WWYD if your child refused to wear a coat

[BuildingBlock]

...or a jumper, or anything with long sleeves. In fact he is wearing shorts and a t-shirt and then refuses to put on extra layers if we are going to go outside. I try not to fight battles, and I usually turn everything into a game and realise it's not worth causing drama over, but honestly this is starting to get me down! Generally he's always running around in a t-shirt but some days it's just too cold I think - eg 7 degrees - and I feel like I can't let him go out in just little shorts and a t-shirt.

Should I just let him out in all weather dressed like this or what? I don't want a battle of the wills and it's not worth it big where do you draw the line?!

He's nearly 4 btw.

Nothing.

My male child did this until he was 9.

I would have let them go out without and taken the extra layers in my bag. If they are cold, you have them with you. It not, no problem.

I would carry a coat with me in case he got cold and so other parents didn't judge me

My child is like this. Although she will wear a jumper now. Never a coat though. Goes down a storm with the school.

She's Autistic though so it's a definite sensory issue there.

Tbf, I don't often wear a coat myself either.

Nothing. Take a coat/jumper with us.

it’s a common misconception that being cold causes a cold. He’s unlikely to get poorly, just likely to feel cold.

Nothing. Mine's 16 and constantly in shorts. Comes home from school and strips to pants when I'm working with a hot water bottle. Some children just don't feel it. They will put a jumper on if cold so don't sweat it.

Haha yes I did this for a while for exactly the same reasons. She carried one for a while too as I'd begged her, in order to stop the school judging me

Nothing. DD wears what she wears and she doesn't complain so meh.

ADHD so like the ASD mum above, it's a sensory thing.

Take warm clothes with me, let him decide he's cold and put them on.

Some children just don't feel the cold. It's not Antarctica, he won't die of frostbite. Just take a hoody or a jacket with you if you go out, in case he changes his mind.

I used to fight and battle constantly with one of mine. Then one day at the park another mum simply said to her DS, also in short and a T-shirt, every now and again “remember your jumper and coat are here if you get cold”. A couple of times he put his jumper on and then brought it back again. She was super relaxed and just let him get on.

Life was much less stressful when I copied her!

Nothing….if you’ve got one with you and they won’t wear it then they won’t wear it🤷‍♀️…..my 32 year old son was like this….I think he was around 3 the last time he wore a coat….he’s 32 now and very rarely wears a coat…..my GD age 5 is the same…,.won’t wear a coat ….and no cardy for school , just a shirt….you got to pick your battles….and this isn’t one of them

We have this happen a lot as have 3 woth ASD and they can’t be told what to do with e have refusal for many things. If it’s cold it takes 2 of us to hold them still and either brush teeth, administer medication , dress them , put on coats etc. we have a lot of meltdowns unfortunately here

If we were going out, I used to pack a jumper/coat so if they wanted one it was there. I realised there was no point arguing, they were the ones to suffer if they got cold.

Nothing. If said child wants to be cold, they can go ahead. I'd keep a packable cagoule in my bag just in case the weather became extreme but essentially I'd leave them to it.

If they regret their life choices, perhaps they'll be more sensible in future. The best lessons are from experience.

Leave him to it - DH is 39 & is still in shorts in most weather!

I'd get a really soft hoodie and take it out with me, if they get cold they'll put it on.

I have two boys like this. They genuinely don’t care about the cold and will wear short sleeves and shorts all winter. They will sometimes wear jackets now but won’t put on jumpers. Other adults may think I’m neglecting them, but I know I’m not. It’s hard not to care about people’s opinions if their own children will wear warm clothing, but if your kids aren’t wired that way, the alternative is fighting and misery.

I'd leave him to it.

I had the opposite problem in that my autistic lad would not remove his coat, however hot it was. Sweating like a pig in 30° heat. Soon as he started college though, he never wears a coat. The school made a feature of it (in a nice way) when he finished Y11.

We went through this with dd1 (autistic) but I put my foot down as she is low body weight and shivers easily

We have this with ASD DS too, I had to lean on him heavily to wear a coat to an evening football match in freezing rain a couple of weeks ago (he's 20). But generally I've always let him crack on with it and make sure we have one in the car or whatever.

Is this always a sign of ASD? Anyone's child not ASD and does this?

There are schools where you have to pay for this!!!!

Honestly,@BuildingBlock I'd just let him get on with it. Make sure you always have a coat where he can see it, and make absolutely no comment if he asks for it or take it. Getting cold won't do him any harm. I had one of these-the only problem for me was that I felt I couldn't be seen wearing a coat when she wasn't! I froze-she was as warm as toast.

My grandson won't wear a coat - he's 6, though he does have ASD so we have socks issues here too!!

I just leave him to it - he's rarely cold and the few times we've managed to get him to wear one he's removed it within 5 minutes because he's too hot (whilst I'll be under 4 layers, shivering 🤷🏻‍♀️)

7 degree running hot - probably nothing but pack a coat/jumper.

Snow and ice - and child who doesn't seem to realise about bodily signals till very late - pick between red or blue coat and that's the only choice. Same child very similar with uniform and hot weather would ever take jumper off - so found very thin linen/cotton shirts and made sure he drank.