Cold climate moms, come in

[Bluedaisy]

Our house stays really cozy so I'm not at all worried about dressing in the house. I think if anything I'll add a sweater during the day and put a onesie under his flannel or fleece jammies at night. So far his room has been warm enough we haven't done wearable blankets but I have a couple so if we need them that will become the third layer.

My guy is little so he'll be in his bucket all winter. We have one of the shower cap covers plus a canopy that hangs over the handles. I figure under that will be warm layers and possibly a blanket too. We park in the garage so the car is pretty warm when he gets in which helps.

I'm not breast feeding so no advice there.

[silv3rlining]

What are the limits on tour bucket seat that you need to switch to the convertible so soon? With DS I switched him fairly early but waited until after the cold weather. He was still within the limits it was just more of a pain to deal with. You could bundle baby in a blanket to go out to the car and then once baby is strapped in cover with blankets.

[turtletyme]

We still have one more strap hole on our car seat so I am hoping she will make it through the winter, but we will see. So far I have been putting her in a fleece vest or sweatshirt and using the car seat canopy to keep the wind off.

We are shopping for one of those tiny heaters for her room that we can adjust as needed. She wears a sleeper and we have been good with that so far, but we have shitty old windows so we will see when it gets really cold.

[baytosa2013]

Oct 5, 2015 7:19:21 GMT -5 @babybean9 said:

I find the transitional period into winter is worse than once winter has actually arrived. Cold and annoyed at the chill, I'm wondering what everyone's doing in the house, out of the house, for footwear and for breastfeeding this winter.

In the house I'm just doing sleepers/onesie with a pj set on top with extra blankets or sweater. I'll get more into layering as time progresses, but I don't want him overheating either.

DB is a big boy and we need to buy his convertible car seat soon, so layering blankets on his bucket seat won't work. I'm planning on a down jacket that I can throw on in the car before taking him out. Should he have snow pants too, or a long coat will suffice? Gloves will be annoying because he's just going to slobber all over them, any tips? I'm also planning on a star suit for walks/tobogganing. How much bigger should I go so that they fit a few months from now but don't look ridiculous on him now?

I haven't found nice wool socks for him yet, but that's the plan. Also planning on mukluks to keep his feet warm. I can't find any made in Canada ones in his size so I might have to have them made.

Breastfeeding I'm just dreading. I can't layer the same otherwise feeding him will be so difficult. I usually wear long johns but the tops don't work well for easy access. Tank top with a sweater on top is what I'm assuming I'll have to do.

What's everyone else doing/planning to do?

All of this makes me suddenly happy that I live in South Texas!  I haven't even heard of half of these items before.

[sugarkissed]

Everyone else has great suggestions, I don't have a lot to add... But I am not looking forward to winter! I just realized that I'll have 2 kids to load into the car now.

Our house is always nice and warm, so we don't have to change much inside.

We use lots of layers, fleece suits with built in mittens, and warm hats. Remote start in the car has proved to be invaluable. For boots, we love Padraigs, and I believe that they are Canadian made!

[silv3rlining]

Oct 5, 2015 8:03:26 GMT -5 @babybean9 said:

Oct 5, 2015 7:54:20 GMT -5 silv3rlining said:

What are the limits on tour bucket seat that you need to switch to the convertible so soon? With DS I switched him fairly early but waited until after the cold weather. He was still within the limits it was just more of a pain to deal with. You could bundle baby in a blanket to go out to the car and then once baby is strapped in cover with blankets.

We have the Britax b safe. It's limits are 22 pounds and 32", DB is only 17.5 pounds and 26.75", but honestly the straps are too short, they sit funny on him and he now hates it. I read reviews where people made the same complaints but thought it was silly, but now I get it. It's also too heavy to lug around, I don't want to slip in the snow or anything either. I'll use it for as long as I can stand though. His convertible is $400 and I'd rather get it on sale around the holidays.

Gotcha. There should be a way to adjust the straps but I'm not familiar with that particular seat. $400 for a convertible sounds like a lot! (Are you getting one that also converts to a booster?) Getting it when sales are going on is ideal though

[carolyngrace]

Just oh shit all over the place... One, we don't have a garage. So I guess DH and I will have to come up with a system of warming and clearing cars in the mornings. Two, DB isn't too big for his car seat but probably will be by mid or end of winter. $400??? Guess I know what to ask his grandparents for for xmas.

[silv3rlining]

Oct 5, 2015 9:40:51 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

Just oh shit all over the place... One, we don't have a garage. So I guess DH and I will have to come up with a system of warming and clearing cars in the mornings. Two, DB isn't too big for his car seat but probably will be by mid or end of winter. $400??? Guess I know what to ask his grandparents for for xmas.

You can easily find a convertible seat in the $100-200 range.

To add to the garage piece you just reminded me that my van is no longer garaged and how much it's going to suck. (We moved from a 2 car garage to 1 car and DHs motorcycle gets the garage now)

[erbear]

LO sleeps in footed sleepers and used a sleep sack on top. She has one terry cloth and the rest are cotton for now but she has fleece ones for winter. During the day she's in pants and a onesie (usually long sleeved) and socks. We've been wearing a fleece jacket on her outside.

We don't have a garage, either. I have a bundle me that I need to cut up to make it safe or just buy the shower cap one. She has a fleece "snowsuit" that is safe because it doesn't have any extra fluff. It'll cover her hands. I did get her a cute little hat that covers her ears from old navy.

As for breastfeeding, I wear a cami under whatever shirt I'm wearing. Make layers you can pull up and down.

[tiffbot]

Oct 5, 2015 9:01:15 GMT -5 sugarkissed said:

Everyone else has great suggestions, I don't have a lot to add... But I am not looking forward to winter! I just realized that I'll have 2 kids to load into the car now.
)

For me it's less about the loading and 2 to get dressed lol!!

We have an attached garage and have to drive 45 mins or so to get to the city, where I usually aim to do all my shopping at places with underground parking..luckily in Saskatoon most of those lots are free! So I suppose that depends on convenience for you too. At least then everyone can be undressed of winter coats and such in the building.

Lots of extra blankets and accessories in the vehicle all the time. Someone suggested to me recently when you are dealing with a two piece suit to put their jacket on backwards to get them loaded up in the car so you aren't trying to get it off before strapping them in, so I may try that. Otherwise layers are my best friend! For babies ski pants or one piece suits where they cover the feet and even hands are helpful, usually then with some sort of mittens and booties underneath.

Last winter I invested in a maternity/babywearing winter coat. I am super excited about using that, I like babywearing better than using a double stroller so far. Adds to my layer love too!

Our house is well heated so I don't do much for change staying home. Back to washing and matching socks weather though, ha.

Just some thoughts I have off the top of my head! I think we'll be buying a convertible car seat on after Christmas sales.

[khaze]

In the house I keep it around 67-68 in the winter.  Baby will be dressed in fleece pjs with a fleece sleep sack on top.  I can throw a onesie and socks underneath all that on particularly cold nights.  As far as being worried about overheating, just take the layers one step a night and if he's feeling cold in the morning, add another layer the next night.  Toddler will be dressed in fleece pjs and he has a down comforter and a minky blanket that he'll sleep under. 

Honestly, reading about you putting a coat, snow pants, gloves, etc on a baby made me exhausted.  We used one of those bunting suits from Carters for my first son who was a winter baby and it worked perfectly.  Underneath that he would wear his normal clothes, fleece pants, wool socks, l/s onesie with a l/s shirt, extra hat.  Then when we would get him out of the car we would wrap all of him up in a big minky blanket.  I'd really recommend the bunting suit and layer that ontop of plenty of warm clothes.  As far as sizing, I would buy one size up from what you expect him to wear this winter.  If he'll be in 6 months, buy a 9 month since not only will he be growing, you will be having other thick layers underneath.

I'm not breastfeeding, so no opinions there.

[thecatsmeow]

Ugh, no real advice to add. Just dreading winter. It has already been so chilly here the past week. I am so jealous of the underground parking tiffbot!

[Girlymama79]

My plan is to stay home! Where I live the winters are brutal -40 (with wind chill) is a normal day. DNW to breastfeed in that; lo is not old enough for milk shakes

[holliberry28]

It's been colder in NYC past few days and our building doesn't start heating til end of Oct. we got a space heater it it seems it's either too hot or too cold. What's a good temperature to put the heat on? H was setting it to 77 with a 2 hour timer which just seems ridiculous because then it shuts off and is frigid again. 72-ish would be good to keep for the whole night, no?

[tiffbot]

Oct 5, 2015 22:12:40 GMT -5 Girlymama79 said:

My plan is to stay home! Where I live the winters are brutal -40 (with wind chill) is a normal day. DNW to breastfeed in that; lo is not old enough for milk shakes

Yep...I feel Ya.

[tiffbot]

Oct 6, 2015 7:06:46 GMT -5 Joolschweets said:

Oct 6, 2015 6:50:49 GMT -5 @babybean9 said:

Where abouts are you? It gets that cold here sometimes, but usually it's around -15 or so with the windchill making it into the -20s. I live in a really drafty farm house and get snowed in occasionally. I plan to keep a fire stoked and stay home as much as possible. DNW to deal with this Winter at all.

khaze we're getting a bunting for long periods outside, but I need a separate jacket for being out and about and baby wearing. Gloves/hat/etc are required!

+1 to the drafty old farmhouse! It's hard to keep the house at 70 when its windy, the drafts are everywhere! It sounds like you're in a very similar kind of temps to us. We're in rural southern ont and its usually -15 and then windchill. Last year we had a lot of -30s though. @girlymama, yikes I'm guessing northern Canada or even Alaska?

Unfortunately this is common weather for any of the Canadian prairies! Mb, SK, AB...and wind is not our friend out here haha.

ETA-I don't know where Girlymama79 lives, but as a prairie dweller myself I've seen just about everything on the thermometer haha.

[Girlymama79]

I'm in North Dakota. And again they are predicting a winter with below average temps...yay for me (not).