks. They went up past her elbows and with a coat on over them she usually wasn't able to get them off.

Edited to add: At this age I'd tell you to go with a coat and snow pants as opposed to a bunting. Potty training may seem like its way off in the distance but if it were to come up this winter a bunting isn't going to facilitate the process.

[Roleysmom]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I decided to go with the squall parka. Given the car seat issue (had never thought of that) and the potential for potty training (yikes!) it sounds like the right choice, and not one I would have made on my own. I also didn't realize down wasn't insulating when wet. I can imagine how wet the coat is going to get!

Sarah, I love the polartec sock idea. If I can't find mittens on a string this year, I'll try that.

As always, thank you all for your great ideas.

Paula
-- mom to Roley Julia 01-04-02

[cara1]

Regarding mittens on strings, I remember hearing about a little kid who died after his mitten got caught in the doors on the school bus.

Too bad they don't make the squall parka with fold down mittens like on the fleece snowsuit.

I also loved the polartec snowsuit last year, but can't see doing it for DS at this age (18 mos now).

Do you think it's better to get the bib overalls for snowplay or just the snowsuit (not much more $$ than the bibs) in addition to the parka?

[Roleysmom]

I think the bib overalls seem more versatile. That said, I ended up ordering more stuff last week and got the pull up down snowpants in the same color DD had last year for her snowsuit. I know that they may not be so practical given that they aren't waterproof, but they seem so easy to pull on and off , more so than the overalls, and are so cute that I couldn't resist. They might get returned, we'll see.

Paula
-- mom to Roley Julia 01-04-02