Do you make your teens dress warmly? (average, school, adults)

[randomparent]

Yeah, we're way off topic, but I'll chime in with "Me, too." I had a natural childbirth and was so hopped up on endorphins after twenty-four hours of labor that I could have run a marathon. The human body is amazing.

[CGab]

I don't have teenagers yet, but I do have a middle school aged daughter. She's 10 so I do tell her when to wear a coat. When she gets older I will probably let her decide, but if it's 10 below she will not walk out my door without a coat! We live in NW Indiana so it can get quite cold here! I do let her wear what ever clothes she wants, to an extent. I'm not letting her leave the house with a skirt up to her butt and she's not wearing shorts in a blizzard. Besides something like that she can wear what ever as long as it's not offending anyone! You have to let them grow into an adult at some point.

[mcwick]

No, I don't make my 8-year-old daughter wear a coat. If it's cold and she doesn't want to wear one, I make her go stand outside in whatever she wants to wear for a minute or two. Then she can decide if she will be fine wearing what she has on or not. Most of the time she decides to wear a coat, but sometimes she doesn't. She doesn't complain if she's cold later, though. Partly because she's stubborn, and partly because I'll give her the "I told you so" look.

That being said, we live in Texas, and she won't lose any fingers or toes or die of hypothermia if she isn't warm enough. If that were the case, I might force the issue.

[ccc123]

I did until they started high school, and then I gave up the fight. They have nice winter clothing if they choose to wear it if not that's on them. We live in rural Indiana and get a lot of snow and cold temperatures. I have one that starts wearing a winter coat in October and one who wears shorts in December. The one who refuses to wear a winter coat seldom ever gets a cold. The other one gets a couple of colds a year, strep at least once etc. I talked to the pediatrician about it and he told me not to worry about it, when he gets cold he will dress warmer. I do insist that he keep a coat, hat and gloves in his car in case of a breakdown. He used to walk to school in a t shirt until January before he got his license. He would sleep year round with his bedroom window cracked if we would allow it. My husband put his foot down and refused heat the outdoors.

[pkbab5]

The OP made me hot. But if I lived in Northern Canada I think I'd wear 4 coats too!


I live in Alabama. I buy my kids one coat every two years or so... they get to wear them for a few days maybe. I don't make them, it doesn't get cold enough for that. Their school has "mitten day" once a year where the kids bring their scarves and mittens and take a picture like it's cold, and then bring them back home to put in the closet for next year. Lol.

[LLCNYC]

Top of the line stuff & no transportation.

Maybe stop spending $$$$$ on outerware & save for a car.

Problem solved.

[Svetalana]

One of the problems I face every winter is being forced to wear way too much clothing by my overprotective parents, especially my mother. I'm sixteen years old and she still treats me like a little girl. Today I went out with my friends and I had to wear a long sleeve shirt, a turtleneck sweater, a knee length puffy jacket, and thick waterproof coat. She also made me wear a faux fur hat, a long wool scarf, thick gloves, and winter boots. It was about thirty degrees outside, but my parents always think that cold weather gets you sick. Does anyone else have to deal being overdressed?

[peabodyn]

What a lot of parents don't realize is that kids / teens have a much faster metabolism than we adults do. They do not feel the cold the same way we do. Don't dress your teen (if they even let you) the way that you dress for the cold.

Too many layers will make you sweat and then the sweat freezes.

I know the Canadian winter - I spent a year in Calgary.

Let your teen dress they way he / she thinks is best, they will figure it out.....

[hunterseat]

One thing I taught my youngest is to wear a tank top under his t-shirt. In other words: layer.
Seems to have stuck. Thankfully...something did.

[MaryleeII]

Just some random thoughts here after reading this thread--


Teens do have a higher metabolism than their parents, and usually are more active, thus producing more body heat. They might really be comfortable dressed in lighter outfits than their parents.


My teens never wore coats to school, just a hoodie. However, I usually drove them or they got a ride. Here in Texas it can be freezing in the morning and warm in the afternoon. I could see their point about not wanting to walk home carrying all that stuff! They also said the school kept the inside temperatures so hot they were in comfortable wearing long pants, sweaters, etc. I agreed they didn't need to get all bundled up just to go from the car to inside the school!


I also found it unnerving to see my kids go out in shorts and a thin hoodie when the temperature was in the 40's or below, but they seemed to be comfortable.


Sometimes those who don't feel the cold are on drugs, alcohol, etc.


If a teen insists on wearing long-sleeve even in the summer, I would suspect drug use, covering up needle marks.


At that age, teens are more controlled by peer pressure than their own comfort. I remember when I was about 16, I would rather die than wear a hat, regardless of how cold it was. BTW, I grew up in Michigan, no stranger to really cold winters. My mother drove me to school and I took the bus home. She made me wear a hat, which I removed as soon as I got out of her sight. When I came home, I just carried the hat until I came within sight of my house, then put the hat on. I figured, I pleased everybody! Guess nothing much has changed since we grew up!