To mitten or not?

lindsey1031

I'd love your opinion on winter wear.  Maybe this goes in the flame free questions thread, sorry if it's a repeat.  I live in the south and today is really the first day is has been cold COLD!  I was thinking about our upcoming trip for Christmas and trying to decide what winter wear to get LO.  We have a light fleece lined jacket that will probably do the trick for the winters here (I will layer, layer, layer when we travel), but he will need a hat and some gloves.  I have no idea what kind of gloves/mittens to get him.  Do I get the kind with thumbs?  The kind that looks like a sock on his hand (no fingers or thumbs) or do I attempt actual gloves on a 9 month old?  We are going to a place where it will likely snow, or at least be in the low 20's while we are there.  TIA to all you winter pros!

kimberpoo

I haven't found an ideal snowsuit yet, but for our other gear we do a super warm hat (think knitted with fleece lining that covers ears and Velcro-s under the chin) a puffy jacket, fleece pants, long sleeved onesie, a sweater if it's super cold, socks, and boots if his feet will be exposed at all. I do gloves if he will be out of the carseat at all because in the carseat he is covered by a heavy blanket or 2 all the time. we have fuzzy thumb-less gloves. I put them on first, then jacket over. his jackets are a bit large so they cover his hands pretty well even without the mittens.

kimberpoo

this is LO on a day when it was in the high 50's. after the pic he went back in the carseat and got covered by a heavy blanket.

eta: that is his lightweight coat. we have a heavy windproof puffy winter one as well.

fish8412

Get the mittens without thumbs

myfriendscallmemeg

I bought a bunting bag with legs this weekend, and that's my plan for the winter. Long sleeves, pants, socks, bunting bag & a blanket. Plus the car heater & she should be fine.

jrw526

lovethatdirtywater said:

Mittens with no thumbs is fine

ETA: getting the thumb in for a baby is a PITA

Getting the the thumb in for a 3 year old is not any easier. Too bad the stop making the thumbless ones for big kids.

angelsnight

Lo has been wearing mittens for a while now (Michigan)...she has the ones with thumbs but honestly most times I am sure her thumbs don't actually go in the thumb spots.  But their just big enough that it doesn't really matter, so I would say either those or the ones that just look like a sock (didn't know they had those outside of newborn mittens for scratching).  I would never, under any circumstance attempt actual gloves with fingers on a child any younger than 5.  That sounds like the challenge of putting on pants X100.

angelsnight

bennieangel said:

Can I just say that T screams BLOODY MURDER when I put mittens on him? It's been 25 degrees F, so he needs them but he hates it. He can't grab onto the handle of his carseat, so he screams. I've been creatively wrapping the blanket to cover as much as I can. Ugh. It's going to be a long winter. 

(He sits in his bucket seat, with his hands on the handle on each side, it's hilarious. 

My LO does this too, it's so cute.  She looks like she is holding on for dear life and I must be a crazy driver.

lindsey1031

Lots of good info!  Thanks everyone!  @bennieangel - I am afraid my kid will hate them too as he generally does not like to be confined.  I never even thought there were gloves for babies, but I saw some on Amazon!  I also thought it seemed like parental suicide to attempt that, but I don't really know anything about baby winter wear! 

I think I'm definitely getting the hat that covers the ears with a chin strap (I wonder if they have one for each of his chins? :P ) and some thumbless mittens. 

SurpriseAt39

jrw526 said:

lovethatdirtywater said:

Mittens with no thumbs is fine

ETA: getting the thumb in for a baby is a PITA

Getting the the thumb in for a 3 year old is not any easier. Too bad the stop making the thumbless ones for big kids.

I was going to say this ^^ except mine is a 2 year old.

SurpriseAt39

Also, another vote for thumbless mitts. If you find them hard to find, get regular mitts, but don't bother trying to get the thumbs in the right place.

kimberpoo

bennieangelangelsnight    haha yes! my lo does this too! he reaches up and holds on to either side of the handle for the carseat like we are about to go off-roading. people in the stores have actually laughed at him for it!

maganonymous

I have a full snowsuit for my baby (but I live in MN). The "gloves" are completely fingerless--just a little flap type thing over the end so if her hands need to come out for some odd reason they can. If you are only going for a couple of days at Christmas and don't plan on spending much time outside, I would just put his fleece jacket and a couple of warm blankets on him. The thumbless mittens sound like a great idea too!

kelley72

I've already put mittens (with thumbs) on Levi and they worked just fine.  He didn't wear them for long and mostly he was either carried or in stroller.  I know he would get frustrated if they were on while he was playing/trying to grasp things.