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Even though it is below freezing outside I constantly see teens who are completely underdressed and some who aren't even wearing winter coats.
I don't mess around when it comes to dressing for cold weather. I have a thirteen year old daughter and I make sure she is always bundled up. She has a very long walk to school in the brutal morning cold, so serious winter gear is a must. That means that insulated snow pants and knee high winter boots are essential. I don't care how uncool my daughter thinks they are, I have to put her health and safety first. Besides she has a change of shoes at school and can wear whatever jeans or yoga pants she finds stylish underneath the snow pants. Just as long as they're on when she goes outside. Next I have her layer a puffy vest from the North Face over a fleece jacket from the same brand. Over that she wears the Canada Goose Kensington parka with the Marmot Montreaux coat under it as an extra liner. I always have my daughter wear thick gloves, a warm hat, a scarf, and both her hoods up.
I know that with all that gear on when she walks to school in single digit weather with the windchill in the negatives she's warm.
Do you force your kids to get bundled up for the cold weather?
Nope! They choose what they wear in terms of warmth (they are 14 and 17). But we live in Southern California, so extreme cold is absolutely never a problem.
I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong. It sounds like a ton of clothes, but your daughter is only 13 and I know very little about living in such temperatures. But at a certain point, and I mean this in general when parenting teens, you have to gradually back off and let THEM learn to put their health and safety first. I assume that the teens you see without winter coats, would put them on if they felt cold enough.
Does your daughter object to all the clothes? Does she say she'd be warm enough without some of them? If so, I would trust her and let her at least try going with less once or twice. If the cold is as brutal as you say, she'll be happy to put them back on.
Nope! They choose what they wear in terms of warmth (they are 14 and 17). But we live in Southern California, so extreme cold is absolutely never a problem.
I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong. It sounds like a ton of clothes, but your daughter is only 13 and I know very little about living in such temperatures. But at a certain point, and I mean this in general when parenting teens, you have to gradually back off and let THEM learn to put their health and safety first. I assume that the teens you see without winter coats, would put them on if they felt cold enough.
Does your daughter object to all the clothes? Does she say she'd be warm enough without some of them? If so, I would trust her and let her at least try going with less once or twice. If the cold is as brutal as you say, she'll be happy to put them back on.
I'm so jealous of you I wish I lived in Souther California, especially during the winter!
Most teens around here not wearing coats are doing so because of the peer pressure, being bundled up isn't considered cool or stylish by kids that age. My daughter doesn't like the way I dress her, but I make sure she understands why she has to. The peer pressure at school really is horrible, but my daughter understands that she has to dress warmer than students who have a short walk or get dropped off at school.
my daughter understands that she has to dress warmer than students who have a short walk or get dropped off at school.
That makes sense. It sounds like she can take off all the wrappings and be dressed like everyone else while she's actually AT school, so what you are doing sounds fine.
That makes sense. It sounds like she can take off all the wrappings and be dressed like everyone else while she's actually AT school, so what you are doing sounds fine.
Of course, she stores all her outerwear in her locker until the end of the school day, then she puts it all back on before walking home. She just doesn't like having to take her winter gear off and put it back on in front of the other students.
Whether this is reasonable really depends on where you live. Here students are required to wear winter gear to public school, but its the subarctic, so serious frostbite, hypothermia, or even death are realistic dangers.
What's "brutal morning cold" in your neck of the woods?
Did I read that correctly that she wears four coats?
I agree with the others that where you live makes a huge difference. I do think that if I lived in a location where the temperatures required such large amounts of gear that I would drive my child to school or carpool or something so that they didn't have a long walk in those conditions.
We live in NC and my son wears shorts and a long sleeve shirt in the winter and carries his jacket. He doesn't always wear it. If the high is going to be below freezing then I made him wear pants. He says that the school (and I've been there and agree) is so warm because they crank the heat that he sweats all day if he wears more clothes. As long as it isn't a matter of safety then I let my teens pretty much choose their clothing and winter gear. If they will be outside for a while then I strongly encourage that they at least BRING their gloves or jacket. I am pretty lenient on this issue because I trust that my kids will dress warmer when they are cold. I run much hotter than both my parents and used to be so miserable when they made me dress to their body temperature not my own so I try to really be respectful of different body temperatures, as long as temperatures are not low enough to cause physical harm, but simply a matter of being cold.
Did I read that correctly that she wears four coats?
I agree with the others that where you live makes a huge difference. I do think that if I lived in a location where the temperatures required such large amounts of gear that I would drive my child to school or carpool or something so that they didn't have a long walk in those conditions.
We live in NC and my son wears shorts and a long sleeve shirt in the winter and carries his jacket. He doesn't always wear it. If the high is going to be below freezing then I made him wear pants. He says that the school (and I've been there and agree) is so warm because they crank the heat that he sweats all day if he wears more clothes. As long as it isn't a matter of safety then I let my teens pretty much choose their clothing and winter gear. If they will be outside for a while then I strongly encourage that they at least BRING their gloves or jacket. I am pretty lenient on this issue because I trust that my kids will dress warmer when they are cold. I run much hotter than both my parents and used to be so miserable when they made me dress to their body temperature not my own so I try to really be respectful of different body temperatures, as long as temperatures are not low enough to cause physical harm, but simply a matter of being cold.
No, she wears two coats not four. You can't really call a fleece or a vest a "coat". I would drive her if I could, but I don't have a car right now. It sounds like winters in NC aren't too bad, I actually have always thought that it would be warm most of the year that far south.
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