Cold Weather Fashion

[Carmen S]

Long gone are the days of throwing on a pair of flip flops and running out the door. Leaving the house in the winter takes a bit more preparation, and if you aren't careful, your kids may walk out the door looking a bit, shall we say, homeless. My own children are absolutely famous for leaving the house in 30 degree weather wearing a sleeveless shirt, a tutu and flowery sandals. When they are called on it, the protestations of "But this is what I want to wear - and I'm not cold!" seem to fill my ears forever.

How to get the kids to dress appropriately for the weather is a constant discussion in my house - and I'd venture to say, in yours as well. Short of holding them down and forcing the correct weather apparel on their bodies, how do you do it?

• Make it fun - there's a reason that there is a proliferation of character gear available - kids are more apt to wear a Hello, Kitty hat than a plain black hone - so take advantage of it. Maybe your boy loves MInecraft; there are a ton of Minecraft winter apparel opportunities. Maybe your daughter goes gaga for Barbie - buy some Barbie gloves and watch her refuse to take them off.
  
• Make some of it non negotiable - In our house, a hat is an absolute after a certain temperature drop, and because my children are asthmatics, scarves are also required (on the recommendation of their allergist). I allow more wiggle room on gloves. Pick what your battle area is and let the rest go. For my own mom, we always had to have a coat that covered our bottoms.
  
• Let them pick out their gear - Especially as your child gets a bit older, giving her a bit of money and some guidelines to buy winter gear may work in your favor. It's less work for you, she gets to feel like a big shot, and the odds are better that she will wear it.
  
• Model good behavior - Um, how good are you at wearing your winter hat? Kids aren't dummies, and no matter how important you say it is to wear a hat - if you don't do so, you don't have much credibility.
  

How do you get your kids to dress appropriately for the winter weather?

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[lillucky8]

My dd hates being cold so she loves bundling up. She wears a nice thick sweatshirt or fleece, then her jacket, hat, mittens :)

[sweetmissy_05]

My girls don't mind bundling up when it's cold out.

[momma-flynn]

We don't have to bundle often, but dd loves to wear hats, scarves & gloves.

[4kidz916]

We don't usually get extremely cold weather so it's not a big challenge for me.

[MamaBear2cubs]

It is not really a struggle for us.

[GwenMB]

Pretty much anything is negotiable - I think below 20 degrees, I do insist on a coat on the 4 yo - he is the balky one.  30 degrees isn't that cold (to this Minnesotan anyway).  If they are cold, they will dress better next time!  Getting cold doesn't make you sick - that's an old wives tale.

I just model appropriate dressing for the weather & make sure that what they "should" be wearing is available.  I do cringe at my 4 yo refusing to wear his coat & sometimes wonder what other people think.  But until its in the 20s or colder, I don't force it.  Luckily, by that point it isn't hard to get his coat on him.

[ceciliam]

Luckily, my son likes gloves, hats and scarves.

[Madelaine]

Ours dont mind bundling up.

[fraujones]

It can be a battle some mornings. We've bought things she really likes which helps. I need to work on modeling good behavior. I often go out without a hat or gloves when I'm rushed (which is pretty much all of the time ;)

[Bmat]

If they resist what I consider reasonable, I let them choose, and if they get cold, next time they dress warmly.