What to pack for cold weather??

Ninjamama86

I am fortunate enough to live in southern CA where this winters low has been a chilling 60 degrees during the day (I know, most of you want to TP me). We are going to visit some family in Utah in a few weeks and I have no idea what to pack or how to dress my babe for that weather. I don't plan on spending more time outside than necessary to come to/from the car and I imagine the house has heat but what do I dress her in when we go out? How many layers are we talking here? Do I need to get her shoes or can she just wear socks? I literally don't have any winter type clothes for her

dobrydney

I live in upstate NY, aka the north pole as of late, and we just dress her in either a long sleeve onesie with pants and socks or a short sleeve onesie with a footed body suite type thing over it.  Sometimes if it's extra cold we'll throw a little sweater on her.  When she goes out we put her in her carseat which has a warm cover and we put a blanket over it.  We've never had an issue, but your LO might be more sensitive to cold if she's never experienced it.

TJHine

I live in CT and it has been very cold this winter. I agree with the above and just dress regularly in the carseat with a hat, gloves, and a blanket - and I always heat up the car before I put LO in it.

I have taken him for hikes/cross country skiing as well, as long as it is above 20 degrees and I have a really warm Patagonia bunting that he wears with a hat and then goes in the Ergo with my husband's jacket zipped around us. He is always toasty in that!

dobrydney

Sing2phins said:

Layers are best; keep in mind that once you're in the car and it warms up, he might be too hot if you've got him bundled in layers of clothes under his carseat straps (as opposed to blankets over them).

Definitely agree on this.  LO is a hot baby in general, and if we're on a longer car ride she's roasting by the time we get somewhere in just what I mentioned above. 

megswen

Lurker here, but I live in Utah, and the polar vertex hasn't hit here. It's been in the 20's-30's here for the last few weeks.

If I'm taking my son from the house to the car, etc., I leave him in regular clothes (long sleeved onesie, pants, and socks) and put a thick blanket over him, then take it off when we get into the car. If it's snowing, I'll put a car seat cover on so he doesn't get snow on him. If we're going to be out for a while, like walking around in the stroller, I put him in a fleece one-piece that was made for cold weather that has feet and mittens built in, and then a hat. I got ours at Carter's. That keeps him pretty warm when we're out in the cold.

But honestly, I wouldn't expect anything colder than the 20's here, unless something weird happens.

ranaverde

Sing2phins said:

Layers are best; keep in mind that once you're in the car and it warms up, he might be too hot if you've got him bundled in layers of clothes under his carseat straps (as opposed to blankets over them).

Plus you really shouldn't have more than a onesie-plus-fleece on, just for safety reasons.

We mostly just do that - onesie with a fleece footie over it - when she's in the car, and we have a fleece carseat cover too.  If she's in the stroller, she has a fleece bear suit that goes over her regular clothes, and she's in one of those baby bunting sack things too.  If I'm wearing her in the Ergo, a single layer with maybe another shirt on top is sufficient; she gets pretty toasty in there.  Also, if your baby tolerates hats, that can help too.