Children freezing in buggies

[goody2shooz]

Would you sit outside on a chair for an hour in the current weather, wearing leggings and a mid thigh-length jacket, no hat, gloves or blanket? No? Thought not - so why do so many people keep putting children in buggies without enough proper warm clothes/blanket etc!!?? Just been for a walk today in 1degree cold weather, wind chill makes it feel like -4. Came across a granmother standing chatting to two friends. All dressed in gloves, hats and parka types COATS cos of the cold weather. Little tot in pushchair facing into the cold wind wearing leggings and a jacket. Her little hands looked frozen- like the rest of her. I said (nicely)to the woman that the lo looked v chilly. Was ignored. tried again and was ignored. Wibu to mention anything? I am amazed that so many people seem unaware that a small person sitting still in a buggy needs more layers under and over them than the person keeping warm pushing the buggy. I feel so bad for these tots i keep seeing with pinched faces and blue hands. :(

My DD always starts out in a blanket and a hat etc... Come ten minutes later and she's ripped everything off! You can try putting it back on her but there's nothing guarantee she won't take it off again.

22 month DD sometimes wears leggings in this weather and seems absolutely fine, but if it's really cold then it's a good idea to put 2 pairs on or some tights underneath them.

This thread has reminded me of the hideous day that I took baby DD to the park to play in the (sprinkling of) snow. On the way home, she wriggled her way out of the cosy-toes, peeled off her waterproof booties and socks, threw off her hat and spent the entire 20-minute walk showing off her toes to all passing pedestrians and motorists

I hate it when strangers comment on how my child must be cold or whatever. None of their business!! My child also refuses coats etc

beans

My son refuses blankets. I just about manage socks on him but half the time he pulls them off too. Shoes hats gloves, all off within minutes and it does my head in because he must be cold!

reallyanotherone
So true. One of my best friends is from Ghana and despite being in the UK for 10 years, still nearly always has her thermals on! I struggle when I go to her flat as it feels absolutely stifling and tropical with her heating on all the time!

When my babies were newborn, I always seemed to dress them in one layer more than me (vest, cardigan etc). Now they are older, they prefer at least one layer less. They just don't seem to feel the cold.

Babies with pramsuits, hats, blankets when it's not even that cold, or indoors is far more worrying to me. Do you approach those parents too, OP?

Cosytoes are such a fantastic invention, I have no idea why more people don't use them. Once on, they can't get them off

My DD (now 2) has broken 4 different CozyToes. Pushes on them so hard with her feet in a tantrum to not have me do it up that the zips get pulled apart. So believe me, not every child is on board with them.

I have adapted in different ways to make sure she isn’t cold but am sure I still get judged by appearances (after all, you can’t tell if a child is wearing tights under their leggings or multiple vests under their top)

I once exasperatedly handed the coat to such a well meaning commenting lady and said "You convince him then because I've failed."

She did DS was so shocked that he was quiet as a mouse and she looked so smugly at me.

It does sound chilly but babies are usually at more risk of over heating rather than the cold. If the baby was upset by the cold I would have thought she would be crying and distressed.
My 9 year old was playing in the snow this morning in just a tshirt and no gloves. I told her to put a coat on but she ignored me. She came in after a few minutes for proper clothing and gloves. She is a nightmare for not listening to advice so I now let her experience the consequences of her choices (as long as it is things like getting cold rather than real danger). To others though I must have initially looked like a pretty neglectful parent.

If you had come up to me like the old lady did to me last week I would have said exactly why my DC doesn’t have whatever crap you said on.

Last week DS2 was in the baby carrier, I left his coat & hat off as he was wearing a wool long sleeved vest, trousers, socks, shoes & a fleece/wool jumper & was sweating.

“Why isn’t he wearing a hat?”

He’s bloody boiling that’s why!

DS1 screams at hat & gloves if he’s not in the mood, he does wear them mostly now after getting his hands cold but seriously I’m sick of the screaming.

Just butt out.

Of course it’s unreasonable to approach a parent you don’t know and tell them thier child looks cold. What do you expect them to do with that information?!

And as for saying that wrapping your child up in however many layers you decide should be non negotiable, I think that’s ridiculous. Yes - some things are none negotiable but those should be safety issues and this isn’t. What if they don’t feel as hot/cold as you do?! You have to teach a child - even a very young one - to trust thier own senses and instincts. If one of mine was flat out refusing to layer up, I generally say, “okay but if you start to feel cold, tell me and we’ll put your hat/scarf/ gloves etc on”.

There's a difference in babies who refuse to wear coats and hats and those who look shivery and cold dressed in thin little cardigans, with not a blanket in sight. A baby is so helpless, if it's freezing outside they should be dressed warmly.

Yes you were unreasonable. My toddler refuses to wear gloves and hats, and often kicks blankets off. What do you expect me to do, never take him out?

how warm shops are, of course if we bundle them up in unremoveable tights and snowsuits, that dangerous inside right?

which is why it's much easier to use a winter footmuff on your buggy for the first couple of years, you only have to unzip it when you enter a warm place.

Yes - some things are none negotiable but those should be safety issues and this isn’t. Well, you are the one deciding what is negotiable and what isn't, if you want them to keep warm, they do! It's also proven that being too cold does lower your immune system and makes you more prone to cold. If parents are freezing whilst walking around, a young child sitting down will not be warmer.

I wouldn't comment, but yes I judge!

We have found one hat that DD will wear. And that's only because it's velcroed under the chin and she hasn't figured out how to get it off yet. Gloves you can forget. You'd think you were trying to chop her hands off the way she carries on. She has a polar fleece water resistant blanket but only because it attaches to the pram otherwise that would be on the floor. I think YABU as you just don't know if the child is a serial hat/glove refuser.

I would have told you to jog on, nothing worse than judgemental twats. My DS is 20months won’t wear hats or gloves or his shoes and socks. The only thing he wears is his coat and scarf and on occasion his blanket. The number of times I’ve had to stop the pushchair because he’s pulled his hat, gloves or shoes off is ridiculous. I can’t put shoes on him in the car because his new trick is shoving them down my seat when I’m driving.

Personally as an adult I hate being too hot. I cannot even stand British summers! I don't wear gloves much as I don't like them. It had to be seriously below 0 before I wear them.

My friend on the other hand gets cold in spring and Autumn. At the moment she sleeps with a 13tog duvet, fleece pjs and a hot water bottle. I sleep (last night was - 4 here) in the nude, 4.5 tog duvet and window slightly open.

DS (8) can barely be convinced to wear a coat. He certainly won't wear a coat and jumper. He's always been like it. He sleeps in shorts all year round and still gets boiling hot.

DD on the other hand (5) is a cold whinger. She's always cold, and needs all sorts of layers. And yet today I still had a battle with her in a park as she was complaining she was freezing. But at the same time refusing to put a hat on or move. I explained the logic to her and said it's her choice.

I agree they should be wrapped up warm, but my dd age 2 takes off her hat, gloves, shoes and socks and won't keep her legs inside her foot muff either. I get very old looks from other parents on the school run, but it's not worth battling with her.

I look after 14 month old twins and they absolutely will not keep hats, scarfs, gloves or even shoes and socks on. So I bought them all in one snowsuits that they can’t get out of.

But @Enwi what if they are too hot? What is going to happen if they are cold?

Ever been to Iceland..? It seems quite weird at first but its a cultural thing to leave babies/very young children outside in the freezing cold. It toughens them up !

Mothers just go in the shops or sit in a cafe with friends with the buggies queued up outside and a freezing wind whipping around them. Of course they dont live in a rotten stranger danger society like the UK so that helps.

Its the same in other Nordic countries such as Sweden..
qz.com/351821/for-generations-icelandic-babies-have-napped-in-sub-zero-temperatures-outside/

My 2 yr old always removes her hat and gloves, she wouldn’t have a blanket either that would come off. I can usually persuade her to wear a coat though! Actually we’ve done the school run in no shoes before too. I’m sure I get frowned at but to be honest she’s my second born and I’ve learned that some fights just aren’t worth it! Especially when you are on a time limit like school pick up. I would not have said anything to the parent, you have no idea of the battle she’s just had with a wilful toddler...

The difference in Iceland is that yes the babies are outside but they're appropriately dressed. When you go to real cold weather countries, the children are always well dressed for the conditions. When my dc are in Forest School, they're not allowed to participate unless properly clothed. Surprise surprise...all these dc who won't wear coats are wearing all the gear necessary and thriving in it.

Very little chance of a child overheating in an all in one snowsuit if they are outside in cold temperatures, sitting down on a buggy. You get colder sitting down in a buggy than walking around, you need the extra layers.

Children should be dressed so they are comfortable for the climate, but that will vary from child to child.

My children generally run hot. If you dress them as you think a child should dress on a cold day, they will be unhappy as they feel too hot. My eldest was often too hot as a baby until I figured this out.

My toddler played in the garden in shorts on a cold windy day recently. I was wearing a big coat and I felt cold. I tried to dress her in more clothes but she was genuinely happy and comfortable in shorts, played out for 30 mins then came in happy.

Yes in the pram they do get colder than playing, but still my kids want fewer clothes than you would expect. I always have stuff on hand, but usually it gets refused. If they are actually upset and I think they are cold and not aware of it, I do force them to put more clothes on to see if they feel better. But if they are happy and cheerful then why would I intervene? Unless I thought the weather would actually harm them of course, but that is rarely the case in uk.

I was out and about the other day in very cold weather to see a baby with nothing on his feet. Nothing. Not even socks. Just can't understand it. Isn't it child cruelty?

Might have been me! My one year old pulled off her thick woolly socks several times, then pulled her legs out of her cosy toes and sat with her bare feet on show in her pram. She was delighted, she couldn't stop giggling and laughing and happily wriggling her toes for the 20 minute walk. It was cold enough that I was embarrassed, but then baby was happy, it certainly wasn't cold enough to get frostbite or anything, no harm done. The alternative was to keep stopping to put socks and shoes on, baby crying, all to avoid cold feet which weren't bothering her, only bothering passers by.

If there is a safety issue I will certainly overrule, a pp mentioned sunscreen above which I am very thorough with even though my kids dislike it. But I'm not going to force clothes onto a perfectly happy comfortable child without good reason.