To spend £60 on my 18 months old winter coat from Polarn o' Pyret?

[Enjoyingmycoffee1981]

We can afford it, but not so financially comfortable that spending sixty pounds on a coat for a toddler is not something that does make me gulp.

Is Polarn worth it??

Thank you.

I got lucky with coats and managed to get DD two beautiful ones from Monsoon for £30 for both of them in last year's sale. Coupled with the Next rain mac that I bought a bit bigger to fit over a winter coat she will be sorted for this year. I'll have a look into the PoP coat though it sounds great.

POP clothes last forever and wash brilliantly. It's a good buy if you can afford it. We got lots of clothes from POP and used again and again and re-cycled it through friends who then passed to their friends.
Plan in advance... POP sales are mega good. If you can afford it buy stuff way too large and save it for the future.

One thing worth spending money on if you are an outdoorsy family is proper outdoor clothing - this means warm/waterproof/breathable and the same goes for footwear.

Have you looked at H&M for coats?
They do winter coats which are water and windproof and cost around £30, I get these for my DSs and find them very good, warm and good quality. You can also buy waterproof trousers from them which are useful in very cold/wet weather.
Havent bought a POP coat so not sure but it seems pricey for a child's coat.

Spotty Otter also v v good for outdoor gear BTW....

Polarn O Pyret are really good, really durable. They have GREAT resale value because of this.

You could buy second hand anyways?

Proper outdoor clothing still doesn't need to be expensive though. DS has a fantastic trespass waterproof. It was a 3 in 1 when we got it 2 years back and fitted perfectly with the fleece in. Now the fleece is too small to wear on it's on but the coat is still great. It was worn all year last year for pre school and will be used for school. It cost £15 in the sales and is fantastic. He has regatta waterproof pants which were under £10 too.

Im getting one for my 3 year old DS2 this year.

We had one for DS1 (who is now 10) when he was little. I got it in the same for £28 and he wore it for 2 years and I sold it on ebay for £35!!

Im struggling to find a warm coat that doesn't swamp him and make him look like a sumo wrestler. He is tiny and those padded ones look ridiculous on him.

I was wondering if they came up big or small...if they come big I will order 3-4 rather than 4-5.

YANBU I've just had two Didrikson coats arrive for my toddlers this morning and they were a similar price. Great quality and an inbuilt seam in the arms you can cut to lengthen the arms and get at least two winters wear out of. Can't wait for the old weather to hit now :-)

Also my youngest six and last year was the first year they managed to get two years out of a coat.

YANBU if she needed it and you can afford it why not?

Regatta, trespass etc are great for those types of coats, great quality as proper outdoor wear & cheaper as well.

I brought a POP coat and inner fleece last winter for DD for about £60. DD1 is 6 and she will get 2 winters out of it, and as it is effectively 2 coats she can wear the waterproof jacket year round and the fleece too. The fleece is very warm and showerproof. As last winter was relatively warm she didn't wear them both together very many times as it was just too warm, but in a normal winter it will be perfect.

She walks to after school club and I needed her to be waterproof and warm. I did buy big and POP jackets etc seem to be designed to be worn big - velcro on cuffs etc help it to fit. It will fit her again this year, so it works out to be about £30 per year which I think is very good value . It is good enough quality for DD2 to have it as well when she is big enough so bonus!

yanbu a couple of years ago I bought a Boden ski jacket for DS1 it was £££ but it has been brilliant. washed well and kept him warm it is still in brilliant condition and DS2 is nearly growing into it.

DO IT

Definitely not being unreasonable. Crazy money would be a proper designer coat. Go for it!

If you had said you'd paid £60 for a skinny lightweight coat by a designer name , I'd have said you were BU . But not a POP coat if it's the same 3 in 1 number that I got my DD2 . It's been the most hard wearing , warmest , comfy coat she's ever had , has lasted two winters , and one of my friends has first dibs on it as a hand me down . Still looks like new despite being washed once a week minimum all winter for two years . I'll be getting another one each for DS4 and DD2 this year . Actually , if I'd thought about it, I'd have bought them at the end of last winter when they were half price .

Polarn in the UK is hugely overpriced and faddy. If you want really good quality Scandinavian outerwear for children that is much cheaper and as good if not better, try a website called vikingkids, who ship to the UK and have great sales.

We really rate Didrikson outerwear. It's designed to grow with your child so we got two seasons out of the last one (DS is now 4).

Yanbu. I have spent quite a bit on good coats for dc over the years. Good quality lasts and lasts

Two things I would always spend money on for my DCs. A good warm waterproof coat and decent winter boots.
18 months is a bit small, but in a year or so, check out tack shops and out door suppliers. Equestrian and ski wear coats are very good.

No, I wouldn't.

Mostly because at that age my DC didn't spend that much time actually walking around in the cold weather - if we had any distance to go they'd be in the buggy and a decent buggy snuggle was way more worth investing in.

If your 18mo is very active then go for it but it sounds a premature to me.

Pirate... Thanks for recommendation of didrikson!. I have just bought a fab coat from there for DS. It looks incredibly warm and yet not padded to the max, which he hates. £65, so £40 less than polarn one for his age. I'm going to return the boden one oli had already bought him, it looks positive pathetic compared with the didrikson!

Ds is 4 btw

I buy half of my dd's clothes new and expensive ethical brands because I can sell it and make about half of it back, (which you can't do with supermarket and high-street brands). The other half I buy second hand from the same selling pages or from charity shops. I once bought a polarn o pyret coat in a charity shop for £3, my dd wore it for 2 years and I sold it on ebay for about £30 ;) Sometimes I lose out when an expensive item gets ruined, but it breaks even as I get a lot of great bargains.

I think H&M to a similar coat actually for a fraction of the price, high street Scandinavian wear.

The Scandinavians know a thing or two about keeping warm and dry. Never bought Polarn but the Didrikson parka coat we bought my daughter is totally waterproof and very warm. Has lasted 2 winters and will now be handed down to my son. It was good and long on the bum when she was of an age to fall on her bum, although often teamed with waterproof dungarees to allow for inevitable puddle or snow sitting. Now Dd has a new troll kids 3in1, completely waterproof mac we've used all summer with a very warm thermal padded jacket that can be worn alone or with the mac. Being wind proofed, waterproof and warm means we aren't cooped up in bad weather. Well worth the investment if you're going to be out...maybe not if you are more fair weather. I've got a big north face waterproof down coat for winter and just got the most glorious purple spotty Didrikson "ain't nothing get through this" mac for rest of the year. For us, showerproof just doesn't cut it.