Help - how to dress baby in colder weather

[AussieSim]

I am new to this hemisphere and my ds is 9mths. This morning it was 5 degrees and I had to go shopping before we both starved. I ended up dressing him in:

short-sleeve body (the new L/S ones I just bought were in the wash)
a T-Shirt
a jumper (not very thick)
a pair of tights (don't know correct term in english)
a pair of denim overalls (unlined/padded) - if they are lined/padded do you think I can skip the tights and just have socks to the knee?
a jacket (I just bought from Chicco that is made out of some special thermal material that I selected because it is not as thick as others I have seen but is supposed to be very warm)
a hat that covers the ears and looks very cosy

(I don't have any mittens for him yet, but have strong doubts that he would let me put them on or leave them on if I did have them).

In all this stuff he can barely move when I strap him into his car seat, which doesn't make him very happy. I also never know whether I should strip off the hat and/or jacket when the car warms up or when I get into the supermarket or not.

I have read somewhere that babies should wear one more layer than mum, but I am not confident that I am even a good judge of how much I should be wearing when it is cold. I spent the trip home trying to figure out how to minimise the number of times I need to leave the house in a week. Any advice on how to fight off transistion of season depression also welcome

huppa,

"fussack" (non-German keyboard!) is what is referred to here as a cosytoes. I think Monkey is trying to locate a internet source for a soft tragtasche on another thread (Products:Double buggy..)if you happen to know of one.

Northerner, if you can't find gloves on a string, you can sew ordinary ones onto a piece of elastic. I used to do that for my lot, if I couldn't find them 'ready strung'.

My dd has just bought some mittens on a string - and she's 16 years old!!! I think it's Miss Selfridge who sell them for adults, just in case any of you lose your gloves a lot.

Thanks Suedonim I was thinking of doing that but using string, so I'm glad you mentioned elastic as that will ovbiously work much better!

It must be trendy now if Miss S are selling them!

I bought a gorgeous polarfleece (?) poncho for my baby daughter from Jojomamanbebe which has poppers on the edges to "define" a sleeve, e.g. where the hands come out and loops for accompanying mits which popper on. Its gorgeous. Trouble is, I can't get the safety harness round her in the pushchair as she sort of has no arms!!! I realise now that it would be better for a child already walking but I think it will last.

Thanks everyone. Like Huppa said, they tend to overdress kids here in Germany, and besides wanting to keep ds at the right temperature I am a bit paranoid about what people think when I don't have him completely bundled up - their general unfriendliness is hard enought to contend with without outright scowling

More ideas about warding off change of seasons depression and motivating oneself to go outdoors when it is cold still welcomed.

In finland they are manic about baby warmth and all have hugely hot housees and babies in hats all the time.

I got a great all in one last year from Jojo maman bebe - it was made of fleece so quite light and she could move around really well in it. It was quite expensive but she looked so gorgeous in it and it lasted all winter so shouldn't grumble.

Whereabouts are you in Germany AussieSim? I remember taking ds1 to Ratzebury (N. Germany) in December when he was 16 months. The temperatures there were pretty extreme - far, far colder than it generally gets here - below freezing all day every day, and -10 and colder at night. The UK snowsuit we had for him was completely inadequate, he got very, very cold when we went out for walks ... however agree with advice here that it's actually more dangerous for them to get too hot than too cold.

Having said that I love the continental cold - generally much drier and crisper than here. Have you just arrived? i.e. have you just missed your Australian summmer

We go in and out of shops a lot, so I don't like him (17 months) to be too bundled up.
So I would not have put him in tights or a T-shirt, as they can't be removed easily, and they hate it when they can't move.
I tend to use fleecy jumpers, a loose, flexible top coat, and use cosy-toes, which can be removed in shops, with an extra blanket if really cold (not yet!)
We all wore hats too yesterday, and whipped them off when in car or shop.
Neither of mine have been able to bear all in one suits, but some babies like them. They're no good for me because I'm always fretting about overheating, so would be stripping them off every five mins. Hope this helps!

Haven't read the thread, but have you considered using a sheepskin fleece liner in the buggy/carseat. They're excellent for keeping the child warm without overheating - I use mine winter and summer. Mine is just basic but I think you can get ones which have a zip-off cosytoes attached.

Oh, and even if the child's skin is chilly, if they have rosey cheeks then they are warm enough. That said, it's not a good idea to let tiny fingers get too cold, but there's not much you can do if they pull off their mittens! Blue lips are a strong indication that you need to get indoors, unbundle and cuddle.

If you don't like the idea of strings and elastic then you can get clips, like the ones they used to use on braces. They do them in most of the baby catalogues I think.

kmg1, I am in Dortmund(about an hour from Düsseldorf), which is nowhere anyone would go on holidays (except my family thankfully). I will be going back for an Aussie summer for 4 weeks in Dec/Jan - but I really can't complain about the Summer that I had here - except that somedays it was too hot and there was no beach to go to.

I went for a walk with the pram this morning at about 11.15am and it was about 2-3 degrees. I wrapped a blanket round his legs and he had his hat and jacket on and padded jeans, but I soon realised that the mittens are a must. When he started grizzling I picked up the pace and got back home. Later in the afternoon - when the temperature climbed to 4, I bought some mittens but had to get the woman in the shop to show me how to put them on and explain what happens with the string attaching them - I am such an amateur.

I will definitely pop a sheepskin in his buggy - thanks for reminding me.