How can you make a 2 year old wear his coat?!

[LoudestRoar]

DS is currently refusing to wear his coat. He'll unzip it while out, and won't let me put it on again. If I do, he just takes it off again.
He normally runs a lot, so is probably hot, so I've not been forcing the issue, and just keep offering it to him. Is this the right way to handle it?

I had this today with mine. She eventually asked for it but I spent my walk in town carrying it obviously and asking if she wanted it on. The drizzle and cold seemingly didn’t bother her at first. I genuinely don’t think she feels the cold like I do though. She’s always hot even when I’m freezing.

Short answer: You can't. It's generally not worth the aggro. They'll want it on if they get cold. The only time I insist is if it's raining.

Thin layers, I'm going with a long sleeved top underneath a hoody presently, going to get him a gilet this weekend. (Would increase to a short sleeved best and a couple of long sleeved tops plus hoody and gilet.) He also doesn't mind the cosy toes on the buggy which is a blessing.

I'm not forcing it, it's mild here yet. He's got a lurid green splash suit that we call his dinosaur outfit and he stamps about "raar-ing" in.

I don’t force it but it’s pretty mild at the moment, as it gets colder I’ll probabkt start putting vests and layers on him so I don’t feel as bad. One thing I find that sometimes helps if i tell him how long he has to wear it for and when he can take it off. So saying you just need to wear this while we walk to Billy’s house and then you can take it off seems to reassure him and he’s more likely to wear it

Just take it with you if he won't wear it.
I felt like the worst mum in the world too. My son from when he was a toddler to the start of primary wouldn't wear any clothes at all, he would just tear them off.
Pre school told me not to worry they'd seen it before and just to bring his clothes in a bag.
Many a time in the cold winter I had to take him out in pants.
I just think he found them uncomfortable.

I agree with most of the other posters. We mostly dress ourselves for just standing around or walking outside. If a child is running around they will keep warm. Joggers go out in Lycra for heaven's sake!

I used to just put mine in a fleece and walk behind carrying a coat in case anyone was judging. I learned that people judged after nursery sent a note home saying a warmer coat was needed.

I think in some cases the kids are actually warm - my toddler would refuse a coat, I’d think it was freezing, but her hands were warm!

In other cases, I just don’t think they’ve learned to associate cold with “bad”. And above a certain temperature, it isn’t. I’m not a medic, so I can’t give you a Celsius here But it’s my belief that say cold is a scale of 1 to 10, adults reach for a coat at 5, but it’s not actually needed until 7.

Coats are a faff sometimes! If I’m just popping out, sometimes I don’t bother and I do feel cold - but only passingly, and I’d rather that than faff around putting a coat on, and then 5 minutes later feel too hot walking into a heated shop.

I used to offer dd2 the choice-between wearing her coat forwards or backwards. Then she had a choice and so felt in charge.

Of course we used to get stopped frequently and asked if I knew she had her coat on backwards. Zip done up and all.

And almost impossible for her to remove it when done up when backwards.

As others have said, it's not worth the effort. Just have stuff with you to put on when he asks. Mine both take coats and cardies off on the way home from school, they have a bit of a run across a field straight out of the school gate and I often hear other parents telling their DC not to take anything off. If I'd been bundled up while still in a classroom then let loose to play tag with my friends I'd soon get pretty boiling too!

A lightweight-ish non bulky body warmer from somewhere like mountain warehouse is your friend! My son did not want s cost until he was 7! He didn’t like the feeling of being bulky or too hot but would wear a thin-ish body warmer no problem.

I put his light weight raincoat on, which stayed on the whole time we were out, so think he just doesn't like the bully coats.

Just to cheer you up - my dd refused point blank to wear a coat right up until she left school. Once she went to college she suddenly wanted a coat.

This thread makes me feel better! Everywhere I go I seem to see toddlers wearing coats, a hat, mittens & a scarf. I've been wondering if I'm the only one with a child that refuses coats

I never argue about coats. I take it with me if we are going far, but if we are just walking to the shop, I just tell them that it was their choice if they moan that they are cold. And I tell lots of people ‘I’m not neglecting them, they just won’t wear it!’

It was much colder here today, and coat stayed on with no issues, so guess he just wasn't feeling the cold before