Question Winter coats

hope41more · Oct 14, 2012

Kind of a spin off but I'm interested.

For those moms who live in frigid-ville (Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, Colorado, etc), how do you do the no coats under a harness rule? I need inspiration...

tam_shops · Oct 14, 2012

I put a polar fleece jacket and/or one piece of my boys and then blankets over top. They were then able to kick the blankets off if/when they got too hot and I could put them back on when we left the car to go back outside.

I'm from BC Canada, it really doesn't get crazy cold here for long periods of time, but we get enough snow that I've had lots of practice...

I have friends w/ remote control things that start the car in advance to warm it up. I want that for my next car! LOL

tam

Phineasmama · Oct 14, 2012

We still use jackets, just not big thick puffy ones. They each have a NF Denali fleece, and the two younger ones have North Face Perrito jackets- they only go up to 4T. Those along with a warm hat and mittens are all we need, we also have blankets in the car for them to use until it warms up.

And they have different coats for playing outside.

aeormsby · Oct 14, 2012

We wear fleece most of the time. For the kids I like Gymboree jackets, they seem a little warmer than plain fleece but still pretty thin/not puffy.

We also always have fleece 'car blankets', and if it's really cold (and we're driving somewhere where it will be more than a quick go into a building) they'll take their warm jacket with, just not wear it and cover up with the blanket and put the jacket on when they get there. Or unzipping the jacket and buckling with the jacket out of the way.

cryswilkins · Oct 14, 2012

Fleece most of the time with hats gloves and scarves. Dd for school wears her full winter coat since they will play outside and we use the "coat trick".

I also very rarely wear a full out winter coat so I know they aren't cold.

Sent from my iPhone, please excuse my typos.

cowgirlsmommy · Oct 14, 2012

3 in 1 coats. When we get in the car, we just peel off the outer layer. We.also keep blankets in the car.

Suzibeck · Oct 14, 2012

We do 3 in 1 coats with just the fleece in the car. I give them the outer shell to use as a blanket if it is super cold.

Little Ps Mama · Oct 14, 2012

Does anyone have a recommendation for a 3-in-1 jacket?

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Brianna · Oct 14, 2012

I've used the Walmart 3-in-1s for the past two winters and I've been happy with them. It seemed like J was plenty warm and they held up decent enough for one winter. I might have invested in something better if there was another child to pass it onto.

NVMBR02 · Oct 14, 2012

We also just use a good fleece jacket and hats and mittens. The kids all have ski jackets and if we are going to be outside for awhile they just bring them with and toss them on when we get out of the car. Otherwise they just use the fleece for running in and out of stores and stuff. The kids ride the bus to school so they just use their ski coats.

We don't generally need blankets, but we do use them on occasion. I usually just warm up the car before we leave the house. Our car doesn't take long to warm up though, just a few quick mins.

We live in MN.

Suzibeck · Oct 15, 2012

I loved the Children's Place 3 in 1 I had for youngest dd last year. We have used Zero Xposure from Kohl's but those seem to be prone to broken zippers. We have had two break and my friend has had the same problem. I just got two of my kids Weatherproof 4 in 1 coats at Costco yesterday. They seem very nice but we will see if they hold up over time. They both have enough growing room to hopefully get two years and then I hope to pass the older child's on to the younger child. That may be asking for too much though from a less than $30 coat.

VoodooChile · Oct 15, 2012

What blankets do you guys use in the winter? I still have my light-colored summer blankets in the car! I doubt they'll cut it this winter!

momtoo3 · Oct 15, 2012

We do fleece with a Snuggie over it. They just take the Snuggie off when they get hot. We have also had fleece with a windbreaker material over it that worked well. I do have winter coats in the vehicles at all times in case we break down. This year I went to the thrift store and bought 2 extras for each kid so I could put the spares in the vehicles and not have to think about it. It cost me less than $25 for 6 coats. I also bring their regular winter coats so they can slip them on when we are shopping if we can't get a close parking spot but the fleece is usually fine.

MonkeyMama · Oct 15, 2012

VoodooChile said:
What blankets do you guys use in the winter?

We use the fleece knot blankets (2 layers of fleece cut and tied together) because they are nice and heavy, and we have 3 for each, so it is easy to swap them out for washing. Depending on how cold it is I lay it on them flat or fold it first for extra heat.

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crunchierthanthou · Oct 15, 2012

CO is not frigidville.

We get about 1 week each winter where it's down around 0'F. You need to ask our Canadian and Alaskan posters.

We just do fleece jackets (plus hats and gloves). It's more than enough to keep them warm in the few minutes until the car warms up, or for walking across a parking lot. I rarely wear more than a layer of fleece myself. We've used everything from Target/Old Navy to The North Face. I think they all do a good enough job. We do keep blankets in the car for particularly cold mornings- again, just something fleece. If ds needs his snow gear at school, he wears his snow pants in the car (he's in a booster, so they don't really interfere with the fit), and puts on his thick coat before he hops out.

The car warms up fast enough that anything more than fleece is too warm after a few minutes. We don't bundle until after the drive to the mountains or to go play in the snow. Otherwise, we'd all overheat by the time we got there.

Athena · Oct 15, 2012

I've struggled with this myself. I think it's especially difficult when they most out of the infant carrier because even a light coat seems so bulky compared to their small size. But now that my kids are a bit older, I feel completely comfortable with them wearing a fleece jacket under the straps with care (as in I try to smooth/pull out excess fabric and pull that harness tight) and with our heaviest 300 weight fleece, I do prefer to do the car seat trick, so that less of the fabric is under the straps. In addition to the fleece jackets, we use hats and mittens and keep a fleece blanket in the car for each kid. Jackets are from Land's End, kid sized blankets from travel section of Target, but you may want a warmer blanket. Most of the time the fleece with accessories are fine and I try to dress the same as them to make sure that's the case. However, for those snowy school days, they require she have a real snow jacket for recess, so I park and, as quickly as possible, help my daughter into her snow jacket with the door open. I do worry about her getting too cold, but I worry more about her being in a bulky jacket. Probably soon she'll be able to do this on her own (unbuckle and put it on), so she could do that while the car is still running and door is closed. And another option would be to wear the fleece and send her snow jacket, but I think it would be too difficult for her to keep track of 2 jackets.

I hope this helps! I'm always interested to see what others are doing and open to improving our method, so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread.

gigi · Oct 15, 2012

I pop for Patagonia Puffballs and let them wear them in the car...they take up less space than a fleece and they are super warm, with the added bonus of being super light and comfy to wear. I don't have to adjust the straps at all with them on.

laurengt · Oct 15, 2012

I keep stadium blankets in the cars -- fleece on one side with a nylon/windbreaker material on the other. He wears a fleece jacket and when we get to the final destination I hop in the back seat for a minute to unbuckle him and put his coat on.

yetanotherjen · Oct 15, 2012

Loki!!!!!!!!!! http://www.lokiusa.com/product_list.php?cat=3

We have the zip up sweat shirt, I know it is expensive for a sweatshirt but it has been the best investment. When it is super cold I just take their thick winter jackets and throw it over their laps like a blanket, then put them on over the Loki jacket when we get to where we are going.

I love having the face shield and the mittens attached to the jacket, no more lost mittens!

yetanotherjen · Oct 15, 2012

Depending on the year and where you are

2 years ago before we moved to the front range we had 16 days in a row with negative temps, the whole winter was FREEZING! We had so many late starts because busses wouldn't start. I can't remember how many days we had at 5 degrees and under but it was a lot!

Thankfully not every winter is like that! I do love CO weather!

crunchierthanthou said:
CO is not frigidville. We get about 1 week each winter where it's down around 0'F. You need to ask our Canadian and Alaskan posters.

We just do fleece jackets (plus hats and gloves). It's more than enough to keep them warm in the few minutes until the car warms up, or for walking across a parking lot. I rarely wear more than a layer of fleece myself. We've used everything from Target/Old Navy to The North Face. I think they all do a good enough job. We do keep blankets in the car for particularly cold mornings- again, just something fleece. If ds needs his snow gear at school, he wears his snow pants in the car (he's in a booster, so they don't really interfere with the fit), and puts on his thick coat before he hops out.

The car warms up fast enough that anything more than fleece is too warm after a few minutes. We don't bundle until after the drive to the mountains or to go play in the snow. Otherwise, we'd all overheat by the time we got there.

Question Winter coats

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