Gear for a 3 yo

[SkiBumMum]

Hi
Bored waiting for baby to arrive so thoughts have turned to March 2012 when we will be in Whistler!

Has anyone got any tips for gear for a 3 year old girl who will be in Ski School. We will obviously rent skis and boots. I'd prefer to rent a helmet too but there is always an option of buying one there if we aren't happy with the quality/condition.

I can't decide between pants and a jacket or an all in one. Can see the latter being warmer which is a big consideration. However, how do they deal with going to the loo in a snow suit thingy?? She's good at getting dressed and will obv be better in 6 mths but all in ones are such a faff!

Any recommendations for brands? It will be colder in BC so prepared to pay more than I would in TK Maxx.

We skied at Whistler a year ago when our youngest was 3, they are great, the people who work there are lovely. They take them in to get warm regularly and they also take the younger ones for regular toilet breaks. Mine had pants and a jacket (childrens place ones as we were in US at the time), just make sure they are ones with braces and the jacket has a ski skirt on it so the snow doesn't go up when she falls over. We went in Feb time and it was cold up on the mountain so a good scarf or neck tube (mine loved theirs) is essential and layer as the little ones are right next to the ski school hut so they can take off if too warm (it did change day to day). Label everything and don't worry about little accidents they have really nice spare clothes they help them with their clothes too.

We did buy a helmet before going as the smaller sizes go quickly at the rental places, we got a Bern one and it was the smallest size they do but will fit her for the next 5 years or so. It was nice as it had a fleece inner that kept her ears warm.

I would go with what she is comfortable with, as for all in ones my 6 year old son had one that we got in Tesco and that was warm enough.

When my ds was 3 and in ski school we put pull up pants on him, which were wet by 12pm, and he had a separate pair of salopettes and jacket... but then it was french ski school and they only spoke pigeon english.
However, i think the all in one suits are really nice, they will help her take it off for loo trips if she is eloquent to say what she wants in time.

Funnily enough I am in exactly the same situation except we are off to Val Thorens in early Jan. I am 5 days over and was also thinking about the faff of having to sort out passports for the newborn and DS.
We have decided to rent a two piece suit for our 3 year old from a friend of ours who runs a small ski clothing rental company. He is only likely to wear the gear once so we thought that renting would be best. We decided that separate top and bottoms would be better as he is not always the best at making it to the loo on time when he is busy doing other more exciting things and it will be doubly hard for him if he has to struggle with difficult clothes to get off.
I agree with the above post about a snow skirt for the jacket. If you are worrried about warmth then you can always add or take away thin layers underneath their jackets. But if it is really bitter the instructors will make sure they are kept warm enough.
The other thing I can recommend to do is the attatching the gloves to a piece of string posted through the arms. As a kid myself I was forever losing gloves whilst skiing. Also make sure the gloves are well waterproofed before you go on holiday as cold hands and tired toddlers is a recipe for disaster!