Winter clothing for teens

[Joannee]

This is a follow up on a post I made earlier about how most teenagers wear light clothes in freezing temperatures. I walk my daughter to school most mornings (about a 20 minute walk) and it’s absolutely frigid outside so I bundle her up very warmly. When she goes out she’s wearing snow pants, winter boots, several sweaters, a knee length down jacket, and a huge full length down parka. My daughter hates being cold so she’s gladly wears all her layers when going outside, but she feels that all her winter clothes are uncool because her peers literally wear just sneakers and sweatshirts when they go to school in the freezing cold. Parents, how do you dress your kids for the winter weather?

 

[PloverWing]

This sounds like how I dressed my young kids when they were going outside to play in the snow, except that a) it would be a single sweater or sweatshirt instead of multiple sweaters, and b) it would be a jacket or parka but not both. We're probably in a warmer area than you are; I'm in South Jersey, where the snowy-day temperatures are in the 20s but not usually colder. If you're in northern New York near the Canadian border, I can see that you'd need more layers.

Now that my kids are in high school and college, they pick their own outerwear. If they guessed wrong one day and they're too cold, they'll put on an extra layer the next day. And they've got different cold tolerances. My older two generally wear a long thick coat and Bean boots in the winter; my youngest favors a light jacket over a short-sleeved shirt, with sandals or sneakers. In the same weather.

 

[Joannee]

This sounds like how I dressed my young kids when they were going outside to play in the snow, except that a) it would be a single sweater or sweatshirt instead of multiple sweaters, and b) it would be a jacket or parka but not both. We're probably in a warmer area than you are; I'm in South Jersey, where the snowy-day temperatures are in the 20s but not usually colder. If you're in northern New York near the Canadian border, I can see that you'd need more layers.

Now that my kids are in high school and college, they pick their own outerwear. If they guessed wrong one day and they're too cold, they'll put on an extra layer the next day. And they've got different cold tolerances. My older two generally wear a long thick coat and Bean boots in the winter; my youngest favors a light jacket over a short-sleeved shirt, with sandals or sneakers. In the same weather.

We live in northern Upstate New York so the extra layers are necessary to stay warm. My daughter is in 8th grade (1 year away from hiigh school) but I always make sure that she’s bundled up and has everything on before she goes outside because I don’t want her getting sick.

 

[PloverWing]

Makes sense. My oldest has recently moved to Vermont, probably not too far from you, and wow, it's wicked cold there.

 

[Joannee]

Makes sense. My oldest has recently moved to Vermont, probably not too far from you, and wow, it's wicked cold there.

I moved up here from Florida many years ago, so the the cold was really hard on me at first. Today was really fridgid, when we went to church we had to bundle up in extra layers.

 

[PloverWing]

I moved up here from Florida many years ago, so the the cold was really hard on me at first.

This is probably significant in your disagreements with some of your daughter's friends. You've mentioned that you prefer your daughter to dress very warmly, and the other kids don't dress in as many warm layers. You're a native Floridian, and they're native upstate-New-Yorkers, so your idea of cold and their idea of cold are probably different. That may be part of why the other kids aren't choosing to dress as warmly as your family does.

I'm originally from southeastern Virginia, and when I first moved to New Jersey, the winters were so cold and so long, I couldn't stand it. Now, 30 years later, I'm much more accustomed to the cold.

I'll note, though, that the current temperature in my oldest daughter's town in Vermont is 0 F. If that's the same weather you're having, that's just really really cold for anyone.

 

[Joannee]

This is probably significant in your disagreements with some of your daughter's friends. You've mentioned that you prefer your daughter to dress very warmly, and the other kids don't dress in as many warm layers. You're a native Floridian, and they're native upstate-New-Yorkers, so your idea of cold and their idea of cold are probably different. That may be part of why the other kids aren't choosing to dress as warmly as your family does.

I'm originally from southeastern Virginia, and when I first moved to New Jersey, the winters were so cold and so long, I couldn't stand it. Now, 30 years later, I'm much more accustomed to the cold.

I'll note, though, that the current temperature in my oldest daughter's town in Vermont is 0 F. If that's the same weather you're having, that's just really really cold for anyone.

Yes being from Florida definitely contributes to how warm I dress myself and my daughter. And it was close to 0 this morning when we went to church, but I did notice that my daughter and I were by far the most bundled up people there
.

 

[Joannee]

You've mentioned that you prefer your daughter to dress very warmly, and the other kids don't dress in as many warm layers.

A family from church that we’re friends with has a daughter that’s about 3 years younger than mine. We ran into them when we were walking to church, and I noticed she was wearing just a small jacket, jeans, and sneakers. And most absurdly, she had nothing on her head! She looked like she was freezing though, she had her hands inside her pockets and was trying to hide her face as much as she could in her jacket collar. Meanwhile my daughter was wearing her snow pants, winter boots, down jacket, big heavy parka, and had her head wrapped up in a scarf, a hat, and both her hoods up. The only part of her that wasn’t covered were her eyes!

 

[mama2one]

Parents, how do you dress your kids for the winter weather?

haven't dressed my child since about age 3, lol

seriously though, check daily to see temp at recess time & tell child which determines what coat she'll wear

she likes earmuffs over hats so wears them daily
today, saw that she wore a sweater over a top

only suggestions I usually make are footwear
today, suggested boots cause it snowed but she said the boots are slippery on the playground so she wore her tennis shoes

 

[Joannee]

haven't dressed my child since about age 3, lol

seriously though, check daily to see temp at recess time & tell child which determines what coat she'll wear

she likes earmuffs over hats so wears them daily
today, saw that she wore a sweater over a top

only suggestions I usually make are footwear
today, suggested boots cause it snowed but she said the boots are slippery on the playground so she wore her tennis shoes

lol I didn’t mean physically dress. We don’t have earmuffs, we wear hats under hoods. Do the earmuffs work for keeping your head warm?

 

[mama2one]

Do the earmuffs work for keeping your head warm?

I'm an earmuff person, also
one winter, I didn't have a coat yet (think had donated it year before) so was wearing a warm sweater; as long as I had on my earmuffs, gloves, and boots I was ok without a coat which was surprising to me

however, as a child living in Canada and walking to school, with the wind chill of 30 below sometimes, had my face totally covered with scarfs wrapped around hat and hood
Canadian cold, oh so cold

 

[Joannee]

I'm an earmuff person, also
one winter, I didn't have a coat yet (think had donated it year before) so was wearing a warm sweater; as long as I had on my earmuffs, gloves, and boots I was ok without a coat which was surprising to me

however, as a child living in Canada and walking to school, with the wind chill of 30 below sometimes, had my face totally covered with scarfs wrapped around hat and hood
Canadian cold, oh so cold

You must be really hardened by the Canadian winters to not able to stay warm without a coat! And lol that’s exactly how my daughter and I dressed to walk to school this morning, a scarf wrapped over our faces, then a hat, two hoods pulled up tight and a scarf over the hoods

 

[Ada Lovelace]

Yes being from Florida definitely contributes to how warm I dress myself and my daughter. And it was close to 0 this morning when we went to church, but I did notice that my daughter and I were by far the most bundled up people there
.

Whoa. Zero degrees? I'm shivering just reading your post! Everyone has been complaining in California because of the wet weather which has brought temperatures down to the 50s. It's currently 55 or so and I'm in the building for my next class even though it doesn't even start for 20 minutes because it's too cold to be outside. I'm wearing Cuddle Duds (like thermal underwear), a long sleeve shirt with a hoodie over it, jeans, a parka, hat, and boots. I wish I had a scarf and gloves.

Between my birth and middle school when we moved to Los Angeles my family lived in Germany, NYC, London and DC, so I did have to bundle up. I was so young then I gave no priority to my appearance and focused on doing whatever was needed to stay warm. My parents never had to plead with me to bundle up. At times I'd wear a ski suit over my school uniform. Most of the schools I attended had dedicated rooms to hang up your outerwear. London was the most challenging because it's not only freezing but damp, so even if temperature-wise it was warmer than other places, it felt SO much colder. It was perfect in the summer, though. When we were in DC my mom had this coat that was specifically designed for hikers of the Seven Summits and got it tailored to fit me because they don't make them for kids.

 

[Joannee]

Whoa. Zero degrees? I'm shivering just reading your post! Everyone has been complaining in California because of the wet weather which has brought temperatures down to the 50s. It's currently 55 or so and I'm in the building for my next class even though it doesn't even start for 20 minutes because it's too cold to be outside. I'm wearing Cuddle Duds (like thermal underwear), a long sleeve shirt with a hoodie over it, jeans, a parka, hat, and boots. I wish I had a scarf and gloves.

Between my birth and middle school when we moved to Los Angeles my family lived in Germany, NYC, London and DC, so I did have to bundle up. I was so young then I gave no priority to my appearance and focused on doing whatever was needed to stay warm. My parents never had to plead with me to bundle up. At times I'd wear a ski suit over my school uniform. Most of the schools I attended had dedicated rooms to hang up your outerwear. London was the most challenging because it's not only freezing but damp, so even if temperature-wise it was warmer than other places, it felt SO much colder. It was perfect in the summer, though. When we were in DC my mom had this coat that was specifically designed for hikers of the Seven Summits and got it tailored to fit me because they don't make them for kids.

It sounds like you are dressed warm enough for 55 degree weather but I agree a scarf and gloves would be very helpful! And it sounds like you must have stayed warm when you were little! That’s really cool that you got hat custom coat, what kind of coat was it? If it’s for hiking the mountains I imagine it would be very warm

 

[Ada Lovelace]

It sounds like you are dressed warm enough for 55 degree weather but I agree a scarf and gloves would be very helpful! And it sounds like you must have stayed warm when you were little! That’s really cool that you got hat custom coat, what kind of coat was it? If it’s for hiking the mountains I imagine it would be very warm

Yes, tomorrow I'm going to wear gloves and a scarf! Our campus is massive, and I get around by bike, so my fingers felt like they were going to become icicles.

The coat I had when we lived in DC was a Cryos Expedition parka from North Face.

 

[Joannee]

Yes, tomorrow I'm going to wear gloves and a scarf! Our campus is massive, and I get around by bike, so my fingers felt like they were going to become icicles.

The coat I had when we lived in DC was a Cryos Expedition parka from North Face.

Especially if you’re biking then it’s a good idea to bundle up warmer! We actually wear mittens over our gloves when we go outside but it might be harder to bike in mittens. And that looks like a really warm parka! What kind of parka do you have now?

 

[blackribbon]

When my kids were small, I had simple guidance issues. Under 70 degrees, no shorts, under 60 degrees meant no short sleeves....beyond that, they picked how they were dressed based on how they felt. If a kid didn't listen to my suggestion, I wasn't likely to initially give up a piece of my own attire but as their mother, I planned ahead and had extra layers in the car for emergency situations. Personally, when I go to and from work living in Michigan, I usually don't wear a coat because I don't want to have to go to the locker room before and after my shift. I just wear my scrubs and my light scrub jacket to and from the car. I didn't even feel the cold until last week when it got down to 19 degrees. If it gets to 10 or below, I might wear a sweatshirt. I do keep a coat and gloves in the car incase I breakdown and have to wait for a while in the car. My kids are older now and make their own decisions about outerwear based on how they feel. It is also important to remember that cold doesn't make people sick (unless you have a chronic issue like asthma which might have cold as a trigger). Viruses and bacteria make people sick. They are less likely to live in cold environments. The danger is in droplets that are being dispersed by sick people who cough and sneeze. In that way, a shared scarf over the face might actually spread respiratory infections. I really don't feel cold that much and seldom wear a winter coat...a lighter jacket or sweatshirt usually is good enough. (I don't wear long sleeve shirts much either).

As a kid, I kept a pair of jeans at school because I refused to mess with snowpants even when I had to hike through knee and thigh high snow to get to my bus. Cold wasn't an issue. But having wet pants after the snow dried was not very pleasant. Second pair of jeans meant I didn't have to wear the dreaded snowpants to school. I did wear my snowmobile suit if I was going outside to play in the snow.

 

[Dave-W]

I did wear my snowmobile suit if I was going outside to play in the snow.

Indeed! They are good for working out in the snow as well. I kinda miss mine when it gets cold and snowy here (which is actually fairly rare)