How to Dress Your Kid During Winter in Midwest? Sigh!

At 18 months my son spent a lot of his home time naked (if he was naked he'd use the potty and I rather look at a baby bum than change diapers!) and if he was cold he WOULD bring M. his clothes and or a blankie. You can also start on baby signs.

Anyway, my son and I both tend to run hot so we usually dress fairly lightly BUT I keep a light jacket, his extra winter coat, and a hat and gloves in the car just in case! I also keep a blanket by his car seat where he can reach it to pull over himself if he wants-- which seems to have more to do with how tired he is than the temp.

For long outdoor activities LAYERS are the way to go-- then you can add and subtract as they move around and heat up or slow down and chill....

Personally I think keeping some stuff in the vehicle is a good idea. Then you're covereed if the weather changes, or you guess wrong, or if the car beaks down on the side of the road when it's COLD!

I also leave an extra T shirt, sweatshirt, sweatpants, hat and mittens in his daycare cubby. Then he's covered there in case of misjudgement, forgetfullness or weather change!

RIght now since it's COLD in the a.m., and has been nicer in the afternoon, my kids are wearing winter gear to school. Hats, mittens, and a mid-weight coat.

With a Toddler:
Long outdoor stuff with a toddler - a onsie, long sleeves, warm socks, pants with a snowsuit over, mittens, boots and hat.

Short time outside - at that age I think I still dressed them in a "bunting". A fleece thing that covers all of them, and has a hood. Some even have built in mittens. Columbia makes them, or Lands End makes them too.

Daycare - I'd send layers and winter gear (if they go outside). My SIL runs an inhome daycare and she likes to take them all out everyday.

I dress the same for short car rides as I do for short times outside - the bunting. Unless we are going on a road trip, then I leave them in layers and have a mid-weight coat to put on when we stop.

Good luck!
J.

If it's in the 50's in the morning, son goes out in a warm jacket, and possibly hat and gloves if it is windy. I also have a blanket in the car for him to cover up with. If it's in the 20s-30s in the morning, he gets his heavy coat, hat, and gloves. Underneath that is either a long sleeve T-shirt or sweatshirt and long pants. Sometimes sweat pants, other times jeans, sometimes even his thinner cotton pants if he's going to be inside all day.

If he's outside, he's either got on the jacket or coat depending on how cold it is and what we are doing. If he's running around at the playground, I usually have him in the jacket and put the coat on him when we leave. If we are just walking somewhere and he isn't that active, I use the coat. My main rule of thumb is to dress him how I dress, plus a layer. I'm more hot natured and my son is average, so this works out for us.

Now when we had our blizzard conditions last winter, he had on a long sleeve T-shirt with sweatshirt over it, thin pants with sweat pants on top, two pairs of socks, hat, gloves, jacket, and hooded coat on top of that until he was inside.

you really just need to use good common sense here-as my mom always use to say-if you wear xtra you can always take it off-if not you will usually freeze.

Rule of thumb: Kids wear what you're wearing plus one extra layer. If you're wearing a long sleeved shirt and a jacket, they wear an undershirt, long sleeved shirt, and a jacket. I always stick hats on my 22 month old son (he thinks he looks cool, LOL)... I've also learned that my son and my 8 year old are 'hot' people by nature, so at the same time, they don't need as much as I do to stay warm. If he's sweaty, he's wearing too much. If his hands are cold to the touch, or his nail beds are blue, he needs another layer.

I'm that person who's ALWAYS cold... so I really struggle to keep my kids dressed comfortably; I'm always throwing extra clothes on them that they don't need. It's 50-something out right now, and I've got long johns on under my jeans, LOL!! My kids don't need that, but I do ;)

My instinct would be to dress them in approximately the same warmth that I am wearing, but I have learned that my two boys get warm rather easily. Generally they dress in clothing slightly lighter than I do. They are both older (5 and 2 1/2), so they can communicate that to M.. The older one actually dresses himself anyway.

I would begin by dressing them in layers and with about the same level of warmth that you dress yourself. You can usually tell if they are comfortable by feeling their hands, feet, neck, ears, etc. If anything is a little cool you can add a layer. If they are at all sweaty (mine usually get sweaty around the neck), it might be time to take off a layer.

The challenging part about fall is that it can be in the 40's one day and in the 70's another. We've had a warm fall. Most days the boys where a long sleeve shirt and jeans, but they have more clothes in their backpacks. They wear a jacket outside. Right now I haven't worried about hats too often, but those days are just around the corner.

Good luck!

When I was a kid in MN, it was all about the layers. We often wore boots TO school and carried our sneakers in our bags.

One thing to consider is that you can't bulk up a kid for the car. That makes it unsafe and in an accident the child can come right out of a heavy coat or snowsuit. Your DH may be right if he's keeping the kid in lighter clothes for the car rides so the carseat straps are snug. What I do in winter is put a poncho of fleece (just a basic square with a hole, I'm not crafty) on my DD. That way she can be warm getting to the car but I can strap her in without it getting in the way. I put her jacket on when we have to be out.

I think for many of your situations, I would put DD in long pants and sleeves, mittens, hat, long socks and boots or shoes and use the fleece poncho. If it was really cold, an undershirt of some sort would be good, too.

For longer outdoor activities, I'd swap the poncho for a heavy jacket and/or snowpants.

For daycare I'd do layers - a onesie, pants, socks, long sleeved shirt, and a sweatshirt or hoodie that can be removed if it's warm inside.

Basically, what you would wear. Now, I have noticed that my DD runs warmer than I do, so I ask my DH (who also runs warm) what he would put on and that helps M. decide.

Dress him as you'd dress yourself.

If you're too warm in that environment, it's likely he is too, and vice-a-versa.

the only problem with "dress him as you are dressed" is if your husband doesn't dress himself appropriately! my husband never dresses as warmly as i do. he will wear shorts just because the sun is out, even if it's 60 degrees. and, he only wears a real coat if he it's REALLY cold. i think he is always underdressed, and he will dress my daughter that way too, like in a short sleeved shirt in the middle of winter to be in our house set at 65.

your son doesn't need to be over bundled more than you are though...they stay pretty warm.

For the long outdoor activities, it really just depends on just how cold it is, and if there is snow on the ground. There's a big difference between temps on the 40s and temps in the teens. Right now outside my daughter would have a long-sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, warm (but not winter) coat, and a hat and some mittens handy. As it gets colder and more snowy, it would be the winter coat, snow pants, 2 pairs of socks, leggings plus sweatpants, and the hat and mittens would be required, as well as boots.

For very short times outside and sitting in the car, just the winter coat and the one pair of pants would suffice. We do keep a blanket in the car in case DD wants it on her. And inside a long-sleeve shirt with an undershirt is fine - DD can put on a sweater or sweatshirt if she gets too cold but usually she's so active all the time that she keeps herself pretty warm on her own.

I keep small fleece blankets in the backseat to throw over the kids as the car warms up (I have the same garage set up as you). Even if they fight wearing a jacket (which I bring along), they appreciate the blanket and I don't have to pull them out of the seat to put on the jacket.

Hats usually help stem heat loss w/o adding another bulky layer. And they appreciate mittens/gloves. I find that if my hands are warm, I am less likely to feel uncomfortable.

I sometimes wondered if I was under dressing the toddler but he didn't complain and since he ran around so much and didn't look cold, I figured he was fine. Kept extra stuff at daycare.

Also, when the kids argue about what to wear, I'll sometimes just send them outside and let them stand there, then they usually agree a jacket is in order.

I don't put them in snowpants on the way to/from school. Not worth the time and they usually don't fall on those short trips. Besides, it gets really hot in the car.

I don't use my seat heaters in the car since it makes M. so warm that I turn off the heat. However, since the kids don't have seat heaters, they are probably colder than I am at this point.

Finally, given that we live in MN and you never know, I keep an emergency bag in the back with a sleeping bag or blanket, extra socks (for hands and feet), extra hats (in case we forget), extra sweaters, gaters and extra hiking boots (I hook on the gaters to the boots and they wrap up the lower legs - it keeps out the deep snow). I usually put in the stuff that is too big for the kids since if the car is stuck in the snow, we're not really worried about fashion at this point.

It's certainly not yet time for snowpants or long underwear! Dress him in pants and long sleeve shirts, maybe with a hoodie or other layer on top which can easily be removed. For going outside, a fall jacket is fine. If his hands feel cold, then start putting him in mittens.

There is plenty of time for snowpants, hats, scarves, boots, and the like.

Layers. And always a cap. :)

Have to love the crazy midwestern weather!!! Around here it can be cold and freezing snow one day and then 60 degrees and sunny the next!

Something that helps M. decide what to wear is weather.com. It has a part where you can click on hourly forecast and see what the day should be like. I also enjoy it has a part where it lists the temperature and the "feels like". I enjoy that b/c around here the windchill makes a big difference in how the weather actually feels. Love weather.com!!! :-)

Layers! My kids are 4 & 7 and have a say in what they wear but when it's in the 50s for the highs I tell them short sleeved shirt under a long sleeved cotton shirt. That way they can take off the long sleeved shirt if they get hot. Jeans or sporty pants for my son and my daughter will wear tights under dresses or leggins & jeans. As for jackets it's the lighter jacket until the highs are in the mid to lower 40s then it's the winter jackets. I make them both wear stretchy gloves right now and hats or hoods. Both kids ride in the car and so aren't outside that much. But my oldest goes out for recess so I make sure he has something warm. Same with my daughter in case she palys outside. When it's middle of winter it's a lot of sweatshirts and fleece. Winter jackets, hats & gloves and scarves whenever we go out.

My husband is the same way & I tell him: you're an adult, you can grab extra clothing when you're cold, you're always cold etc.
Case in point: it was cold out today, he was taking child out to ride bike in long sleeve shirt & sweatpants (that I put him in for indoor play w/heat), husb huffed, got outside, came back in & put on sweatshirt over his long sleeve shirt & grabbed a heater hat.
Really? You are that clueless? Yes, they are!
He disagrees w/my every day on this but I am my son's advocate until he
can decide for himself which he is starting to do now that he is getting
older.
What I do now is silently grab things to throw on him in the car, on the way out the door etc. Son is rarely w/o M. anyway.
I no longer argue or discuss but rather take care of the problem myself.
If he chooses to do something afterwards, I can't stop that but I CAN and WILL dress my son as I see fit according to the temperature.
That is my only job at this point......to care for, provide for & protect my son.
So I do my very best.
Sometimes I do a bit of layering so I can discard pieces of clothing as
necessary.
I keep a coat in the car, gloves, heater hat, blanket, extra socks.
I throw on thermals that I can shed later if hot.

Dress your kids the same way you dress. If you are cold put on more layers. If you are warm remove layers. Their body temp is about the same as yours and sometimes they tend to run a little warmer. I used to over dress my daughter and sometimes she was drenched in sweat. I had to learn to remove layers. Good luck!

Another vote for 'what you're wearing PLUS one layer'. My husband and I never fight, but this is one subject I am always right on. He never remembers the hats and gloves and I always do. I get many "I told you so" moments from this topic.

Outside, light, layered clothes for the fall (with hats and gloves depending on the wind) Obviously more rugged winter gear for the winter; turtle necks and sweaters to go under the coats. Maybe double up on the socks depending on how long you're out. Always hats. Buy some waterproof gloves if your little one is out playing in the snow. Snowpants are great too.

For daycare, it depends on the daycare room. If it's kep hot, maybe a light long-sleeved shirt with t-shirt under. That way, the day care workers can peel off the outer layer if it's too much.

Trust your M. instinct with this and tell your husband to just humor you!

Don't forget to warm kids up from the inside, too.

That means feed low-sugar, higher fat and protein foods if you're going outside for a while. Whole milk, peanut butter, Nutella, stuff like that. We burn a lot of calories just to stay warm, and if our bodies run out of fuel, we get cold fast.

For outerwear, the challenge is keeping the dang mittens on. I felt like using duct tape some days! If he's not wearing a full-body snowmobile suit (which I LOVE), use gaiters to keep snow from going into the top of the boots.

With older kids, we parents need to practice what we preach. Our kids won't eat healthy if we don't, nor will they wear hats outside if we don't.