Dressing Kids for Winter

I get a lot of questions about how we keep our boys warm in the winter when we are outside for hours at a time.  I was hoping to do a video, but I figured I would save you all from the whining and the reality that the video would be at least 20 minutes long (even if I sped it up to double time!) with labeled pictures instead.  This is what we are doing this winter and is what works for us and our kids!  As always, please feel free to add your comments or questions at the end of the post!

For J (or any toddler-aged kid!)

1. Snow pants (until this year, he was always in a snow suit, but we love how we can have him dressed in snow pants and boots in the car and just put his "top" stuff on once we get to the trail - he is getting too big to move around easily in the car!)
2. Good snow boots (absolutely worth the investment to get good boots.)
3. Liner gloves or mittens (those cheap, stretchy kind are good enough for liners!)
4. Warm coat (his is a Patagonia that we love.)
5. Neck warmer (we use this for the really cold days.)
6. Hat
7. Outer/waterproof gloves



For P (or any infant!)

1. Liner gloves (these have no thumbs and are way too big for P, but that is fine. They are much warmer than J's liner gloves.)
2. Down booties (he doesn't always wear these, but definitely when it is colder than 20 degrees F or we are going to be out for longer than 2 hours.)
3. Fleece bunting (We use this only for the really cold days when it gets below 0 degrees F.)
4. Down bunting (this is really warm and usually enough!)
5. Liner hat (maybe not necessary, but keeps his head warm when the "outer" hat moves around.)
6. Outer hat (fleece-lined with flaps that covers his ears and chin well.)

When it is REALLY cold:
- Base layers are even more crucial.  We will usually add on some fleece sweat pants and/or sweat shirt.
- We put them in the Chariot (though we are going to have to reevaluate things next year when J is too big for that and will be skiing on his own, however slowly that may be!)
- We've considered adding in a hand warmer between the liner and outer glove (NEVER on their hands directly.)  We haven't had to do this yet, though.
- Hot water bottles?? (Though this would certainly mean more weight in an already heavy trailer.)


More Cold-Weather Kid Gear Posts:
ONS Mittens and Junior Polar Buff
Great Kids Gear (our 2011 Gear Gift-Guide Post)
Icebreaker Base Layers for Kids