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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Kids not wrapped up in this cold weather!

206 replies

bluesteakandcheese · 14/12/2019 15:06

I know it is nothing to do with me how others see fit to dress their children. But it really gets to me when I'm walking round town and see young kids and babies with no gloves or hat on.
Why do parents not think it is appropriate to wrap their children up against the cold? I just don't understand it!

OP posts:
ChanklyBore · 14/12/2019 20:41

Everyone is different. I don’t consider it cold yet. It’s the rain that makes me add a layer, not the temperature.

absopugginglutely · 14/12/2019 20:43

Because if a toddler doesn’t want to wear a coat, there are not enough hours in the day to battle that battle.
Go cold then is one of my main phrases with my three year old.
Kids in the school I work in, Chuck their coats on the playground benches the minute they go out for play time, even in minus degrees!

rhowton · 14/12/2019 20:46

My DD1 is very similar to me on the heat scale so she wears whatever I wear. If I'm wearing a coat, she is. If I'm fine in a long sleeve T-shirt, she will be too! However, my DD2 is always cold and will wear long sleeves in the summer whilst DD1 and I are I shorts and T-shirt! Kids will moan if they're cold (mine love any reason to have a moan) so I know they'll let me know.

Yesterday my DD1 just wore a T-shirt and a coat and if we went in to any shop, it came off straightaway! Assume that the parents know their children and mind your own business!

MerryDeath · 14/12/2019 20:46

if my two and a half year old doesn't want to wear something... he is not wearing it. i'll continue to trail along behind him packed to the rafters with his coat, hat and scarf, he'll learn.

MerryDeath · 14/12/2019 20:49

my son spent about an hour in grandma's garden this afternoon, in wellies, trousers a long sleeved t and a fleece top. he was moving buckets of water about so splash splash splash and digging. wouldn't put a bloody coat or scarf on it was painful for me to watch - he doesn't give a shit and he's survived! i offer and then let him get on with it.

mrssoap · 14/12/2019 20:52

My kids don't wear gloves or hats, they don't want to and they don't complain they are cold! 🤷‍♀️

Icantstopfuckingcoughing · 14/12/2019 20:55

My 9 month old is a right monkey and whenever I put her hat on, she takes it off. Trying to find a hat that she will keep on.

She wears her pram suit with a good but I’d hate to be judged by people like you when I’m genuinely trying 😔

Icantstopfuckingcoughing · 14/12/2019 20:56

Meant to say with a hood 🤦‍♀️

Coldilox · 14/12/2019 20:58

It’s hard enough to get my 5 year old to keep his coat on at the moment, let alone hat and gloves. He just doesn’t feel the cold!

looselegs · 14/12/2019 20:59

Gloves........use long socks instead. They go up passed their elbows. Put them on before the coat.
Hats.....my daughter hated hats. I sewed long lengths of ribbon to them, tied them under her chin, crossed the ribbon over, then tied it on the top of her head! Worked a treat!
Hoods.....put hood up, then tie a scarf around their neck over the hood.
Socks.....put tights on them. Even boys. You can buy darker colours so no one will know!

GabsAlot · 14/12/2019 21:20

im still warm i wear a cardigan at most some kids might not feel it

Eekdatingisntfun · 14/12/2019 21:20

This sort of judgement worries me so much 😭 My daughter is autistic and has major sensory issues. She will NOT wear a coat, hat or gloves. She also doesn’t appear to feel the cold like I do. I hate to think that anyone thinks I’m a rubbish parent, when realistically I’m doing what suits my daughter

Symbollove · 14/12/2019 21:22

Most of these replies seem to be about children not wearing hats and gloves.
I however everyday at the school run see young children with no coats, hat gloves or scarfs and then the clothes they are wearing is a thin top and leggings. Some in the pram. Others walking. We had one of the coldest days of the year; my hands were frozen, both my kids complained how cold they are despite having a thick coat; scarf, hat and gloves on. They never like wearing gloves, this is the first winter that they always wear their gloves.
But those young children I see, I genuinely think they are not feeling the cold because they seem happy and laughing not shivering due to the cold. But I really can't understand how some children don't feel the cold as others.

Symbollove · 14/12/2019 21:26

Those that are saying it's not that cold in the UK, where exactly in the UK do you live please? It's bloody freezing in the UK! Some days are colder than others. It will only get colder towards January

JemSynergy · 14/12/2019 21:38

My kids hate wearing gloves and hats, have done since they were toddlers. I buy them but they won't wear them! My 10 year was even refusing to wear her coat the other day!

JammyGem · 14/12/2019 22:03

DD1 is another one who just throws away any gloves or hats I manage to get on her. DH drops us off at her nursery each morning so I carry her in as she is (more faff and cause more upset to put her coat on and off than it's worth) but when I pick her up and we walk home in her pram she has a thick hooded coat on. She does get cold hands so I try to pop them under the pram cover, because mittens and gloves just end up on the floor!

HunterAngel · 14/12/2019 22:08

DS won’t keep his hat on so I tried with a hoodie. As he’s in a pushchair the hood stays up and for some reason he doesn’t insist on taking it off. Gloves stay on, mostly because his coats a little too big so the sleeves tend to cover his hands. Also DM stitched the gloves together with a length of elastic so we can’t lose them. Other then that he has a coat on with a blanket tucked in around his feet. But I know what you mean OP, I see quite a few children around who don’t seem to be dressed for the weather.

Blackbear19 · 14/12/2019 22:14

Are people equally as critical of the kids who don't like the feeling of a breeze on their skin? So want long tops and trousers in summer??

My kids are opposites, eldest feels the cold and loves his big jacket, come summer I'll be saying it's far too hot for it.

LO can't stand big jackets or duvets. I gave up the fight over hats and gloves ages ago. Nothing more frustrating than you get him read to go out. And hes stripped off before you've got your own jacket on.

Theres an old saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink".

grisen · 14/12/2019 22:14

@Symbollove I live in Dorset, today was 9-10 degrees and no rain or wind all day. Although it’s gotten worse and we just took our 11 month old out in a thick jumper in the pram. He came home very warm.

ShinyGiratina · 14/12/2019 22:14

DS1 will fortunately wear hats, gloves and coats these days as he absolutely does not wear trousers. There is one pair of leg warmers that he will wear in colder conditions when he's out for prolonged periods. I've been sworn at in the street because DS1 was happily wearing shorts at 1oC, the irony being that the person who verbally abused me had an exposed skin head so no wonder he was feeling the cold. Hmm

DS2 happily makes mainstream clothing choices. I was a lot warmer in my youth. I still work up a good glow if I'm active, but rest cold.

Interstingly when DS1 has been on a thermal imaging camera, he glows white hot compared to DS2. He genuinely, rarely feels the cold. The danger is that if he does get cold, it can be quite sudden and intense so other than his knees, he has access to warm layers. When we camp, he has finally grasped the message that it's better to stay warm than to warm back up.

I'm not irresponsible. I battled through the toddler years miserably unaware that DS has ASD and sensory issues. I eased up when he was around 3-4 and better able to articulate himself and a couple of years of battling every single time we left the bloody house in inclement weather had achieved nothing but stress. These days, I see my maternal duty as providing access to what he needs, not enforcing.

I've known children dropped off for nights out in poor weather in literally their Cub/ Brownie uniform. There's a massive difference in whether that child feels the cold or not. It is very much case by case. There's also a massive difference in how long you're exposed to the elements. 5 minutes is very different to hours. Babies too young to shuck their layers do need particular attention, but too hot can be worse than too cold.

Iggly · 14/12/2019 22:19

I learnt the hard way that just because I’m cold, it doesn’t mean the dcs are. Once I over dressed dd for bed and she ended up with hives due to the fact she was just too hot.

So, I carry extra layers and they’ll ask if they want them. But they run about so much they don’t need that many layers. If I go for a run I don’t need much so I trust their judgement

Jenpop234 · 14/12/2019 22:23

At the school I work in, we make sure the children go out to play with coats but some take them off the minute they get out as they're too hot. They're running around and being active so they don't need a coat. Also my 1.5 year old refuses to keep a hat on for more than 1 minute so I'm fighting a losing battle there!

happycamper11 · 14/12/2019 22:46

Not everyone feels temperature in the same way. I'm extremely cold, dd1 is extremely cold and we are both ridiculously wrapped up. Dd2 on the other hand gets so hot so easily she rarely even wears a coat. Even the slightest bit of rectangle she's pulling off layers. We gave up on gloves ages ago as they come off quickly and end up lost and she hates hats

Ginfordinner · 14/12/2019 22:58

I still wouldn't class 9 degrees as warm. That would most definitely be coat weather for me.

selmabear · 14/12/2019 23:10

Some kids just wont keep them on. My kids wear hats, gloves and scarfs to school and they also wear them home. For my benefit only. When playing at break times they only have their coats on. No sign of a hat or gloves (been to a few meetings and seen them out on the yard playing) Kids will be kids.